Acanthocercus ceriacoi MARQUES, PARRINHA, SANTOS, BANDEIRA, BUTLER, SOUSA, BAUER & WAGNER, 2022
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Acanthocercus ceriacoi
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| Higher Taxa | Agamidae (Agaminae), Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Ceríaco’s Tree Agama P: Sardão Arborícola de Ceríaco |
| Synonym | Acanthocercus ceriacoi MARQUES, PARRINHA, SANTOS, BANDEIRA, BUTLER, SOUSA, BAUER & WAGNER 2022 Stellio nigricollis BOCAGE 1866: 43 [lapsus calami; see WAGNER et al. 2018] Stellio atricollis — PETERS 1881: 147 [part] Stellio atricollis — BOCAGE 1895: 22) [part] Agama atricollis — BOULENGER 1885: 256 [part] Agama atricollis — BOULENGER 1905: 110 [part] Agama atricollis — FERREIRA 1903: 15 [part] Agama atricollis — MONARD 1937: 58 [part] |
| Distribution | C/NW Angola (from central Malanje to Bengo Province in the west and Uíge Province in the north). Type locality: Cangandala National Park headquarters [-9.819417° N, 16.653861° E, 1089 m a.s.l.], Malanje Province, Angola. |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: CAS 258430, adult male collected by Mariana P. Marques, Luis M.P. Ceríaco, Suzana A. Bandeira, Edward L. Stanley and Jens V. Vindum on 14 September 2015. Paratypes: CAS 2584295; CAS 258431; CAS 258433; CAS 258434; MHNCUP/ REP 860 |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Segmentation of the tail into distinct whorls places the new species in the genus Acanthocercus. Within this genus, heterogeneous body scalation refers it to the cyanogaster/atricollis group and the high density of enlarged trunk scales, in combination with a black patch on the shoulder, place it in the A. atricollis complex. Acanthocercus ceriacoi is a medium sized lizard (mean SVL 122.5 mm [99–143 mm]; mean total length 285 mm [224–330 mm]) for its genus and overall is very similar in morphology to A. cyanocephalus. However, it may be distinguished from all other species of the complex by its meristic characters. The new species has lower scale counts when compared to other species of the A. atricollis complex group (mean scale rows around midbody 108, mean dorsal scale rows 64, mean ventral scale rows 85). In life, displaying males are characterized by a blue coloration of the head; neck, shoulders, body and limbs brownish with a pattern of white and black stripes and speckles; and a pale vertebral band from the neck to the tail, distinct anteriorly between the flanks, becoming more indistinct along a brown background posteriorly. (Marques et al. 2022) |
| Comment | Distribution: Likely to occur in the neighboring provinces of Kwanza-Norte and Zaire, as well as in southern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Specimens of Acanthocercus have been recorded from Angola since the mid nineteenth century under a variety of names. Bocage (1866) referred to the species as Stellio nigricollis, a lapsus calami for atricollis, as noted later by Bocage (1895) and confirmed by Wagner et al. (2018). Subsequently, the species has been recorded as Stellio atricollis (Bocage 1879, 1895; Peters 1881; Boulenger 1885, 1905; Ferreira 1900; Angel 1923; Schmidt 1933; Parker 1936; Monard 1937; Themido 1941), Agama atricollis (Boulenger 1885, 1905; Laurent 1950, 1964; Ferreira 1903; Schmidt 1933; Monard 1937; Parker 1936; Themido 1941; Frade 1963; Manaças 1963), and Agama/Acanthocercus cyanogaster [sic] (Loveridge 1957; Branch & Conradie 2015). In a generalist publication, Falk (1925) described a new species based on an unspecified Angolan population—Agama cyanocephala. As Falk (1925) did not provide any specific type locality and the whereabouts of any type material are unknown, in order to stabilize the taxonomy and nomenclature of the group, Wagner et al. (2018) designated a neotype from Ikelenge [-11.241592°, 24.273256°, 1420 m a.s.l.], northwestern Zambia and considered that most Angolan populations would represent this taxon. Following this interpretation from Wagner et al. (2018), subsequent authors who have dealt with Angolan populations of Acanthocercus have opted to identify the specimens at their disposal as A. cyanocephalus (e.g., Ceríaco et al. 2014, 2016). After preliminary analysis of freshly collected material from southern Angola (Huíla Province), Marques et al. (2018) divided the Angolan populations of Acanthocercus in two putative taxa, A. cyanocephalus in the central and northern regions of the country, and A. sp. in the southern provinces of Huíla, Cunene and Cuando-Cubango. More recently Wagner et al. (2021) revisited the Angolan and northern Namibian populations of the genus. Based on a taxonomic integrative approach they concluded that three distinct lineages of Acanthocercus occur in Angola: A. cyanocephalus (northeastern Angola), A. margaritae, (southern Angola and neighboring northern Namibia), and a third, that correspond to A. ceriacoi (central and northwestern Angola). (Marques et al. 2022) |
| Etymology | Named after Portuguese zoologist Luis Miguel Pires Ceríaco (1987–present), head of collections and research at the Museu de História Natural e da Ciência da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal, and invited curator of herpetology at the Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência, Lisbon, Portugal. Luis M.P. Ceríaco has been a major force comprising the new wave of Angolan herpetological studies and a dedicated supervisor to a new generation of Portuguese and Angolan herpetologists. The name is formed in the genitive masculine singular. |
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