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| Takydromus yunkaiensis J. Wang, Lyu, & Y.Y. Wang
in Wang, Lyu, Yang, et al., 2019.
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Abstract
A new species, Takydromus yunkaiensis J. Wang, Lyu, & Y.Y. Wang, sp. nov. is described based on a series of specimens collected from the Yunkaishan Nature Reserve located in the southern Yunkai Mountains, western Guangdong Province, China. The new species is a sister taxon to T. intermedius with a genetic divergence of 8.0–8.5% in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene, and differs from all known congeners by a combination of the following morphological characters: (1) body size moderate, SVL 37.8–56.0 mm in males, 42.6–60.8 mm in females; (2) dorsal ground color brown; ventral surface green to yellow-green, but light blue-green on chin and throat, posteriorly green in adult males; (3) dorsolateral lines paired, strikingly yellowish-white bordered by black above and below, invisible or indistinct in juveniles and adult females; (4) flanks of body blackish brown with light brown marks in adult males; (5) presence of four pairs of chin-shields; (6) four supraoculars on each side; (7) presence of a row of supracilary granules that separate supracilaries from supraoculars; (8) two postnasals; (9) enlarged dorsal scales in six longitudinal rows on trunk of body, with strong keel; (10) enlarged ventral scales in six longitudinal rows, strongly keeled in males, smooth but outermost rows weakly keeled in females; (11) enlarged and keeled lateral scales in a row above ventrals; (12) femoral pores 2–3 on each side; (13) subdigital lamellae 20–23 under the fourth finger, 23–30 under the fourth toe; and (14) the first 2–3 subdigital lamellae under the fourth toe divided. The discovery of Takydromus yunkaiensis sp. nov. brings the total number of species of this genus to 24, of which nine occur in mainland China.
Keywords: grass lizard, southern China, species diversity, taxonomy, Takydromus yunkaiensis sp. nov.
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| Figure 3. Morphological features of the adult male holotype SYS r001580 of Takydromus yunkaiensis sp. nov. in life. A Habitus view and close-up of flank B close-up of dorsal body C close-up of ventral body D–G close-up of head scales. |
Takydromus yunkaiensis J. Wang, Lyu & Y.Y. Wang, sp. nov.
Diagnosis: (1) body size moderate, SVL 37.8–56.0 mm in males, 42.6–60.8 mm in females; (2) dorsal ground color brown; ventral surface green to yellow-green, but light blue-green on ventral head and neck, posteriorly green in adult males; (3) dorsolateral lines paired, strikingly yellowish-white bordered by black above and below, invisible or indistinct i n juveniles and adult females; (4) flanks of body blackish brown with light brown marks in adult males; (5) the presence of four pairs of chin-shields; (6) four supraoculars on each side; (7) presence of a row of supracilary granules that separate supracilaries from supraoculars; (8) two postnasals; (9) enlarged dorsal scales with strong keel in six longitudinal rows on trunk of body; (10) enlarged ventral scales in six longitudinal rows, strongly keeled in males, smooth but outermost rows weakly keeled in females; (11) enlarged and keeled lateral scales in a row above ventrals; (12) femoral pores 2–3 on each side; (13) subdigital lamellae 20–23 under the fourth finger, 23–30 under the fourth toe; and (14) the first 2–3 subdigital lamellae under the fourth toe divided.
Etymology: The specific epithet, yunkaiensis, is in reference to the type locality of the new species. We propose the standard name “Yunkai grass lizard” and the Chinese name “Yun Kai Cao Xi (云开草蜥)”.
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| Figure 4. Sexual dimorphism in color patterns. A Male paratype of Takydromus yunkaiensis sp. nov. (SYS r001439) B female paratype of T. yunkaiensis sp. nov. (SYS r001901) C male topotype of T. intermedius (SYS r001601) from Mt. Emei, China D female topotype of T. intermedius (SYS r001602) from Mt. Emei, China E male T. kuehnei (SYS r001268) from Jiulianshan Nature Reserve, China F female topotype of T. kuehnei (SYS r001798) from Taiwan Island, China. |
Jian Wang, Zhi-Tong Lyu, Chen-Yu Yang, Yu-Long Li and Ying-Yong Wang. 2019. A New Species of the Genus Takydromus (Squamata, Lacertidae) from southwestern Guangdong, China. ZooKeys. 871: 119-139. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.871.35947
