Rankinia diemensis (GRAY, 1841)

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Higher Taxa	Agamidae (Amphibolurinae), Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Mountain Heath Dragon, Mountain Dragon
Synonym	Agama diemenensis CLOQUET 1816 (nomen nudum) Grammatophora muricata diemensis GRAY 1841 Grammatophora angulifera GRAY 1845 (part.) Agama caelaticeps SMITH 1849 Amphibolurus angulifer — BOULENGER 1885: 389 Amphibolurus angulifer — LUCAS & FROST 1894: 46 Amphibolurus diemensis — COGGER 1983 Amphibolurus diemensis — HENLE & OSBORNE 1986 Rankinia diemensis — WELLS & WELLINGTON 1984: 82 Rankinia boylani WELLS & WELLINGTON 1984: 82 Rankinia caelaticeps — WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985: 19 Rankinia diemensis — GREER 1991 Tympanocryptis diemensis — COGGER 2000: 353 Rankinia diemensis — BARTS & WILMS 2003 Rankinia diemensis — WILSON & SWAN 2010 Rankinia diemensis — COGGER 2014: 754 Rankinia diemensis — CHAPPLE et al. 2019: 90
Distribution	Australia (New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria) Type locality: Tasmania
Reproduction	oviparous
Types	Syntypes: BMNH xxiv.49a-c (possible), Van Diemen's Land (=Tasmania), collector unknown. The name was based by Gray on multiple specimens (number unknown) from Van Diemen's Land obtained by Gray from John Gould. Gray (1845) subsequently used the name Grammatophora angulfer Var. 1 for the taxon he had previously named Grammatophora muricata diemensis. The three specimens xxiv.49a-c are the only spirit preserved specimens in the BMNH listed by Gray (1845) from the type locality without collectors other than those that would preclude them from being Gould specimens available in 1841. There would appear to be no way of either excluding them from the type series of diemensis, or definitively identifying them as syntypes. Syntypes: BMNH 1946.9.4.29-30, BMNH 1946.9.4.58-66, BMNH xxiv. 49. f, from Tasmania [Grammatophora angulifera] Syntypes: BMNH 1946. 9. 4. 33-34, from "towards the Tropic of Capricorn, South Africa", in error [Agama caelaticeps]
Diagnosis	Diagnosis (genus): Small, short-legged, short-tailed agamid; dorsals markedly heterogeneous (small scales intermixed with much larger spinose scales); enlarged spinose scales arranged in paravertebral, dorsolateral and lateral rows; another prominent row of spinose scales extends along each side of the tail-base; tympanum exposed (J. Melville, pers. comm., 8 Sep 2021).
Comment	Habitat: forest-ground. Rankinia diemensis is not closely related to R. adelaidensis which clearly is related to Ctenophorus (Hugall et al. 2008). Type species: Grammatophora muricata diemensis GRAY 1841 is the type species of the genus Rankinia WELLS & WELLINGTON 1984: 82.
Etymology	The genus is named after Australian herpetologist Peter Rankin who died in January 1979 while he tried to catch geckos with Ross Sadlier in New Caledonia.
References	Alam, S. M., Sarre, S. D., Georges, A., & Ezaz, T. 2020. Karyotype Characterisation of Two Australian Dragon Lizards (Squamata: Agamidae: Amphibolurinae) Reveals Subtle Chromosomal Rearrangements Between Related Species with Similar Karyotypes. Cytogenetic and Genome Research, 1-12 - get paper here Barts, M. & Wilms, T. 2003. Die Agamen der Welt. Draco 4 (14): 4-23 - get paper here Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. Geckonidae, Eublepharidae, Uroplatidae, Pygopodidae, Agamidae. London: 450 pp. - get paper here Chapple, David G.; Reid Tingley, Nicola J. Mitchell, Stewart L. Macdonald, J. Scott Keogh, Glenn M. Shea, Philip Bowles, Neil A. Cox, John C. Z. Woinarski 2019. The Action Plan for Australian Lizards and Snakes 2017. CSIRO, 663 pp. DOI: 10.1071/9781486309474 - get paper here Cloquet, H. 1816. Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelle, dans lequel on Traité Méthodiquement des Differens Etres de la Nature. G.L.C.F.D. Cuvier (ed.) Paris, Strasbourg Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp. Escoriza Boj, D. 2005. Australia. Reptiles and Amphibians, Part 1: Rainforest. Reptilia (GB) (40): 70-75 - get paper here Gomard, Guillaume 2015. Tigerottern: eine Einladung zum Kennenlernen der Reptilien Tasmaniens. Terraria-Elaphe 2015 (4): 44-51 - get paper here Gray, J. E. 1841. Description of some new species and four new genera of reptiles from Western Australia, discovered by John Gould, Esq. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (1) 7: 86-91 - get paper here Gray, J. E. 1845. Catalogue of the specimens of lizards in the collection of the British Museum. Trustees of die British Museum/Edward Newman, London: xxvii + 289 pp. - get paper here Greer A E 1991. Limb reduction in Squamates: identification of the lineages and discussion of the trends. Journal of Herpetology 25 (2): 166-173 - get paper here Henle, K. & Osborne, W. S. 1986. Herpetologische Spaziergänge im Kosciusko-Nationalpark/Australien. Herpetofauna 8 (40): 28-33 - get paper here HUGALL, ANDREW F.; RALPH FOSTER , MARK HUTCHINSON and MICHAEL S. Y. LEE 2008. Phylogeny of Australasian agamid lizards based on nuclear and mitochondrial genes: implications for morphological evolution and biogeography. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 93 (2): 343 -358 - get paper here Hutchinson, M.N. 1979. The reptiles of Kinglake National Park. Victorian Naturalist 96: 124-134 - get paper here Lucas, A. H. S. & Frost, C. 1894. The lizards indigenous to Victoria. Proc. R. Soc. Vict. (ns) 6: 24-92 - get paper here Shea, Glenn M; Sadlier, Ross A 1999. A catalogue of the non-fossil amphibian and reptile type specimens in the collection of the Australian Museum: types currently, previously and purportedly present. TECHNICAL REPORTS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM 15, 1999: 1-91 - get paper here Smith, A. 1849. Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa. 3 (Reptiles). Smith, Elder, and Co., London [facsimile published by Winchester Press, Johannesburg, 1977] - get paper here Swan, G.; Sadlier, R.; Shea, G. 2017. A field guide to reptiles of New South Wales. Reed New Holland, 328 pp. Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information http://www.kingsnake.com/oz/lizards/agamids/agamids.htm http://www.amonline.net.au/herpetology/research/pdf/agamidae.pdf https://bioweb.bio/faunaweb/reptiliaweb/FichaEspecie/Andinosaura… http://www.tropicalherping.com/publications/books/mindo/riama-oculata.html http://www.dpiwe.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/BHAN-55C5R3?open http://www.arod.com.au/arod/reptilia/Squamata/Agamidae/Rankinia/diemensis Google images

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