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Calotes nigrilabris PETERS, 1860

IUCN Red List - Calotes nigrilabris - Endangered, EN
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Higher TaxaAgamidae (Draconinae), Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Black-cheek lizard 
SynonymCalotes (Bronchocele) nigrilabris PETERS 1860: 183
Calotes rouxii BLYTH (not of DUMÉRIL & BIBRON; fide SMITH 1935)
Calotes nigrilabris — BOULENGER 1885: 328
Calotes nigrilabris — SMITH 1935: 206
Calotes nigrilabris — MANTHEY & SCHUSTER 1999: 38
Calotes nigrilabris — SOMAWEERA & SOMAWEERA 2009 
DistributionSri Lanka (Ceylon)

Type locality: Newera Ellia” [= Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka]  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: NMW 23355 (fide Tiedemann et al. 1994) 
Diagnosis 
CommentCommon in Sri Lanka (BAHIR & SURASINGHE 2005).

Types: SMITH 1935 said that the types are in Berlin, but this is apparently not true (DENZER et al. 1997).

Sexual dimorphism: male Calotes nigrilabris have a black cheek.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after the black coloration of the upper lip, from Latin niger, nigra, nigrum = black, and Latin labrum = lip. 
References
  • Amarasinghe, A. A. T.; U. Manthey, E. Stöckli, I. Ineich, S. 0 Kullander, F. Tiedemann, C. McCarthy & D. E. Gabadage 2009. The original descriptions and figures of Sri Lankan agamid lizards (Squamata: Agamidae) ofthe 18th and 19th centuries. Taprobanica 1 (1): 2-15 - get paper here
  • Amarasinghe, A. A. Thasun; Franz Tiedemann and D. M. S. Suranjan Karunarathna 2011. Calotes nigrilabris Peters, 1860 (Reptilia: Agamidae: Draconinae): a threatened highland agamid lizard in Sri Lanka. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 5 (2): 33-43(e32). - get paper here
  • Amarasinghe, A. A. THASUN;, D. M. S. SURANJAN KARUNARATHNA, JAKOB HALLERMANN, JUNICHI FUJINUMA, HEINZ GRILLITSCH & PATRICK D. CAMPBELL 2014. A new species of the genus Calotes (Squamata: Agamidae) from high elevations of the Knuckles Massif of Sri Lanka. Zootaxa 3785 (1): 059–078 - get paper here
  • Amarasinghe, A.A. Thasun; D.M.S. Suranjan Karunarathna, and J. Fujinuma 2014. A New Calotes Species from Sri Lanka with a Redescription of Calotes liolepis Boulenger, 1885. Herpetologica 70 (3): 323-338 - get paper here
  • Bahir, M.M. & K. P. Maduwage 2005. Calotes desilvai, a new species of agamid lizard from Morningside Forest, Sri Lanka. Raffles Bull. Zool., Suppl. No. 12: 381-392 - get paper here
  • Bahir, M.M. & T. Surasinghe 2005. A conservation assessment of the Sri Lankan Agamidae (Reptilia: Sauria). Raffles Bull. Zool., Suppl. No. 12: 407-412 - 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
  • Boulenger, George A. 1890. The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor & Francis, London, xviii, 541 pp. - get paper here
  • Das, Indraneil & Abhijit Das 2017. A Naturalist’s Guide to the Reptiles of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. John Beaufoy Publishing Ltd., Oxford, 176 pp.
  • De SILVA 1994. An introduction to the herpetofauna of Sri Lanka. Lyriocephalus, 1 (1-2): 3-19
  • Denzer, Wolfgang; Günther, Rainer; Manthey, Ulrich 1997. Annotated type catalogue of the Agamid lizards (Reptilia: Squamata: Agamidae) in the Museum für Naturkunde der Humbolt-Universität zu Berlin (former Zoological Museum Berlin). Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin 73 (2): 309-332 - get paper here
  • Erdelen, W. 1984. The genus Calotes (Sauria: Agamidae) in Sri Lanka: distribution patterns. J. Biogeogr. 11: 515-525 - get paper here
  • Gemel, R.; G. Gassner & S. Schweiger 2019. Katalog der Typen der Herpetologischen Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien – 2018. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, B 121: 33–248 - get paper here
  • Günther, A. 1864. The Reptiles of British India. London (Taylor & Francis), xxvii + 452 pp. - get paper here
