Ceratophora ukuwelai KARUNARATHNA, POYARKOV, AMARASINGHE, SURASINGHE, BUSHUEV, MADAWALA, GORIN & DE SILVA, 2020
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Ceratophora ukuwelai
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| Higher Taxa | Agamidae (Draconinae), Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Ukuwelas’ Rough-horn Lizard Sinhala: Ukuwelage ralu-ang katussa |
| Synonym | Ceratophora ukuwelai KARUNARATHNA, POYARKOV, AMARASINGHE, SURASINGHE, BUSHUEV, MADAWALA, GORIN & DE SILVA 2020 |
| Distribution | Sri Lanka (Kegalle) Type locality: rainforest flow neighboring a stream, Salgala Forest, Kegalle District, Sri Lanka (7.120219°N, 80.251892°E, WGS1984; elevation 242 m; around 1100 h) |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. NMSL 2020.05.01, adult female, 37.9 mm SVL, collected on 22 August 2019 by Suranjan Karunarathna and Anslem de Silva. Paratype. NMSL 2020.05.02, adult female, 36.4 mm SVL, collected from rainforest flow neighboring a stream, Salgala forest, Kegalle District, Sri Lanka (7.074361°N, 80.249797°E, WGS1984; elevation 269 m; around 1000 h) on 22 August 2019 by Suranjan Karunarathna and Anslem de Silva. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: The new species is assigned to the genus Ceratophora on the basis of phylogenetic data and by having a rostral appendage developed in males, absent in females; tympanum covered with skin; nuchal crest indistinct; dorsal crest absent; tail not prehensile; gular fold comparatively reduced; and scales on flanks heterogeneous, some scales greatly enlarged. Ceratophora ukuwelai sp. nov. can be readily distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following morphological and meristic characteristics: rostral appendage complex, comprising several scales; maximum SVL 37.9 mm; trunk relatively long (TRL/ SVL ratio 51.4–52.6%) with relatively short fore-body (SA/TRL ratio 90.2–90.9%); nuchal crest feebly defined; squamosal process present; dorsum with heterogeneous, keeled scales, intermixed with smooth flat scales; almost all scales on head, body, limbs, and tail bearing 1–18 mechanoreceptive pores (in a single scale), each pore with a sensory seta; 5–7 enlarged, keeled scales present on body flanks; nine supraciliary scales; 40–44 paravertebral scales; 72–77 midbody scales; 72–75 midventral scales. The new species is also clearly distinct from all other congeners in ND2 gene sequences (divergence over 9.6%). |
| Comment | Synonymy: Possibly a synonym of C. aspera. Karunarathna et al., 2020 found that Ceratophora ukuwelai is sister to C. aspera with a pairwise genetic distance of 9.6% (uncorrected p-distance). However, there is significant population-level variation across the range of C. aspera (with northern and southern populations having up to 5-6% pairwise distance with mtDNA), hence Wikramanayake et al. 2021 suspect that aspera may be a variable species that includes ukuwelai. Abundance: Rare. Known from 2 specimens. Conservation status. Critically Endangered (CR). Sympatry: Calotes calotes, Calotes liolepis, Calotes versicolor, Otocryptis wiegmanni. Similar species: C. aspera |
| Etymology | Named after a Latinized eponym in the masculine genitive singular, honoring evolutionary biologist and herpetologist Dr. Kanishka Ukuwela (Rajarata University) for his invaluable contribution to biodiversity studies and conservation in Sri Lanka. |
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