Asian Herpetological Research 202X, 1X(X): XX–XX Review DOI: 10.16373/j.cnki.ahr.210020 An Annotated List of Lizards (Sauria: Squamata) Recorded from the People’s Republic of China Bo CAI1,2,3, Xiang JI4, Yingyong WANG5, Dingqi RAO6, Song HUANG7, Yuezhao WANG1, Zhaobin SONG2, Xianguang GUO1* and Jianping JIANG1* 1 Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China 2 Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, SichuanResearch University, Chengdu 610065, Sichuan, China 3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China 4 Jiangsu Key Laborator y for Biodiversity and Biotechnolog y, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210046, Jiangsu, China 5 State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol/The Museum of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, China 6 Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, Yunnan, China 7 College of Life Sciences, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241002, Anhui, China Abstract From the perspectives of biodiversity as Yunnan, Guangdong, Guangxi and Taiwan. Sichuan, conservation and management, there is an urgent need Yunnan, and Taiwan harbour relatively more endemic to have at hand current synopses of classification and Herpetologicalspecies than others. A total of 154 species of lizards were first distributions of species. In this paper, we review and discovered in China, and the type localities of these species summarize the classifications, Chinese and English are concentrated in Yunnan, Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, and names, type specimens, type localities and distributions of Sichuan. China’s lizard fauna to promote scientific exchange and species conservation among relevant peopleAsian in China and Keywords classification, type specimen, type locality, distribution, internationally. As of December 31, 2020, a total of 230 endemic species, invasive species species of lizard, belonging to 44of genera and 12 families, have been recorded from China, including 4 invasive species: 2 in the family Gekkonidae, 1 in Iguanidae and one 1. The brief history of lizard bioinventory in China in Dactyloidae. There are 115 endemic species, accounting People’s Republic of China is one of the largest countries in for 50% of this group.first The proportion of endemic species the world (land area about 9.6 million km2), and straddles two to China was the highest in the family Eublepharidae zoogeographical realms, the Palaearctic and the Oriental (84.62%), and the number of endemic species to China (Zhang, 2011). China has a relatively independent geological was the highest in the family Agamidae (42 species). The history and great geological complexity (Hsü and Chen, 1999; species distributions and classification in the “Fauna Sinica (Reptilia 2): Squamata (Lacertilia)” were updated. Wan, 2003). For instance, the phased uplift of the Tibetan OnlineAmong the provincial administrative units, there is a Plateau caused significant changes in climate, topography and larger number of species in the southern provinces, such faunal composition beginning in the late Eocene (ca. 38 Ma; Favre et al., 2015; Renner, 2016). The complex topography in * Corresponding authors: Dr. Xianguang GUO, from Chengdu Institute of China is generally assigned to four different terraces (Zhang, Biology (CIB), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Chengdu, China, with his research focusing on taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of reptiles; Prof. 2011). The terrain is generally high in the west and lower to the Jianping JIANG, from CIB, CAS, Chengdu, China, with his research focusing east, including the Third Pole, deserts, grassland, mountains, on diversity and protection of amphibians and reptiles. hills, basins, plains, oceans, etc. Tremendous differences in E-mail: [email protected] (GUO X. G.); [email protected] ( JIANG J. P.) Received: 17 March 2021 Accepted: 28 June 2021 latitude (a span of more than 50° latitude), longitude (a span Asian Herpetological Research Vol. 1X of more than 60° longitude), and altitude (a span of more than (2015), Wa ng et al. (2020) summarized amphibians and reptiles 89 km) create conditions for extremely diverse climates and (including lizards) in China. These catalogues simply list remarkably heterogeneous landscapes. Thus, a high degree classification information (Table 1). of species richness and endemism in China might have been Table 1 Comprehensive summary of China’s lizard bioinventory. expected in terms of reptile diversity. Lizards (native and invasive) China’s reptiles were recorded sporadically in ancient Year Information References books. For example, five groups of lizards were recorded in (families, genera, species) Herpetological 