Calotes farooqi AUFFENBERG & REHMANN, 1995
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Calotes farooqi
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| Higher Taxa | Agamidae (Draconinae), Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Farooq’s Garden Lizard |
| Synonym | Calotes versicolor nigrigularis AUFFENBERG & REHMANN 1993 Calotes versicolor farooqi AUFFENBERG & REHMANN 1995 (nom. nov.) Calotes versicolor nigrigularis — NGUYEN et al. 2009: 202 Calotes versicolor farooqi — NGUYEN et al. 2009: 202 Calotes versicolor farooqi — MASROOR 2011 Calotes versicolor farooqi — JAMAL et al. 2018 Calotes farooqi — GOWANDE et al. 2021 |
| Distribution | Pakistan Type locality: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mansehra, Shargal (corrected to Sarhan); 34.3°N, 73.4°E, 1077 m a.s.l. nigrigularis: Pakistan; Type locality: on shrub on rocky hillside, Shargal, 20 km S Balakot, Manshera Dist., Northwest Frontier Province (lat. 34.3° N, long. 73.4° E), Pakistan. |
| Reproduction | oviparous. Exhibits temperature‐dependent sex determination (TSD) fide Cornejo-Páramo et al. 2020 (and references therein). |
| Types | Holotype: UF (FLMNH) 79470, adult male, 15 Jun. 1990; PMNH field crew leg. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis and comparison. A medium to large species of Calotes, adult males ranging from 94–99 mm in SVL, body moderately compressed; head relatively long; dorso-lateral scales posterodorsally oriented, large, weakly to strongly keeled, homogeneous; ventral scales smaller than the dorso-lateral scales, strongly keeled, mucronate; anti-humeral fold absent; two distinct spines in the supratympanic region; nuchal and dorsal crest continuous, distinct; scales of the nuchal crest large, those of dorsal crest slightly smaller, slightly recurved, ending at the top of the base of the tail, males with distinct black patches on both sides of the lower jaw, extending into the forebody, in the breeding season. The species can be separated from all the members of the C. versicolor group by a combination of characters: absence of crescent-shaped patch of granular scales at the insertion of the forelimbs (vs. present in C. emma, C. grandisquamis, C. jerdoni, C. mystaceus, and C. nemoricola), 41–51 Mid-body scale rows (vs. 49–65 in C. emma, 27–35 in C. grandisquamis, 58–63 in C. maria Gray, 48–60 in C. minor Hardwicke and Gray, and 45–58 in C. mystaceus); nuchal crest scales well-developed, dorsal crest scales much smaller, more or less equal in size (vs. nuchal spines much longer, dorsal spines reduced in C. maria and C. nemoricola; nuchal spines much longer than dorsal spines in C. calotes, C. emma, C. grandisquamis); two well-separated supratympanic spines (vs. row of 3–4 compressed supratympanic spines in C. grandisquamis and C. nemoricola, 8–9 compressed spines above tympanum in C. calotes; two parallel rows of supratympanic scales in C. jerdoni and C. maria, single well developed postorbital spine in C. emma). The species differs from C. paulus and C. zolaiking primarily by the homogeneous scalation on the dorsolateral region (vs. heterogeneous) and a comparatively well-developed dorsal crest. From the dubious species C. bhutanensis, the species differs in possessing longer head, concave orbital region, and by the absence of a row of erect scales on the sides of the neck. From C. chincollium, C. nigriplicatus, and members of the C. mystaceus complex (C. bachae, C. geissleri, C. goetzi, C. mystaceus, C. vindumbarbatus, sensu Wagner et al. (2021)) by the absence of an oblique fold of skin in front of forelimbs or shoulder (vs. present). From the Sri Lankan congeners (C. ceylonensis, C. desilvai, C. liocephalus, C. liolepis, C. manamendrai, C. nigrilabris, C. pethiyagodai) the species differs by its posterodorsal orientation of lateral body scales (vs. posteroventral) and absence of shoulder pit (vs. present). The species differs from C. irawadi by its larger adult male body size (average male SVL 96.5 mm in C. farooqi stat. nov., vs. 82.4 mm in C. irawadi), lesser number of dorsal crest scales (41 in C. farooqi stat. nov. vs. 48.9 in C. irawadi); from C. htunwini by the posterodorsal or vertical orientation of scale rows on the sides of the neck and supra-axillary area (vs. horizontal in C. htunwini). The species is most similar in appearance to C. versicolor and C. vultuosus comb. nov., however, can be differentiated from C. versicolor by its smaller adult male body size (average male SVL 97 mm, vs. 108 mm in C. versicolor, female SVL 82 vs. 92 in C. versicolor), dorsal crest scales composed of comparatively shorter scales, which become shorter progressively to the base of the tail (vs. dorsal crest composed of longer scales, dorsal crest continues to the base of the tail in C. versicolor), lesser number of eyelid scales, Eyelid 9–11 (vs. 10–15 in C. versicolor, 11–14 in C. vultuosus comb. nov.), the shape and the size of the scales between the nasal shield and the orbit (large, <6 in a row between the nasal shield and the orbit in C. farooqi stat. nov., vs. small, >6 in C. versicolor and C. vultuosus comb. nov.), by the acuteness of the region between the nostril and the orbit (more acute in C. farooqi stat. nov., less acute in C. vultuosus comb. nov. and C. versicolor). C. farooqi stat. nov. also has slightly lower number of SnS (6), in comparison to C. versicolor and C. vultuosus comb. nov. (generally 7). The species also differs from C. versicolor and C. vultuosus comb. nov. in terms of breeding coloration of the adult males. The head and the forebody of the males of C. farooqi stat. nov. attain grey to black colour, except the vertebral region and the parts of the head above the jaw muscles; the lower portion of the orbit turns black, the black colour extends to the outer surfaces of the forelimbs, the inner surfaces of the forelimbs and the region of the venter intervening the limbs turn greyish black. In contrast, C. versicolor males attain a yellowish colour, trunk and orbital region turn orange, forelimbs and hind limbs turn dark to black, the black patches under the throat do not extend anteriorly onto the jaw muscles; C. vultuosus comb. nov. males attain a cream to brown body colour, the head and the anterior two-thirds of the trunk attain orange colour, which may extend on to the forelimbs, the posterior parts of the body remain duller (Gowande et al. 2021). |
| Comment | Synonymy: Calotes versicolor nigrigularis AUFFENBERG & REHMANN 1993 is a junior primary homonym of Calotes nigrigularis OTA & HIKIDA 1991 (i.e. it has the same name but is a different species). |
| Etymology | The specific epithet is a patronym in genitive singular case, dedicated to Farooq Ahmed, former Director, Zoological Survey Department, Pakistan. |
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