Brookesia micra GLAW, KÖHLER, TOWNSEND & VENCES, 2012
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Brookesia micra
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| Higher Taxa | Chamaeleonidae (Brookesiinae), Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Brookesia micra GLAW, KÖHLER, TOWNSEND & VENCES 2012 Brookesia (Evoluticauda) micra — GLAW et al. 2021 |
| Distribution | N Madagascar (Antsiranana) Type locality: Nosy Hara island, 12°14’40’’S, 49°00’30’’E, ca. 10–20 m elevation, Antsiranana Province, northern Madagascar |
| Reproduction | oviparous (phylogenetic imputation, fide Zimin et al. 2022) |
| Types | Holotype: ZSM 2181/2007 (FGZC 1271), adult male (hemipenes everted), collected on 7 March 2007 by H. Enting, F. Glaw and J. Köhler. Paratypes: ZSM, UADBA, ZFMK 92938, male (ZFMK paratype originally published as ZSM 2185/2007) |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A member of the Brookesia minima group based on small body size (SVL,20 mm) and molecular phylogenetic relationships. Brookesia micra is distinguished from all other members of the group by a shorter relative tail length (tail length/SVL 0.37–0.49 versus 0.49–0.92), and by orange coloured tails in life in adults (vs. inconspicuous brownish colour). In addition, from B. confidens by a smaller adult male size (SVL 15.1– 15.3 mm vs. 18.3–20.1 mm), supranasal cone present (vs. absent), and hemipenis with comb-like apical structure (vs. narrow without ornaments); from B. dentata by probably smaller adult body size (no measurements of male B. dentata available); from B. exarmata by smaller adult body size (female SVL 18.7–19.9 vs. 25.7–26.5, no male measurements available for B. exarmata); from B. karchei by smaller size (female SVL 18.7–19.9 vs. 30.7, no male measure- ments available for B. karchei); supraocular cone absent (vs. present); from B. minima by presence of a pelvic spine (vs. absent or indistinct pelvic spine), and hemipenis with comb-like apical structure (vs. balloon-like without ornaments); from B. peyrierasi by a smaller adult male size (SVL 15.1–15.3 mm vs. 19.1–27.4 mm), and hemipenis with comb-like apical structure (vs. bilobed with four spines on each lobe); from B. ramanantsoai by a smaller adult male size (SVL 15.1–15.3 mm vs. 21.7 mm), supraocular cone absent (vs. present in some specimens), and hemipenis with comb- like apical structure (vs. baloon-like without ornaments); from B. tristis by a smaller adult male size (SVL 15.1–15.3 mm vs. 18.0– 18.2 mm), and hemipenis with comb-like apical structure (vs. small papillae on apex not arranged comb-like); and from B. tuberculata by supraocular cone absent (vs. present), and hemipenis with comb-like apical structure (vs. crown-like structure). For a distinction from B. desperata, described below, see the diagnosis of this species. Referencing a fragment of the 16S rRNA gene, B. micra shows an uncorrected pairwise divergence of 6.8% to its sister clade (B. tristis+B. desperata), and divergences .7.2% to all other species of the B. minima group. |
| Comment | Abundance: only known from the type locality (Meiri et al. 2017). Distribution: see map in Glaw et al. 2021: 5 (Fig. 3) |
| Etymology | The species epithet is a latinized derivation from the Greek word ‘mikros’, meaning ‘‘tiny’’ or ‘‘small’’ and referring to the extremely diminutive body size. It is used as an invariable noun in apposition. |
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