Goniurosaurus varius
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Genus: Goniurosaurus
Name
Goniurosaurus varius Qi & Grismer & Lyu & Zhang & Li & Wang, 2020 sp. nov. – Wikispecies link – ZooBank link – Pensoft Profile
Type material
Holotype.SYS r002333, adult male (Fig. 7), collected by Liang Zhang on 20 September 2019 from Nanling National Nature Reserve (ca 560 m a.s.l.), Chengjia Yao Ethnic Township, Yangshan County, Guangdong Province, China. Paratypes. One adult male (SYS r002331) and three adult females (SYS r002330, SYS r002362–2363), collected by Zhi-Ren Zhang, Yu Zhang, and Peng Cen on 6 August 2018, from Nanling National Nature Reserve, Chengjia Yao Ethnic Township at elevations between 180 and 560 m.
Additional specimens
Five individuals from the Nanling National Nature Reserve, Yangshan County, including a road-killed adult (SYS r002357), and four captured/released individuals (two juveniles, one adult male, and one adult female). All released individuals were photographed and measured for morphological examination. The tips of the tails were removed for future molecular analyses (SYS r002355, 2358, 2359, 2360), but not used these in current phylogenetic analysis.
Etymology
The specific name varius means varied or diverse in Latin and refers to its variable dorsal color pattern. As the type locality locates within the Nanling National Nature Reserve, we suggest the common name as “Nanling Leopard Gecko”.
Diagnosis
Goniurosaurus varius sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other congeners by the combination of the following characters: (1) adult body size moderate, measuring 81.5–86.3 mm in SVL; (2) nasal scales surrounding nares 7–9; (4) internasal usually single, rarely two; (5) eyelid fringe scales 50–56; (6) granular scales of the upper eyelids similar in size to those on the top of the head; (7) scales around midbody 101–110; (8) dorsal tubercle rows at midbody 21–24; (9) paravertebral tubercles between limb insertions 27–29; (10) claws sheathed by four scales, dorsal scale small, two lateral scales short and shell-shaped; (11) axillary pockets deep; (12) presence of ten precloacal pores in males, and absent in females; (13) dorsal ground color of head, body, and limbs in adults reddish brown, mottled with varied spots and stripes; (14) nuchal loop usually incomplete, if complete, posteriorly rounded; (15) presence of four thin dorsal body bands with dark spots, bordered with black anteriorly and posteriorly, sometime last two bands indistinct; (16) usually presence of a longitudinal light colored vertebral stripe on the trunk of body; (17) light pink beneath, with dark brown lateral spots; (18) iris orange-red.
Comparisons
Goniurosaurus varius sp. nov. is most similar to G. yingdeensis and G. zhelongi, two closely related species from north Guangdong Province, but it differs from them by following characters: paravertebral tubercles between limb insertions 27–29 (25–26 in G. yingdeensis, 28–33 in G. zhelongi); dorsal tubercle rows at midbody 21–24 (vs. 25–27 in G. yingdeensis, 23–28 in G. zhelongi); trunk of body usually with a longitudinal light colored vertebral stripe (vs. absent in G. yingdeensis and G. zhelongi); nuchal loop and body bands with black spots (vs. without black spots in G. yingdeensis and G. zhelongi); iris orange-red (vs. iris gray, becoming orange near pupil in G. yingdeensis, iris gray-white, tinged with orange in G. zhelongi). Additional comparisons of morphological characteristics with G. yingdeensis and G. zhelongi are provided in Figures 8, 9.