1977 8, 34, 117 ◎ the “Compendium of Materia Medica”, which was completed in Department (1977) 1578 by Shizhen LI (Zhang et al., 1998). These so-called groups 1986 8, 35, 123 △ ◎ Tian and Jiang (1986) are analogous to “families” in the modern classification system. ◎ 1993 8, 37, 151+1 △● Zhao and Adler (1993) Modern reports on animal surveys in China started as early as 1999 9, 39, 155+1 ● ◎ Zhao et al. (1999) the 18th century (Zhang et al., 1998). Prior to 1950, the taxonomic 2000 9, 37, 161+1 △ Zhao et al. (2000) status of orders and suborders was established, and most of 2015 10, 41, 188+1 △ Cai et al. (2015) the families, genera and species were discovered by overseas 2020 10, 43, 210+1 ResearchWang et al. (2020) scholars (Pope, 1935; Zhao and Adler, 1993; Zhao et al., 1999). △ 2021 10+2, 42+2, 226+4 ▽ □● ◎ This study After 1960, Chinese specialists began to discover new species △ △ and establish new higher taxa. With the development of the Note: , Chinese names; ▽ , English names; □, type specimen; ●, type locality; economy, the increment of government support for field and ◎ , distribution. △ surveys and convenient transportation, the number of new species to science has increased annually, particularly in the Recently, owing to classification changes, cryptic species, 1980s and 2010s (Figure 1). and increasing data, the distributions of reptiles in China have The earliest comprehensive summary of China’s reptile changed substantially. Uncertainties in the type specimens taxonomy is “Retrieval of Chinese Reptile Taxonomy”, which and type localities of many species have led to controversies in included 117 species, 34 genera and 8 families of lizards and many classifications. Misidentification also leads to inaccuracies their distributions without English names, type specimen and in the distribution data. In the context of increasingly frequent type locality (Herpetological Department, 1977). Since then, Herpetologicalin international academic exchanges, the ongoing National 1999, “Fauna Sinica (Reptilia 2): Squamata (Lacertilia)” (Zhao et al., Biodiversity Survey and the adjusted List of National Key 1999) was published and included 156 species, 39 genera and Protected Wild Animals, the existing literature is scattered and 9 families of lizards and their distributions without English no longer provides the information needed for law enforcement names and type specimens; this was the most systematic and related to species or biodiversity protection to ecological, comprehensive work on China’s lizards toAsian date. In this book, agricultural, forestry, or other related departments; scientific Zhao et al. (1999) added Eublepharidae and relocated the species researchers; or the public. Therefore, from taxonomic and/ of Xenosauridae in China to Shinisauridae.of or resource protection perspectives, there is an urgent need to With the development and progress of molecular revise the historical data and compile the classifications and systematics, the international classification system of reptiles distributions of species. has also undergone substantial changes, and new taxa have In this study, the classification, Chinese and English names, been continuing to be firstreported. To update recent classification type specimen(s), type locality and distribution of China’s achievements, Cai et al. (2015) catalogued the reptiles in lizards were comprehensively summarized for the first time. China by reappraising the taxonomic progress made with The distributions in Zhao et al. (1999) were thoroughly updated, morphological and molecular data and published "A revised and the changes caused by alterations in species classification taxonomy for Chinese reptiles", with the addition of the family were revised. In the end, we completed the latest compilation of Sphaerodactylidae.Online More recently, on the basis of Cai et al. information related to 230 known species in China, including Figure 1 The trend of new species of lizards discovered by Chinese scientists. Bo CAI et al. Updated List of Lizards in China No. X 4 invasive species belonging to Gekkonidae, Iguanidae and to Bayesian phylogenetic analysis, Cyrtopodion medogense is Dactyloidae. The genus-level and species-level information were considered a member of Altiphylax (Che et al., 2020). However, updated with discoveries of species, changes in taxonomic status Altiphylax is not a monophyletic group, and the analysis lacked and data from detailed investigations (Table 1 and Section 2). molecular data for Altiphylax tokobajevi, which is the type species of this genus (Che et al., 2020). Thus, in support of Zhao 2. Taxonomic Changes et al. (1999) and Cai et al. (2015), we temporarily keep Cyrtopodion sensu lato and retain Cy. medogense in