Tropiocolotes confusus MACHADO, SMÍD, MAZUCH, SINDACO, SHUKAILI, CARRANZA, 2018
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Tropiocolotes confusus
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| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Tropiocolotes confusus MACHADO, ŠMÍD, MAZUCH, SINDACO, SHUKAILI, CARRANZA 2018 Tropiocolotes scorteccii — ARNOLD 1980: 289 (part) Tropiocolotes scorteccii — ARNOLD 1986: 423 (part) Tropiocolotes scorteccii — VAN DER KOOIJ 2000: 119 (part.) Tropiocolotes scorteccii — BAHA EL DIN 2001: 47 (part.) Tropiocolotes scorteccii — SINDACO & JEREMCENKO 2008: 140 (part.) Tropiocolotes scorteccii — KRAUSE et al., 2013: 23 (part.) Tropiocolotes scorteccii — GARDNER 2013: 210 (part.) Tropiocolotes sp. — CARRANZA et al. 2018: (S2 Appendix, 47) Tropiocolotes confusus — MACHADO et al. 2020 |
| Distribution | Oman (Dhofar) Type locality: Mughsayl, Dhofar, Oman, 16.879N, 53.774E WGS84, alt. 12 m elevation. |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: NMP 6V 74272/2 (sample code OM113), male, collected on the 4 April 2010 by Jirı Smıd (MorphoBank P1260: M340162-67). Paratypes: NMP 6V 74272/1 (sample code OM114), male, same collecting data as holotype (MorphoBank P1260: M340169-74); NMP6V 75045 (sample code TMHC406), female, from West of Mughsayl, Dhofar, Oman, 16.884N, 53.773E WGS84, alt. 21 m a.s.l., collected on the 24 September 2013 by Tomas Mazuch (MorphoBank P1260: M340053– 101). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A small Tropiocolotes characterized by the following combination of morphological characters: (i) maximum recorded snout-vent length (SVL) 25.66 mm (23.59 +/- 1.18); (ii) robust body with relatively broad head (HW/HL = 0.65 +/- 0.07) and round short snout (Figure 6e in Machado et al. 2018); (iii) dorsal and ventral scales on head, body, extremities, and tail imbricate and strongly keeled (one keel on each scale), dorsals larger than ventrals (Figure 6g,i; Table S6); (iv) digits not dilated, covered below by a series of transverse tricarinated subdigital scales; (v) two pairs of postmental scales, 7–9/8–10 lower labials and 8–11/9–10 upper labials (left/right), 10–15 interorbitals; (vi) five wide dark-brown transverse bands, one on neck, three on trunk, and one just behind the hind limbs (Figure 6a,c); (vii) a wide dark-brown temporal stripe from behind the eyes, through the ear opening (avoiding its anterior part; see Figure 6a,e), and to the level of the forelimbs (Figure 6a); and (viii) 6–8 dark brown transverse bands on tail (Figure 6c). Comparison: Tropiocolotes confusus sp. nov. differs morphologically from the geographically and phylogenetically close T. scorteccii by having smaller adult body size (maximum SVL 25.66 mm vs. 30.17 mm), by having a more robust head in proportion to body size (HH/SVL 0.12 +/- 0.01 and HW/SVL 0.18 +/- 0.01 vs. HH/SVL 0.10 +/- 0.01 and HW/SVL 0.16 +/- 0.01; Figures 5c,d, and 6e,f) by having smaller number of IO scales (12 1.51 vs. 15.06 1.68; Table 1); by having strongly keeled dorsal and ventral scales (Figure 6g,i), versus unkeeled or weakly keeled dorsal and ventral scales (Figure 6h,j), and by differences in the color pattern; five wide dark-brown transverse bands, one on neck, three on trunk, and one just behind the hind limbs (Figure 6a,c; MorphoBank P1260: M340162–67), versus total absence of transverse bands or some specimens with just one on the neck and/or behind the hind limbs (Figure 6b,d; MorphoBank P1260: M374433–38 and M340148–53). It differs from the Saudi Arabian T. wolfgangboehmei by having smaller adult body size (maximum SVL 25.66 mm vs. 29.4 mm), by having strongly keeled dorsal and ventral scales (vs. smooth, unkeeled, dorsal and ventral scales), by having five wide dark-brown transverse bands, one on neck, three on trunk, and one just behind the hind limbs and a wide dark-brown temporal stripe from behind the eyes, through the ear opening and to the level of the forelimbs (vs. six wide dark-brown transverse bands, one on neck, four on trunk, and one just behind the hind limbs and the dark-brown temporal stripe extending from the snout to just above the ear opening); it differs from the Arabian and Middle Eastern T. nattereri by having smaller adult body size (maximum SVL 25.66 mm vs. 30 mm), by having strongly keeled dorsal and ventral scales (vs. smooth, unkeeled, dorsal and ventral scales), and by having clearly tricarinated subdigital scales (vs. smooth subdigital scales). Tropiocolotes confusus sp. nov. differs from all the other non-Arabian Tropiocolotes (T. algericus, T. bisharicus, T. naybandensis, T. nubicus, T. steudneri, T. somalicus, and T. tripolitanus) by having smaller adult body size (maximum SVL 25.66 mm vs. 28–32.3 mm), by having strongly keeled dorsal and ventral scales (vs. smooth, unkeeled, dorsal and ventral scales in T. steudneri, T. nubicus, and T. naybandensis), and by having a dark transverse band around the neck (vs. no band around neck in T. algericus, T. bisharicus, T. somalicus, and T. tripolitanus). Genetically, it differs from T.scorteccii by p-distances of 12.3 +/- 1.4%, 11.9 +/- 1.3%, and 17.9 +/- 1.4%, for the 12S, 16S, and cytb genes, respectively (Table S8), and by the absence of allele sharing in the nuclear genes c-mos and MC1R (Figure 4). It differs from the Arabian and Middle Eastern T. nattereri genetically by p-distances of 14.8 +/- 1.8%, 13.4 +/- 1.4%, and 16.8 +/- 1.7% for 12S, 16S, and cytb, respectively (Table S8), and by the absence of allele sharing in the nuclear genes c-mos and MC1R (data not shown). Tropiocolotes confusus sp. nov. differs from all the other non-Arabian Tropiocolotes (T. algericus, T. bisharicus, T. naybandensis, T. nubicus, T. steudneri, T. somalicus, and T. tripolitanus) genetically by very high p-distance values in the 12S, 16S, and cytb (Table S8) mitochondrial genes and by the absence of allele sharing in the nuclear genes c-mos and MC1R (data not shown). |
| Comment | Distribution: See map in Machado et al. 2020 (Fig. 1). |
| Etymology | The species epithet confusus is a Latin adjective that refers to the history of recurrent confusion by different authors between this new species and T. scorteccii. |
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