Diploderma jiulongense, 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 jiulongense sp. nov.

Figs 10 , 11 , 12

Type material.

Holotype. KIZ2022086, adult male, collected on 8 August 2022 by Mian Hou from Yandai Town, Jiulong County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China (28°28'39"N, 101°44'57"E, 1680 m elevation).

Paratypes. KIZ2022087 and KIZ2022101, two adult females; KIZ2022099-KIZ2022100, two adult males, collecting information all the same as the holotype.

Etymology.

The specific epithet refers to Jiulong County, where the new species was discovered.

Diagnosis.

Diploderma jiulongense sp. nov. can be diagnosed from congeners by a combination of the following morphological characteristics: (1) body size moderate, SVL 44.5-51.4 mm in adult males, 61.7-64.4 in adult females; (2) tail very long, TAL/SVL 2.57-2.71 in adult males, 2.33-2.44 in adult females; (3) limbs very long, FLL/SVL 0.50-0.53 in adult males, 0.46-0.47 in adult females, HLL/SVL 0.86-0.94 in adult males, 0.79-0.82 in adult females; (4) head moderately long, HW/HL 0.68-0.73 in adult males, 0.71-0.72 in adult females; (5) MD 36-40; (6) F4S 16-19, T4S 23-27; (7) tympanum concealed; (8) nuchal and dorsal crests continuous, feebly developed, no skin fold under nuchal and dorsal crests; (9) distinct transverse gular fold present; (10) ventral scales of head heterogeneous in size, ones on centre of gular pouch largest, all strongly keeled; (11) ventral scales of body strongly keeled; (12) gular spot present in males, indistinct or absent in females, pale yellow in life; (13) dorsolateral stripes distinct in males, narrow and smooth edged, bright yellow in life; (14) no radial stripes around eye; (15) oral cavity and inner lips pinkish white, tongue pale flesh colour in life.

Description of holotype.

Adult male, SVL 51.4 mm; tail very long, TAL 137.1 mm, TAL/SVL 2.67; limbs very long, FLL 27.0 mm on left side, FLL/SVL 0.53, HLL 48.1 mm on left, HLL/SVL 0.94. Head moderately long, HW/HL 0.68, HD/HW 0.86; snout moderately long, SEL/HL 0.37. Rostral elongated, 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 single row of scales on each side; loreals small, keeled; suborbital scale rows 4/4, keeled; canthus rostralis elongated, greatly overlapping with each other; enlarged, keeled scales forming single lateral ridge from posteroinferior eye to posterosuperior tympanum on each side; tympanum concealed under scales; SL 8/8, smooth. Mental pentagonal; IL 9/9; enlarged chin shields 4/5, smooth, first one contacting IL on each side, remaining ones separated from IL by two rows of small scales on each side; ventral head scales heterogeneous in size, ones on centre of gular pouch largest, all strongly 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 roughly forming four longitudinal rows on each side of body. Nuchal and dorsal crests feebly developed, continuous; no skin fold under nuchal and dorsal crest; MD 36. Dorsal limb scales strongly keeled, mostly homogeneous, except a few enlarged, conical scales on postaxial thighs; F4S 18/19, T4S 27/27. Ventral body scales approximately parallel, homogeneous, all strongly keeled, VN 54. Ventral limb scales parallel, small on upper arms and thighs and larger on forearms and crus, all strongly keeled. Tail scales all strongly keeled, ventral tail scales slightly larger than dorsal tail scales.

Colouration of holotype in life.

Dorsal surface of head dark grey with no transverse bands. Lateral surfaces of head grey, a greyish white suborbital stripe extending from nasal scale to rictus on each side. Upper lips brownish grey, lower lips greyish white. No radial stripes around eyes. Oral cavity and inner lips pinkish white, tongue pale flesh colour.

Dorsal surface of body brownish black. A narrow, bright yellow, smooth-edged, dorsolateral stripe on each side of body from occipital region to pelvis. Some black inverted triangular patterns between the two dorsolateral stripes. Some bright yellow spots scattered below dorsolateral stripe on each side of body. Dorsal surfaces of limbs dark grey. Dark transverse bands on dorsal surfaces of limbs very indistinct. Dorsal surface of tail brownish grey with some indistinct dark transverse bands.