Description of holotype
An adult male with regenerated tail; SVL 84.7 mm; HL 22.7 mm; HW 16.0 mm; SE 9.1 mm; EE 13.0 mm; SVL:HL 3.7; HL:HW 1.4; SE:EE 0.7. Head triangular, wider than neck, covered with granular scales, densely interspersed with tubercles in the temporal and occipital regions; area between orbits uniformly covered by small granular scales; supraorbital tubercles with almost uniform size; scales of rostrum slightly larger than those in between orbits; rostral convex and hemi-elliptic, 1.3 times as broad as high, middorsal portion of rostral partially sutured dorsomedially, bordered laterally by first supralabial and prenasal, dorsolaterally by supranasal, dorsally by one internasal; external nares oval, surrounded by 7/8 nasals each, anteriorly by prenasal and supranasal, dorsally by supranasal and a granular scale, posteriorly by 5/5 smaller granular scales, and ventrally by the prenasal; prenasal with long recurved ventral portion; supranasals large, separated by one internasals; supralabials rectangular, 8/10; preorbital scales 15/15; eyes relatively large, pupils vertical; eyelid fringe scales 50/52; outer surface of upper eyelid composed of granular scales of about the same size of those on top of head; external auditory meatus circular, tympanum deeply recessed; mental triangular, bordered laterally by first infralabial and posteriorly by three postmentals; infralabials rectangular, 9/9; gular scales juxtaposed uniform granular, abruptly into flat juxtaposed pectoral scales, and grading posteriorly imbricated larger ventral scales. Tongue with a small notch at tip. Crowns of teeth expanded, occlusal margins bearing multiple ridges. Dorsal surface of neck and body covered with uniform granular scales, interspersed with densely sharply pointed conical tubercles; scales around midbody 105; dorsal tubercle rows at midbody 24; vertebral row of scales indistinct; paravertebral tubercles between limb insertions 27; dorsal body tubercles surrounded by 9–11 granular scales; dorsal scales grading ventrally into larger flattened imbricate ventral scales; ten precloacal pores in a transverse series; postcloacal region greatly swollen, covered with imbricate flattened scales, containing 2/2 postcloacal tubercles laterally at the level of the vent.
Regenerated tail, short, thin at base, gradually thickening posteriorly, and gradually thinning into an obtuse tip; dorsal scales in regenerated portion of tail flattened, subimbricate, arranged in more or less regular transverse rows; subcaudal scales flattened, smooth, subimbricate, slightly larger than dorsal caudal scales.
Limbs relatively long and slender; dorsal surface covered with granular scales, densely interspersed with tubercles; ventral surface covered by flat scales, juxtaposed, subimbricate or imbricate; dorsal surface of pes and manus covered with granular scales, interspersed with several conical tubercles on top of pes, lacking tubercles on top of manus; hind limbs slightly larger than forelimbs; ventral surfaces of pes and manus covered with large granular scales; axillary pockets deep; subdigital lamellae wide, 7/7 on Finger I, 12/12 on Finger II, 15/16 on Finger III, 17/15 on Finger IV, 13/13 on Finger V, 8/8 on Toe I, 13/ 13 on Toe II, 17 / 17 on Toe III, 21 / 18 on Toe IV, and 18 / 15 on Toe V; fingers laterally compressed, relative finger lengths I < V<II < III ≤ IV; toes laterally compressed, third toe nearly as long as the fourth toe, relative toe length I < II < V ≤ III < IV; base of claws sheathed by four scales, two lateral scales of claw short shell-shaped.
Coloration in life
Dorsal ground color of head, neck, body, and limbs reddish brown, mottled with indistinct faint dark brown-colored markings, scattered with densely light yellow tubercles and a few dark brown and reddish brown tubercles; nuchal loop incomplete, just from posterior corner of eyes to the temporal region, dirty yellow; four narrow body bands between the nuchal loop and the caudal constriction, fourth band inserting into the dorsal thigh, bands dirty yellow, with dark spots, edged in dark-brown anteriorly and posteriorly; a longitudinal light colored vertebral stripe between third and fourth bands; supralabials and infralabials grayish brown; pupils vertical and black; iris orange-red; dorsal surface of limbs deep reddish brown with dirty yellow tubercles and indistinct dark spots; chin, throat, thorax, and ventral surfaces of body pink, tinged brownish, with dark-brown lateral spots; ventral surface of limbs pink, tinged brownish, with dark-brown spots; digits gray; ground color of the regenerated tail dark-brown, one original white band on the bases of tail, followed by irregularly shaped white markings. The body color becomes darker after capture.
