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| Pseudotrapelus tuwaiqensis Tamar, Uvizl, Shobrak, Almutairi, Busais, Salim, AlGethami, AlGethami, Alanazi, Alsubaie, Chirio, Carranza & Šmíd, 2023 |
Abstract
A recent molecular phylogeny of the agamid genus Pseudotrapelus, distributed in the rocky areas of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, revealed the presence of a genetically distinct lineage around the city of Riyadh in central Saudi Arabia. With the inclusion of additional specimens, we were able to describe this lineage as a new species, P. tuwaiqensis sp. nov., confined to the Tuwaiq Escarpment, thus endemic to central Saudi Arabia. Our results of morphological examinations and molecular analyses, using three mitochondrial (COI, 16S, ND4-tRNAs) and two nuclear (c-mos, MC1R) gene fragments, show the new species is genetically differentiated and phylogenetically close to P. sinaitus and P. chlodnickii.
Keywords: Acrodonta, biogeography, DNA barcoding, Middle East, multilocus phylogeny, reptiles, Saudi Arabia
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| Pseudotrapelus tuwaiqensis sp. nov. holotype (NMP-P6V 76634), adult male. Photo by Laurent Chirio. |
Pseudotrapelus tuwaiqensis sp. nov.
English name: Tuwaiq Agama
Arabic name: عظاءة طويق
Diagnosis: A Pseudotrapelus species forming a clade together with P. sinaitus and P. chlodnickii, with the following combination of morphological and genetic characters: (1) large size with a total length of 200–203 mm and SVL 70.7–76.6 mm; (2) 14–19 upper and 14–18 lower labial scales; (3) ear opening very large, oval, rimmed anterodorsally by conical scales of different sizes that give it a serrated appearance; (4) scales in the occipital area predominantly not enlarged; (5) heterogeneous dorsal scales with the mid-dorsals being distinctly keeled and larger than the scales on the flanks; (6) one continuous row of 4–7 precloacal pores in both sexes; (7) 3rd toe longer than the 4th; (8) tail scales not arranged in whorls; (9) body and tail beige-brown in life with dark brown or orange transverse bars, the first on the nape, the second and the most prominent one in the scapular region, the third at midbody, the fourth in front of the insertion of the hind limbs, the fifth at the tail base; and the tail with regular dark bars down its length; (10) three unique mutations in the MC1R alignment: position 264 C instead of T, position 508 G instead of A, position 562 G instead of C; (11) one unique mutation in the c-mos alignment in position 202 C instead of G (see Appendices 5, 6).
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| General appearance of Pseudotrapelus tuwaiqensis sp. nov. A paratype NMP-P6V 76635, adult female. Photo by Laurent Chirio; B paratype NMP-P6V 76636, adult female. Photo by Jiří Šmíd; C Uncollected specimen from locality 25.45933°N, 46.56276°E. Photo by Marius Burger; D Uncollected specimen, locality Shaib-Luha, Saudi Arabia. Photo by Laurent Chirio. |
Etymology: The species epithet tuwaiqensis is derived from the geographic feature the species is associated with, the Tuwaiq Escarpment, that cuts through central Saudi Arabia from the southwest of the country to slightly north and northwest of the city of Riyadh.
Karin Tamar, Marek Uvizl, Mohammed Shobrak, Mohammed Almutairi, Salem Busais, Al Faqih Ali Salim, Raed Hamoud M. AlGethami, Abdulaziz Raqi AlGethami, Abdulkarim Saleh K. Alanazi, Saad Dasman Alsubaie, Laurent Chirio, Salvador Carranza and Jiří Šmíd. 2023. A New Species of Pseudotrapelus (Reptilia: Squamata: Agamidae) from Central Arabia. Vertebrate Zoology. 73: 1033-1045. DOI: 10.3897/vz.73.e110626