Trioceros serratus (MERTENS, 1922)
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Trioceros serratus?
Trioceros serratus
We have no photos, try to find some by Google images search: 
| Higher Taxa | Chamaeleonidae, Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Chamaeleo serratus MERTENS 1922 Trioceros serratus — BAREJ et al. 2010 |
| Distribution | Cameroon Type locality: “Südkamerun” (= South Cameroon); now Belo, Mt. Oku, Cameroon (based on neotype) |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Neotype: MNHN-RA 2007.1494; the type specimen was probably destroyed during the Second World War (H. Wermuth 16.4.1979 in litt., in Klaver & Böhme 1992) |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Trioceros serratus differs from all other Trioceros except T. wiedersheimi and T. perreti by a crest formed by the canthi rostrales merging above the snout, forming a depression between the tip of the snout and the merged crest. Moreover, it can be distinguished from T. q. eisentrauti by the absence of gular flaps (Fig. 2D), from T. montium, T. oweni, T. q. quadricornis, T. q. gracilior and T. pfefferi by the absence of rostral appendages in male specimens (Figs 2A, 2C, 2E–F, 2H) and from T. camerunensis and T. cristatus by the presence of a gular crest (Figs 2B, 2D). Trioceros serratus can be differentiated from T. wiedersheimi by a combination of the following characters: T. serratus tends to stay smaller than T. wiedersheimi and the tail length / body length ratio is lower in T. serratus (Tab. 3, Appendix II): total body length, T. wiedersheimi (max. total length in males: 208 mm; in females: 172 mm) growing larger than T. serratus (max. total length in males 179 mm; in females 158 mm), but this observation is not statistically significant; mean tail length / body length ratio is significantly higher in T. wiedersheimi (in males: p < 0.05 NT.w.=10, NT.s.=27; in females: p < 0.05 NT.w.=8 NT.s.=15); the mean numbers of flank scales at midbody, although values overlap, the number of flank scales at midbody is significantly higher (p< 0.01) in T. serratus (N= 44; range: 56–76, mean: 66) than in T. wiedersheimi (N= 19; range: 57–68, mean: 62); num- ber of scales between the eye and the end of the head is significantly higher (p < 0.001) in T. serratus (N= 44; range: 6–11, mean: 8) than in T. wiedersheimi (N= 19; range: 5–9, mean: 7) and single scales tend to be distinctly larger in T. wiedersheimi (Fig. 4); the course of the lateral cristae in front of the eye, decreases almost steadily from the eye to the tip of the snout in T. serratus, while it first runs along the eye and then, from a point approximately at the middle of the eye, in a lower slope to the tip of the snout in T. wiedersheimi. Trioceros serratus can be differentiated from T. perreti by a combination of the following characters: total body length of similar size but, although largest specimens belong to T. serratus, the mean total length is slightly high- er in T. perreti (in males: p > 0.05 NT.p.=25, NT.s.=27; in females: p > 0.05 NT.p.=10, NT.s.=15); mean tail length / body length ratio is significantly higher in T. serratus in males (p < 0.05 NT.p.=25, NT.s.=27) lower, but not significantly, in females (p > 0.05 NT.p.=10 NT.s.=15); mean numbers of flank scales at midbody, although values clearly overlap, the number of flank scales at midbody is significantly lower (p < 0.001) in T. serratus (N= 44; range: 56–76, mean: 66) than in T. perreti (N= 36; range: 65–86, mean: 74; in one single specimen even 93); number of scales between the eye and the end of the head is significantly lower (p < 0.001) in T. serratus (N= 44; range: 6–11, mean: 8) than in T. perreti (N= 37; range: 9–15, mean: 11), scales behind the eyes are of similar size to flank scales in T. perreti and slightly enlarged in T. serratus; maximum length of gular crest is significantly higher in T. serratus than in T. perreti (in males: p < 0.001 NT.p.=25, NT.s.=27; in females: p < 0.001 NT.p.=12, NT.s.=17); length of mouth gap / distance mouth gap to tip of helmet ratio is significantly higher in males of T. serratus (p < 0.05; NT.p.=25, NT.s.=27), while the value is not significant in females (p > 0.05; NT.p.=12, NT.s.=17); dor- sal part of the casque flat in T. serratus (and T. wiedersheimi) and convex in T. perreti (Böhme & Klaver 1992). T. serratus can be distinguished from T. wiedersheimi by the temporal cristae which are distinct in T. wiedersheimi and indistinct in T. serratus, but this character varies within both clade (BAREJ eta l. 2010). However, these differences are not clearly shown by BAREJ et al. 2010 (Fig. 4). |
| Comment | Synonymy: C. serratus has been synonymized with T. wiedersheimi by Mertens 1940 and subsequent authors but revalidated by BAREJ et al. 2010. |
| References |
|
| External links |