  • Hallermann, J. 2000. A new species of Calotes from the Moluccas (Indonesia) with notes on the biogeography of the genus (Sauria: Agamidae). Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 49 (1-2): 155-163 - get paper here
  • Janssen, Jordi and Anslem de Silva 2019. The presence of protected reptiles from Sri Lanka in international commercial trade. TRAFFIC Bulletin 31 (1): 9 - get paper here
  • Janzen, P.; Klaas, P. & Ziesmann, S. 2007. Die Agamen der Insel [Sri Lanka]. Draco 7 (30): 24-33 - get paper here
  • Jayasekara, Dulan; Lakshika<br />Keerthirathna, Dharshani<br />Mahaulpatha 2020. Population densities and conservation assessment of three threatened agamid species in Horton Plains National Park, Sri Lanka. Journal of Wildlife and Biodiversity, DOI: 10.22120/jwb.2020.118316.1115 - get paper here
  • JAYASEKARA, E.G.D.P.; M.C. PRABHATH and W.A.D. MAHAULPATHA 2017. MATURITY STAGE CATEGORIZATION OF ENDEMIC LIZARD (Calotes nigrilabris) IN THE GRASSLANDS OF HPNP. WILDLANKA 5 (2): 046 - 051
  • Jayasekara, E.G.D.P.; M.C. Prabhath, W.A.D. Mahaulpatha 2019. Microhabitat Utilisation of Endemic Lizard Calotes nigrilabris in the Grasslands of Horton Plains National Park, Sri Lanka. Journal of Tropical Forestry and Environment 9 (1) - get paper here
  • Jayasekara, EGDP; MC Prabhath and WAD Mahaulpatha 2018. Why does male Calotes nigrilabris has a Black- cheek? Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 6(2): 208-211 [note: this appears to be a predatory journal with little if any peer review] - get paper here
  • Karunarathna, D. M. S. Suranjan, W. A. A. D. G. Pradeep, P. I. K. Peabotuwage and M. C. De Silva. 2011. First report on the ovipositional behavior of Calotes nigrilabris Peters, 1860 (Reptilia: Sauria: Agamidae) from the Central Massif of Sri Lanka. Russ. J. Herpetol. 18 (2): 111-118 - get paper here
  • Macey, J. R., J. A. Schulte II, A. Larson, N. B. Ananjeva, Y. Wang, R. Pethiyagoda, N. Rastegar-Pouyani, T. J. Papenfuss 2000. Evaluating trans-Tethys migration: an example using acrodont lizard phylogenetics. Systematic Biology 49 (2): 233-256 - get paper here
  • Manthey U 2008. Agamid lizards of Southern Asia, Draconinae 1. Terralog 7, 160 pp.
  • Manthey,U. & SCHUSTER,N. 1999. Agamen, 2. Aufl. Natur und Tier Verlag (Münster), 120 pp. - get paper here
  • Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig. 1860. Über einige interessante Amphibien, welche von dem durch seine zoologischen Schriften rühmlichst bekannten österreichischen Naturforscher Professor Schmarda während seiner auf mehrere Welttheile ausgedehnten, besonders auf wirbellose Thiere gerichteten, naturwissenschaftlichen Reise, mit deren Veröffentlichung Hr. Schmarda gegenwärtig in Berlin beschäftigt ist, auf der Insel Ceylon gesammelt wurden. Monatsber. königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1860 (April): 182-186. - get paper here
  • Smith, M.A. 1935. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Reptiles and Amphibia, Vol. II. Sauria. Taylor and Francis, London, 440 pp.
  • Somaweera, R. & Somaweera, N. 2009. Lizards of Sri Lanka: a colour guide with field keys. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 304 pp.
  • Taylor, E.H. 1953. A review of the lizards of Ceylon. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 35 (12): 1525-1585 - get paper here
  • Tiedemann,F.; Häupl,M. & Grillitsch,H. 1994. Katalog der Typen der herpetologischen Sammlung nach dem Stand vom 1. Jänner 1994. Teil II: Reptilia. Kat. wiss. Samml. Naturhist. Mus. Wien 10 (Vertebrata 4): 1-110
  • Uetz, P.H.; Patel, M.; Gbadamosi, Z.; Nguyen, A.; Shoope, S. 2024. A Reference Database of Reptile Images. Taxonomy 4: 723–732 - get paper here
  • Wijerathne, I., Karunarathna, S., Sursinghe, T., Vidanapathirana, D. R., Ukuwela, K., Wickramasinghe, S., ... & Fernando, S. 2025. Identification of Priority Areas for Conservation of Threatened Agamid Lizards of Sri Lanka Using Species Distribution Modeling. Integrative Conservation - get paper here
 
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