Cordylus marunguensis GREENBAUM, STANLEY, KUSAMBA, MONINGA, GOLDBERG & BURSEY, 2012
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Cordylus marunguensis
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| Higher Taxa | Cordylidae (Cordylinae), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Marungu Girdled Lizard G: Marungu-Gürtelschweif |
| Synonym | Cordylus marunguensis GREENBAUM, STANLEY, KUSAMBA, MONINGA, GOLDBERG & BURSEY 2012 |
| Distribution | Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire) Type locality: Pepa, Marungu Mountains, Katanga Province, DRC (07°43’08.1’’S, 29°45’52.4’’E, ca. 2000 m elevation). |
| Reproduction | viviparous (phylogenetic imputation, fide Zimin et al. 2022) |
| Types | Holotype: UTEP 20374 (field no. EBG 2994), an adult female. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Cordylus marunguensis is a putatively rupicolous species that can be distinguished from most congeners in having a relatively large SVL, a depressed head and body, a greyish brown ground colour with cream to tan flecks and a yellowish ring around the neck, dorsal scales that are rectangular, rugose, obtusely keeled and serrate posteriorly and the presence of a loreal scale. Cordylus marunguensis differs from C. angolensis by lacking two longitudinal series of small, irregular white spots on the dorsum (present in C. angolensis, Bocage 1895), by having a larger tail and TL:SVL ratio, by having a smaller 4th toe length, by the presence of a loreal scale (usually absent in C. angolensis) and by higher numbers of transverse gular rows, dorsal transverse rows, dorsal + lateral longitudinal rows and ventral lateral rows (Table 2). Cordylus marunguensis differs from its sister taxon C. ukingensis by lacking highly mucronate scales on the lateral sides of the body, by having a depressed head and body, by the presence of a loreal scale (loreal noted as fused with preocular by Broadley & Branch 2002), by having a greyish brown dorsum with cream to tan flecks (dorsum reddish brown with black mottling in C. ukingensis), by having a larger TL:SVL ratio, by having a smaller HH:HL ratio and by having higher numbers of transverse gular rows, dorsal + lateral longitudinal rows, ventral long- itudinal rows and transverse ventral rows (Broadley & Branch 2002). Cordylus marunguensis differs from C. beraduccii by having a greyish brown dorsum with cream to tan flecks (dorsum reddish brown with yellowish flecks in C. beraduccii), by having a nostril pierced centrally on the lower margin of the nasal (nostril pierced midway along the lower border of the nasal in C. beraduccii) and by having laterals that are obliquely keeled (laterals horizontally keeled in C. beraduccii) (Broadley & Branch 2002). Cordylus marunguensis differs from C. meculae by having a greyish brown dorsum with cream to tan flecks (dorsum dark brown with cream to yellow flecks in C. meculae) and by having five ILs (six in C. meculae; Branch et al. 2005). Cordylus marunguensis differs from the holotype and Tanzanian specimens of C. tropidosternum by having higher numbers of transverse gular rows and dorsal + lateral longitudinal rows (Table 2) and by having reduced ventral osteoderms (Fig. 3) [GREENBAUM et al. 2012]. |
| Comment | Abundance: only known from its original description (Meiri et al. 2017). |
| Etymology | The specific epithet refers to the Marungu Plateau where the new species was discovered. |
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