Tympanocryptis tolleyi MELVILLE, CHAPLIN, HIPSLEY, SARRE, SUMNER & HUTCHINSON, 2019
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Tympanocryptis tolleyi
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| Higher Taxa | Agamidae (Amphibolurinae), Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Gawler Earless Dragon |
| Synonym | Tympanocryptis tolleyi MELVILLE, CHAPLIN, HIPSLEY, SARRE, SUMNER & HUTCHINSON 2019: 24 |
| Distribution | Australia (South Australia) Type locality: 2.8 km ESE Malbooma Outstation, Mulgathing Station, South Australia; 30°41’4700 S, 134°12’2100 E. |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. SAMA R69147; adult male. Collected by M.H. on 13 October 2015. Paratypes. SAMA R26711, 30 km SW Mabel Ck H/S, South Australia, 29°100 3000 S, 134°080 E, adult female; R39978-79, 2 km SSW of Grace Bore, Bulgunnia Station, South Australia, adult and juvenile females; R44704, Mt Vivian Yards, The Twins Station, South Australia, 30°36’ S, 135°42’ E, adult female; R45143, Nth Halls Paddock, Wilgena Station, South Australia, 30°3500300 S, 134°1903700 E, adult male; R47558, 1.9 km NE of Crows Nest Bore, Mt Vivian Station, South Australia, 30°49’2200 S, 135°49’1800 E, adult male; R58048, 25 km NE Half Moon Lake, South Australia, 29°52’3400 S, 133°37’0500 E, adult male; R62565, Challenger Mine lease, 23.6 km SE Blowout Trig, South Australia, 29°52’3200 S, 133°34’5000 E, adult female; R65637, 8.4 km NE Bon Bon Homestead, South Australia, 30°21’4900 S, 135°31’4500 E, adult male; R65808, 5.12 km NE Mullaquana Homestead, 33°10’3800 S, 137°24’0800 E, adult male; R69085, 0.2 km SSW Malbooma Outstation, Mulgathing Station, South Australia, 30°41’1700 S, 134°10’4000 E, adult female; R69141, 1.1 km SE Malbooma Outstation, Mulgathing Station, South Australia, 30°41’3800 S, 134°11’1000 E, adult male. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis. A species of Tympanocryptis with rostral scale separated from the canthus rostralis, nasal scale extending dorsally across the canthus and bordered below by enlarged scales, well-developed lateral neck fold, keeled dorsal head scales, strong sexual dimorphism in dorsal pattern (cross-banded females, males with longitudinal light dorsal lines that coalesce medially), ventral surface white. Description. Lateral neck fold weakly continuous; spines not continuous along fold, with cluster at jaw angle and then forming a line along the posterior end of fold. Head shape, moderately wide skull with moderately short snout. Head and snout with moderately keeled dorsal scales; keels irregular, those on the lateral scales aligned more obliquely than those on the more medial scales. Snout shape convex in profile, with one to two rows of supralabial scales separating the rostral area from the canthus rostralis. Nasal scale dorsal margin extends on to the dorsal side of the canthus. Two to three enlarged scales along the ventral margin of the nasal scale, between the nasal and small snout scales. Dorsal body scales weakly keeled or flat, only slightly overlapping. Numerous scattered enlarged dorsal scales, at least twice the width of adjacent body scales, each with a strong median keel ending in a prominent posterior spine directed posterodorsally; trailing edge of scale with narrow raised posterior edge. Enlarged spinous scales appear larger and more densely packed in the dark dorsal cross-bands than the paler interspaces, not arranged in longitudinal series. Ventral body scales smooth to weakly keeled, throat scales weakly keeled. Thigh scalation heterogeneous, with scattered enlarged spinous scales similar to those on body. Lateral fold between axilla and groin absent. SVL to 55 mm in females and 50 mm in males. Males and females markedly different in pattern. Males dorsally tan, sandy orange or pinkish brown with prominent whitish dorsolateral lines that are usually continuous and widen medially between the dark dorsal cross-bands, outlining a series of five isolated dark patches down the vertebral zone. Females drabber grey-brown to sandy brown, with almost no trace of longitudinal lines, leaving a simple dorsal body pattern of five irregular dark transverse dorsal cross-bands, somewhat narrower than the intervening pale body colour. Pale vertebral stripe in both sexes tends to be narrow and weakly expressed, usually confined to dark mid-dorsal patches. The dorsolateral striped pattern continues strongly onto tail in males. Pale supra-ocular bar moderate to strongly contrasting. Venter white. |
| Comment | Habitat. Arid chenopod shrublands and grasslands and the skirts of stony hills and rock outcrops, generally with sparse overstorey and with gravelly or heavier soil types. In the vicinity of the type locality at Malbooma outstation and the Kychering Rocks, lizards inhabit both the sparsely vegetated granitic and sedimentary rock outcrops and the surrounding gravel and clay plains. Distribution: see map in Melville et al. 2019: 6 (Fig. 1: species D) |
| Etymology | Named for Timothy David Tolley of the South Australian Museum Waterhouse Club, in recognition of his long-term support for field research by the South Australian Museum, including coordination of the Waterhouse Club expedition that yielded the series of specimens that includes the holotype of this species. |
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