On the systematic status of the genus Oriocalotes Günther, 1864 (Squamata: Agamidae: Draconinae) with the description of a new species from Mizoram state, Northeast India

Abstract

The montane agamid lizard genus Oriocalotes is currently considered monotypic, represented by the species, O. paulus. The systematic status of this taxon has remained questionable since its initial descriptions in the mid-1800s. A detailed molecular and morphological study was carried out to assess the validity of this genus, and its systematic position within the Asian agamid subfamily, Draconinae. Freshly collected and historical museum specimens from the type locality of O. paulus were examined morphologically, along with additional samples collected from localities in Mizoram state, Northeast India. Utilising newly generated molecular sequences (two mitochondrial and three nuclear genes), combined with those previously published for representative genera from the subfamilies Draconinae and Agaminae, Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic trees were constructed. Phylogenetic results suggest that Oriocalotes is part of the widespread South and Southeast Asian radiation of Calotes. Comparative morphological studies (including external morphology, hemipenis and osteology) between Oriocalotes and related genera further support this systematic placement. Oriocalotes is herein regarded as a junior subjective synonym of Calotes. Calotes paulus comb. nov. is also assigned a lectotype and given a detailed redescription based on the lectotype, paralectotypes and additional topotypic material. Furthermore, the specimens collected from Mizoram populations are found to be morphologically and genetically distinct from Calotes paulus comb. nov., and are described herein as a new species, Calotes zolaiking sp. nov.

On the systematics and the phylogenetic position of the poorly known, montane dragon-lizard species Pseudocalotes austeniana (Annandale, 1908) (Squamata, Agamidae, Draconinae)

“…nov. (ultrafast bootstrap values 58, posterior probability 0.90). The relationships between the ingroup taxa were generally consistent with the previously published phylogenies including Pyron et al (2013), , Harvey et al (2017), Giri et al (2019), Wang et al (2019), however, there were certain deviations, particularly with the placement of the genera Acanthosaura Gray, 1831, Cristidorsa Wang, Deepak, Datta-Roy, Lin, Jiang, Che & Siler, 2018, and Salea. Additionally, previous studies have recovered Ptyctolaemus spp.…”

“…With the increase in the availability of molecular sequence data for multiple species of the agamid subfamily Draconinae, our understanding of the systematic positions and the evolutionary relationships between the genera and their species is rapidly improving, as has been recently evidenced by the description of multiple new genera from south and southeast Asia (Denzer et al 2015;Deepak et al 2016;Pal et al 2018;Wang et al 2018), and the synonymization of certain other genera (Deepak et al 2015;Giri et al 2019). By generating sequence data for yet another montane Draconinae species Japalura austeniana comb.…”

A new species of Bent-toed gecko (Squamata: Gekkonidae: Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827) from the Garo Hills, Meghalaya State, north-east India, and discussion of morphological variation for C. urbanus

“…With regards to herpetofaunal diversity, Meghalaya State is historically the most well surveyed of the hilly states in north-east India. The past two decades has seen a growing number of new species of reptiles and amphibians being described from the state (e.g., Das et al, 2010;Mahony et al, 2011Mahony et al, , 2013Mahony et al, , 2018Mahony et al, , 2020Purkayastha & Matsui, 2012;Datta-Roy et al, 2013;Kamei et al, 2013;Agarwal et al, 2018c) and the taxonomic status of other poorly known species being revised based on newly collected material (e.g., Mahony, 2008;Biju et al, 2016;Kamei & Biju, 2016;Agarwal et al, 2018b;Mahony et al, 2018Mahony et al, , 2020Giri et al, 2019aGiri et al, , 2019b. The Garo Hills, however, are still relatively poorly surveyed.…”

Molecular phylogenetics and taxonomic reassessment of the widespread agamid lizard Calotes versicolor (Daudin, 1802) (Squamata, Agamidae) across South Asia

“…Smith's C. versicolor group, which includes the species C. calotes, C. emmaGray, 1845, C. grandisquamis, C. jerdoni Günther, 1870, C. maria Gray, 1845, C. minor (Hardwicke and Gray, 1827, C. mystaceusDuméril and Bibron, 1837, C. nemoricola by a combination of characters: absence of crescent-shaped patch of granular scales at the insertion of the forelimbs(vs. present in C. emma, C. grandisquamis, C. jerdoni, C. mystaceus and, and C. nemoricola),(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55)(56)(57)(58)(59)(60)(61)(62)(63)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55)(56)(57)(58)(59)(60); nuchal and dorsal crest scales well developed, nuchal crest scales slightly larger than the dorsal crest scales (vs. nuchal spines much longer, dorsal spines reduced in C. maria and C. nemoricola; nuchal spines much longer than dorsal spines in C. calotes, C. emma, C. grandisquamis); two well-separated supratympanic clusters of spine-like conical scales, one scale from each cluster enlarged, prominent to form a spine (vs. row of 3-4 compressed supratympanic spines in C. grandisquamis and C. nemoricola, 8-9 compressed spines above tympanum in C. calotes; two parallel rows of supratympanic scales in C. jerdoni and C. maria, single well-developed postorbital spine in C. emma). The species differs from C. paulus(Smith, 1935) and C. zolaikingGiri, Chaitanya, Mahony, Lalrounga, Lalrinchhana, Das, Sarkar, Karanth and Deepak, 2019 primarily by the homogeneous scalation on the dorsolateral region (vs. heterogeneous) and a comparatively well-developed dorsal crest. From the dubious species C. bhutanensisBiswas, 1975, the species differs in possessing longer head, concave orbital region, and by the absence of a row of erect scales on the sides of the neck.…”