Orange-lipped Forest Lizard, Calotes aurantolabium
Andaman Forest Lizard, Calotes andamanensis
ABSTRACT
A new species is described from the southern Western Ghats of India. The new species was wrongly identified as Calotes andamanensis and is distinguished from it in lacking the antehumeral pit and possessing acutely keeled scales. It is distinguished from all species of theCalotes versicolor group of Smith in having posteroventral orientation of dorsal body scales and is distinguished from all species of the Calotes liocephalus group of Smith in lacking the antehumeral pit. A redescription of C. andamanensis is provided based on the holotype. Calotes andamanensis is a valid species with type locality in the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands, India.
Etymology.—The specific epithet is derived from the Neo-Latin aurantium, meaning golden, and the Latin labium, meaning lip, in reference to the orange upper lip.
Distribution and Habitat.—The habitat at the type locality is tropical evergreen rain forest. Sympatric agamids include C. elliotti, C. rouxi, Calotes grandisquamis, C. nemoricola, Draco dussumieri, Otocryptis beddomii, Psammophilus blanfordanus, and Psammophilus dorsalis (Ishwar et al., 2001). Calotes calotes and C. versicolor occur at lower elevations in drier habitat (Ishwar et al., 2001).
FIG. 1. Relief map of southern India showing type locality, Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, of Calotes aurantolabium at 8N. Elevation above sea level represented in grayscale (white, approximately 0 m, dark grays to black . approximately 1,000 m). Inset shows regional perspective of type localities of C. aurantolabium, Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (A); and Calotes andamanensis, Andaman and Nicobar Islands (B). Map rendered from http://www.itismolinari.mi.it/Gtopo30.htm.
FIG. 2. Right lateral and dorsal head, lateral body, and throat-chin views of Calotes urantolabium, female holotype BNHM 1436 (A, B, E, G) and Calotes andamanensis, male holotype ZMUC 36944 (C, D, F, H), respectively.
Krishnan, S. 2008. New Species of Calotes (Reptilia: Squamata: Agamidae) from the Southern Western Ghats, India. Journal of Herpetology. 42:3 530-535.