Ventral surface of head greyish white. A pale yellow gular spot present on posterior central part of ventral head, no stripes on ventral head. Ventral surfaces of body, limbs, and tail greyish white with no pattern.

Variations.

The variations of metrical characteristics of the type series are provided in Table 4 . Other variations are as follows: the dorsal colour is brownish red or brick red, the transverse bands on the limbs are more distinct, the dorsolateral stripes are indistinct, pale grey or yellow anteriorly and pale grey posteriorly, and the gular spot indistinct or absent in the female paratypes.

Comparisons.

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

Diploderma jiulongense 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 jiulongense 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 jiulongense sp. nov. differs from D. grahami by having a relatively much longer tail (TAL/SVL 2.33-2.71 vs. 1.64), having relatively longer hind limbs (HLL/SVL 0.82-0.94 vs. 0.61), having a distinct transverse gular fold (vs. feeble), and the presence of dorsolateral stripes (vs. absence); from D. kangdingense by having a relatively longer tail (TAL/SVL 2.33-2.71 vs. 1.56-2.27), the absence of skin folds under nuchal and dorsal crests in males (vs. presence), and having greyish white ventrolateral surface of body in males in life (vs. yellow); from D. panchi by having a relatively longer tail in females (TAL/SVL 2.33-2.44 vs. 1.42-1.52), having relatively longer hind limbs in females (HLL/SVL 0.79-0.82 vs. 0.60-0.66), and the presence of short black stripes on ventral head (vs. absence); and from D. qilin by having a relatively longer tail (TAL/SVL 2.33-2.71 vs. 1.74-2.18), having short black stripes on ventral head (vs. vermiculate stripes) and having smooth edged dorsolateral stripes in males (vs. strongly jagged).

Diploderma jiulongense sp. nov. is phylogenetically sister to and most similar in morphology characteristic and colouration to D. angustelinea ; however, Diploderma jiulongense sp. nov. can be differentiated from the latter by having a relatively longer tail (TAL/SVL 2.57-2.71 vs. 2.30-2.49 in males, 2.33-2.44 vs. 1.94-2.22 in females), having relatively longer fore-limbs (FLL/SVL 0.50-0.53 vs. 0.46-0.47 in males, 0.46-0.47 vs. 0.41-0.46 in females), having relatively longer hind limbs (HLL/SVL 0.86-0.94 vs. 0.71-0.80 in males, 0.79-0.82 vs. 0.74-0.79 in females), having a greater ratio of head depth to head width (HD/HW 0.81-0.86 vs. 0.73-0.79 in males, 0.79-0.86 vs. 0.73-0.79 in females), and having smooth edged dorsolateral stripes in males (vs. weakly jagged).

Diploderma jiulongense sp. nov. differs from Diploderma danbaense sp. nov. by having a relatively longer tail (TAL/SVL 2.33-2.71 vs. 1.55-1.78), the presence of a distinct gular spot in males in life (vs. absence), the absence of reticulate pattern on ventral head (vs. presence), having smooth edged 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).

Diploderma jiulongense sp. nov. differs from Diploderma donglangense sp. nov. by having a relatively longer tail (TAL/SVL 2.33-2.71 vs. 1.59-1.89), the absence of short black stripes on ventral head (vs. presence), and having smooth edged dorsolateral stripes in males (vs. moderately jagged).

Distribution.

This species is currently known only from its type locality in Yandai Town, Jiulong County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China (Fig. 1 ).

Natural history.

All specimens were collected between 9 and 12 a.m. in bushes or grass in the Yalong River valley. There are a few trees and many rocks at the type locality (Fig. 16E, F ).

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 10. Dorsal view (upper) and ventral view (lower) of the type series of Diploderma jiulongense sp. nov. in preservative.

Figure 11. Holotype (KIZ 2022086) of Diploderma jiulongense 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 12. Paratypes of Diploderma jiulongense sp. nov. in life A, B the female paratype KIZ 2022087 C, D the male paratype KIZ 2022099 E, F the female paratype KIZ 2022101.

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.