Diploderma donglangense, Liu & Hou & Ananjeva & Rao, 2023

Liu, Shuo, Hou, Mian, Ananjeva, Natalia B. & Rao, Dingqi, 2023, Four new species of the genus Diploderma Hallowell, 1861 (Squamata, Agamidae) from China, ZooKeys 1148, pp. 167-207 : 167

Diploderma donglangense sp. nov.

Figs 7 , 8 , 9

Type material.

Holotype. KIZ2022057, adult male, collected on 31 July 2022 by Mian Hou from Yaying Village, Donglang Township, Muli County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China (28°48'49"N, 100°35'42"E, 2750 m elevation).

Paratypes. KIZ2022058-KIZ2022059, KIZ2022061, three adult females; KIZ2022060, adult male; collecting information all the same as the holotype.

Etymology.

The specific epithet refers to Donglang Township, where the new species was discovered.

Diagnosis.

Diploderma donglangense sp. nov. can be diagnosed from congeners by a combination of the following morphological characteristics: (1) body size relatively small, SVL 44.9-52.8 mm in adult males, 47.2-56.4 in adult females; (2) tail relatively short, TAL/SVL 1.76-1.87 in adult males, 1.59-1.89 in adult females; (3) limbs moderately long, FLL/SVL 0.46-0.47 in adult males, 0.44-0.50 in adult females, HLL/SVL 0.73-0.75 in adult males, 0.70-0.78 in adult females; (4) head moderately long, HW/HL 0.69-0.71 in adult males, 0.71-0.73 in adult females; (5) MD 37-43; (6) F4S 13-17, T4S 19-24; (7) tympanum concealed; (8) nuchal and dorsal crest scales feebly developed, no skin fold under nuchal and dorsal crests; (9) distinct transverse gular fold present; (10) ventral scales of head homogeneous in size, keeled; (11) ventral scales of body strongly keeled; (12) gular spot present in males, present or absent in females, pale yellow in life; (13) dorsolateral stripes distinct in males, moderately jagged, creamy yellow in life; (14) radial stripes around eye indistinct; (15) oral cavity, inner lips, and tongue pale pink in life.

Description of holotype.

Adult male, SVL 52.8 mm; tail relatively short, TAL 93.1 mm, TAL/SVL 1.76; limbs moderately long, FLL 24.4 mm on left side, FLL/SVL 0.46, HLL 38.8 mm on left side, HLL/SVL 0.73. Head moderately long, HW/HL 0.69, HD/HW 0.79; snout relatively short, SEL/HL 0.33. Rostral rectangular, bordered by six small postrostral scales; dorsal head scales heterogeneous, all strongly keeled; distinct Y-shaped ridge on dorsal snout. Nasal oval, separated from first supralabial by two rows of scales on each side; loreals small, keeled; suborbital scale rows 5/4, keeled; canthus rostralis elongated, greatly overlapping with each other; enlarged, keeled scales forming distinct single lateral ridge from posteroinferior eye to posterosuperior tympanum on each side; tympanum concealed under scales; SL 10/9, feebly keeled. Mental pentagonal; IL 11/11; enlarged chin shields 4/4, smooth, first one contacting IL on each side, remaining ones separated from IL by one or two rows of small scales on each side; ventral head scales homogeneous in size, keeled; distinct transverse gular fold present; gular pouch weakly developed.

Distinct shoulder fold present; dorsal body scales heterogeneous in size and shape, all keeled, tip pointing backwards; axillary scales much smaller than remaining dorsals; enlarged dorsal scales forming one continuous longitudinal row between dorsal crest and dorsolateral stripe on each side, remaining enlarged dorsal scales roughly forming three or four longitudinal rows on each side of body. Nuchal and dorsal crests feebly developed; no skin fold under nuchal and dorsal crests; MD 40. Dorsal limb scales strongly keeled, mostly homogeneous, except a few enlarged, conical scales on postaxial thighs; F4S 16/16, T4S 24/23. Ventral body scales approximately parallel, homogeneous, all strongly keeled, VN 63. Ventral limb scales parallel, homogeneous, approximately equal in size to ventrals, all strongly keeled. Tail scales all strongly keeled, ventral tail scales larger than dorsal tail scales.

Colouration of holotype in life.

Dorsal surface of head dark brown. Transverse bands on dorsal surface of head indistinct. Lateral surfaces of head brownish grey. A distinct black stripe from posteroinferior eye to tympanum region on each side. Upper lips brownish grey, lower lips white. Oral cavity, inner lips, and tongue pale pink.

Dorsal surface of body dark brown. A creamy yellow moderately jagged dorsolateral stripe on each side of body from occipital region to pelvis. Some indistinct black patterns between two dorsolateral stripes. Some creamy yellow spots scattered below dorsolateral stripe on each side of body. Dorsal surfaces of limbs brown with dark transverse bands. Dorsal surface of tail brownish grey with indistinct dark transverse bands.

Ventral surface of head white. A pale yellow gular spot on posterior central part of ventral head, some short black stripes mostly on anterior and sides of gular spot. Ventral surfaces of body, limbs, and tail white with no pattern.