Coloration in preservative
Dorsal ground color of head, body, and limbs black; ventral surface faded to grayish white; all darker spots and bands on the dorsal surface blurred.
Coloration in juvenile
Dorsal ground color of head, neck, body, and limbs dark-orange, mottled with indistinct faint dark-brown-colored markings, scattered with dense light yellow tubercles and a few dark-brown tubercles; nuchal loop from posterior corner of the mouth to the back of head, light yellow; four narrow body bands between the nuchal loop and the caudal constriction, fourth band inserting into the dorsal thigh, band color light yellow with dark spots, edged in dark-brown anteriorly and posteriorly (but not laterally); supralabials and infralabials grayish brown; pupils vertical and black; iris orange-red; dorsal surface of limbs dark orange with orange tubercles and indistinct dark spots; chin, throat, thorax, and ventral surfaces of body pink; ventral surface of limbs pink with dark-brown spots; digits gray; tail black-grey bearing white caudal bands encircling tail.
Variations
Measurements of type series specimens are shown in Table 8. Three paratypes have more complete and distinct nuchal loops than holotype, but SYS r002363 has only half a nuchal loop from the posterior corner of the right eye to the back of head. SYS r002330 has vertebral stripe extending from the posterior edge of the second body band to the anterior edge of third body band. SYS r002331 and SYS r002363 have large dark dorsal blotches on the head and the body band margin are broader than those in the holotype. Also, SYS r002363 has immaculate body bands. An additional female specimen (Fig. 10B) shows a more mottled dorsal pattern than all other types and its bands are mingled with irregular patterns on the body. SYS r002362 (Fig. 10C) has smaller dorsal blotches making it appear almost as if it has a reticulated dorsal pattern and its bands are greatly obscured, it has a distinct white vertebral stripe from the posterior edge of the first body band extending to the anterior edge of the last body band.
| Morphological character | SYS r002330 # | SYS r002331 # | SYS r002333 * | SYS r002362 # | SYS r002363 # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | female | male | male | female | female |
| SVL | 86.3 | 84.9 | 84.7 | 81.5 | 85.7 |
| TaL | Regenerated | Regenerated | Regenerated | Regenerated | Regenerated |
| HL | 22.3 | 22.9 | 22.7 | 21.5 | 23.5 |
| HW | 14.7 | 15.0 | 16.0 | 14.5 | 15.6 |
| SE | 8.7 | 8.8 | 9.1 | 8.7 | 10.0 |
| EE | 12.4 | 14.3 | 13.0 | 12.8 | 13.2 |
| SPL | 8/8 | 9/9 | 8/10 | 9/8 | 7/7 |
| IFL | 8/8 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 9/8 | 9/9 |
| N | 7/7 | 8/7 | 7/8 | 7/8 | 7/9 |
| IN | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| PostIN | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| PM | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| GP | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 8 |
| CIL | 52/54 | 54/56 | 51/53 | 51/50 | 53/55 |
| PO | 11/12 | 14/15 | 15/15 | 14/15 | 16/16 |
| GST | 9–11 | 9–11 | 9–11 | 8–11 | 9/12 |
| PTL | 28 | 28 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| DTR | 24 | 24 | 24 | 21 | 24 |
| MB | 104 | 101 | 105 | 107 | 110 |
| PP | Absent | Injured, unable to count | 10 | Absent | Absent |
| PAT | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Distribution and ecology
Goniurosaurus varius sp. nov. is currently known only from the karst environment of the Nanling National Nature Reserve, northern Guangdong Province, China (Figure 11). All individuals were found in crevices of limestone near villages, farmlands, or country lanes at elevations between 180 and 560 m at night after 21:00 hrs.
Original Description
- Qi, S; Grismer, L; Lyu, Z; Zhang, L; Li, P; Wang, Y; 2020: A definition of the Goniurosaurus yingdeensis group (Squamata, Eublepharidae) with the description of a new species ZooKeys, 986: 127-155. doi
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