Calotes nemoricola JERDON, 1853
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Calotes nemoricola
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| Higher Taxa | Agamidae (Draconinae), Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Nilgiri Forest Lizard |
| Synonym | Calotes nemoricola JERDON 1853: 471 Calotes nemoricola — BOULENGER 1885: 326 Calotes nemoricola — SMITH 1935: 199 Calotes nemoricola — WERMUTH 1967: 40 Calotes nemoricola — MANTHEY & SCHUSTER 1999: 37 |
| Distribution | S India (Nilgiri Hills, S Western Ghats, Kerala) Type locality: Foot of Coonoor Ghat, Nilgherries. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: ZSI 6560 |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis and comparison. A large sized Calotes (SVL up to 134.8 mm) characterized by the posterodorsal orientation of lateral scales; antehumeral fold absent; 36–43 midbody scale rows; nuchal crest well developed composed of long spines, dorsal crest reduced, almost indistinct behind the midbody; row of 3–4 compressed supratympanic spines; postorbital spine absent; a crescent-shaped patch of granular scales in front of the shoulder present; dorsal and lateral scales large, mostly smooth, weakly keeled towards the flanks, ventral scales strongly keeled, mucronate; paired postmentals, first pair separated by 1–2 median scales; 21–23 subdigital lamellae under fourth finger, 25–31 subdigital lamellae under fourth toe; 10–12 supralabials and 10–11 infralabials; green to brownish above, uniform, often with a dark streak from eye to above tympanum, ventral white to pale grey. C. nemoricola can be distinguished from members of Smith’s C. versicolor group by a combination of the following characters: larger body size: mean adult SVL 125.8 mm, n=7 (vs. C. versicolor, adult SVL 73.8–99.4 mm, n=9 and C. calotes, adult SVL 73.6–96.8 mm, n=3); 36–43 midbody scale rows (30–35 in C. calotes, n=3, 38– 44 in C. versicolor; 58–63 in C. maria; 45–57 in C. jerdoni; 49–65 in C. emma; 48–58 in C. mystaceus and 48–60 in C. minor); nuchal crest well developed with longer spines, dorsal crest reduced (vs. nuchal and dorsal crest well developed, composed of almost equal spines in C. versicolor and C. mystaceus); row of 3–4 compressed supratympanic spines (vs. two well separated supratympanic spines in C. versicolor, 8–9 compressed spines in C. calotes, two parallel rows of compressed supratympanic scales in C. maria and C. jerdoni; single well developed postorbital spine in C. emma); presence of a crescent-shaped patch of granular scales in front of the shoulder (vs. absent in C. versicolor, C. calotes and C. maria) and lateral scales much larger than ventrals (vs. almost equal to the ventrals in C. calotes). Morphologically, it is mostly similar to the closely related C. grandisquamis but can be distinguished based on higher number of midbody scale rows (36–43 vs. 27–35); smaller scales between eye and tympanum, much smaller than tympanum (vs. much larger scales, almost equal to the tympanum); scales on the cheek smaller, weakly keeled (vs. larger, smooth); gular scales keeled, smaller than mental (vs. gular scales smooth, equal to or slightly larger than the mental) and dorsal crest reduced, not extending beyond mid body (dorsal crest well developed, till above the base of tail). Even though these two large bodied species show the above-mentioned morphological differences, there has been some confusion in their correct identification in the recent past. To clarify this, a detailed comparison to distinguish these two species was provided by Ganesh & Chandramouli (2013). (from Pal et al. 2018: 425) |
| Comment | Distribution: Has been erroneously reported from Sri Lanka, but not present there (SOMAWEERA & SOMAWEERA 2009). |
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