Variations.

The variations of metrical characteristics of the type series are provided in Table 3 . Other variations are as follows: the dorsal colour are paler, the patterns between two dorsolateral stripes are more distinct, the transverse bands on the dorsal surface of head are more distinct, and the dorsolateral stripes are indistinct, pale grey or yellow anteriorly and pale grey posteriorly in the female paratypes; the gular spot present in one female paratype and absent in another female paratype; in addition, the short black stripes on ventral surface of head are more indistinct in all paratypes.

Comparisons.

Diploderma donglangense sp. nov. differs from D. brevipes , D. chapaense , D. fasciatum , D. hamptoni , D. luei , D. makii , D. menghaiense , D. micangshanense , D. ngoclinense , D. polygonatum , D. swinhonis , and D. yunnanense by the presence of a transverse gular fold (vs. absence).

Diploderma donglangense sp. nov. differs from D. dymondi , D. panlong , D. slowinskii , D. varcoae , and D. swild by having concealed tympana (vs. exposed).

Diploderma donglangense sp. nov. differs from D. drukdaypo , D. flaviceps , D. shuoquense , D. splendidum , and D. vela by the presence of a distinct gular spot in males in life (vs. absence).

Diploderma donglangense sp. nov. differs from D. aorun , D. batangense , D. bowoense , D. brevicauda , D. daochengense , D. flavilabre , D. formosgulae , D. iadinum , D. laeviventre , D. limingensis , D. xinlongense , D. yangi , D. yongshengense , D. yulongense , and D. zhaoermii by having a pale yellow gular spot in males in life (vs. chartreuse, blue, green, lilac, orange, or yellowish white).

Diploderma donglangense sp. nov. differs from D. angustelinea by the presence of short black stripes on ventral head (vs. absence); from D. grahami by having relatively longer hind limbs (HLL/SVL 0.70-0.78 vs. 0.61), having a distinct transverse gular fold (vs. feeble), and the presence of dorsolateral stripes (vs. absence); from D. kangdingense by the absence of skin folds under nuchal and dorsal crests in males (vs. presence) and having white ventrolateral surface of body in males in life (vs. yellow); from D. panchi by having a relatively longer tail in females (TAL/SVL 1.59-1.89 vs. 1.42-1.52), having relatively longer hind limbs in females (HLL/SVL 0.70-0.78 vs. 0.60-0.66), and the presence of short black stripes on ventral head (vs. absence); and from D. qilin by having short black stripes on ventral head (vs. vermiculate stripes) and having moderately jagged dorsolateral stripes in males (vs. strongly jagged).

Diploderma donglangense sp. nov. differs from Diploderma danbaense sp. nov. by the presence of a distinct gular spot in males in life (vs. absence), the absence of reticulate pattern on ventral head (vs. presence), having moderately jagged dorsolateral stripes in males (vs. strongly jagged), the absence of distinct, dark, hollow, approximately rhomboid patterns between dorsolateral stripes on dorsum (vs. absence), and the absence of skin folds under nuchal and dorsal crests in males (vs. presence).

Distribution.

This species is currently known only from its type locality in Donglang Township, Muli County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China (Fig. 1 ).

Natural history.

This species is terrestrial, inhabiting the hot-dry valley of the upper Shuiluo River, which is a tributary of the Jinsha River. There are many thorny shrubs and some rock piles at the type locality (Fig. 16C, D ). All specimens were collected between 1 and 3 p.m. when they were basking on rock piles.

Figures

Figure 1. Map showing the type localities of Diploderma danbaense sp. nov. in Danba County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province (black dot), Diploderma donglangense sp. nov. in Muli County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province (black pentagon), Diploderma jiulongense sp. nov. in Jiulong County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province (black triangle), and Diploderma tachengense sp. nov. in Weixi County, Diqing Prefecture, Yunnan Province (black square), in the Hengduan Mountain Region, southwestern China. The elevation data were obtained from Geospatial Data Cloud (2022).

Figure 7. Dorsal view (upper) and ventral view (lower) of the type series of Diploderma donglangense sp. nov. in preservative.

Figure 8. Holotype (KIZ 2022057) of Diploderma donglangense sp. nov. in life A dorsal view B lateral view C ventral view D close-up view of the dorsolateral side of the head E close-up view of the ventral side of the head F close-up view of the oral cavity.

Figure 9. Paratypes of Diploderma donglangense sp. nov. in life A, B the female paratype KIZ 2022058 C, D the female paratype KIZ 2022059 E, F dorsolateral the male paratype KIZ 2022060.

Figure 16. Habitats of the new species A distant view of the type locality of Diploderma danbaense sp. nov. B close view of the type locality of Diploderma danbaense sp. nov. C distant view of the type locality of Diploderma donglangense sp. nov. D close view of the type locality of Diploderma donglangense sp. nov. E distant view of the type locality of Diploderma jiulongense sp. nov. F close view of the type locality of Diploderma jiulongense sp. nov G distant view of the type locality of Diploderma tachengense sp. nov. H close view of the type locality of Diploderma tachengense sp. nov.