Acanthosaura phongdienensis NGUYEN, JIN, VO, NGUYEN, ZHOU, CHE, MURPHY & ZHANG, 2019
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Acanthosaura phongdienensis
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| Higher Taxa | Agamidae (Draconinae), Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Acanthosaura phongdienensis NGUYEN, JIN, VO, NGUYEN, ZHOU, CHE, MURPHY & ZHANG 2019 |
| Distribution | Vietnam (Thua Thien-Hue) Type locality: 16° 28’ 03.6” N, 107° 16’ 40.8” E, at Phong Dien Nature Reserve, Thua Thien-Hue Province, Vietnam, about 197 m elevation |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: KIZ 10695, an adult male collected on 22 October 2010 by Robert W. Murphy, Wei-Wei Zhou, Ba Dinh Vo, Luan Thanh Nguyen, and Sang Ngoc Nguyen. Paratypes: ROM 48013 and ITBCZ 6830, adult males; KIZ 10657, KIZ 10697, and ITBCZ 6831, adult females; and KIZ 10617, a sub-adult male (Table 3). Other data were the same as for the holotype except for KIZ 10464, which was collected in September 2010 at an elevation of 1019 m a.s.l. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis. Medium size, SVL 73–77 mm in males and 59–65 mm in females; TL much longer than SVL; rostral scute entire; nuchal spine at middle of nuchal crest and tympanum; tympanum naked; postorbital spine about one half of ED; nuchal and dorsal crests continuous (Figs. 2–4); lateral scales small, intermixed with large, keeled scales whose keels point backward and back-upward; SL 9–12; IL 10–11. Comparisons: Acanthosaura phongdienensis sp. nov. differs from A. capra, A. murphyi, and A. nataliae by the absence of a spine on each side of neck. By having continuous dorsal-nuchal crests, the new species differs from A. armata (Gray 1827 in Hardwicke & Gray 1827), A. bintangensis Wood, Grismer, Grismer, Ahmad, Onn & Bauer, 2009, A. cardamomensis, A. crucigera Boulenger, 1885, A. phuketensis Pauwels, Sumontha, Kunya, Nitikul, Samphanthamit, Wood & Grismer, 2015, and A. titiwangsaensis Wood, Grismer, Grismer, Ahmad, Onn & Bauer, 2009. The new species is intermediate morphologically between A. coronata and A. lepidogaster in having continuous nuchal-dorsal crests (like the former), entire rostral scute, and in appearance (like the later). From A. coronata, the new species differs by having longer postorbital and nuchal spines (2.5 mm versus 1.1–1.6 mm), longer nuchal and dorsal crests, and having entire rostral scute (versus divided into two or three small scutes; Ananjeva et al. 2008). Genetically, the new species differs from A. coronata by an uncorrected p-distance (COI) of 21.7%. Acanthosaura phongdienensis sp. nov. mainly differs from A. brachypoda and A. lepidogaster by having a continuous nuchal-dorsal crest (Ananjeva et al. 2008, Figs. 2B, 3). In addition, the new species differs from A. brachypoda and A. lepidogaster by uncorrected p-distances of 13.6% and 12.8%, respectively. Using the key provided by Ananjeva et al. (2008) for identification of Vietnamese Acanthosaura, the new species is most similar to A. coronata. However, the entire rostral scute readily distinguishes the new species from A. coronate, which possesses two or three small rostrals. |
| Comment | |
| Etymology | The specific epithet phongdienensis refers to the Vietnamese name Phong Ðiền Nature Reserve where the new species was discovered. |
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