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From the Nu River Valley in Southern Hengduan Mountains, Yunnan, China

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From the Nu River Valley in Southern Hengduan Mountains, Yunnan, China Asian Herpetological Research 2017, 8(2): 86–95 ORIGINAL ARTICLE DOI: 10.16373/j.cnki.ahr.160053 A New Species of Japalura (Squamata, Agamidae) from the Nu River Valley in Southern Hengduan Mountains, Yunnan, China Dingqi RAO1*, Jens V. VINDUM2, Xiaohui MA1, Mingxia FU1 and Jeffery A. WILKINSON2* 1 Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, Yunnan, China 2 Department of Herpetology, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California 94118, USA Abstract A population of Japalura from Yunnan Province, China, previously assigned to Japalura splendida, is described as a new species. The new species has been recorded between 1 138–2 500 m in the Nu River drainage between the towns of Liuku and Binzhongluo, and on the lower western slopes of the Nushan and eastern slopes of the Goaligongshan. The new species can be distinguished from other species of Japalura, except J. dymondi, by the following combination of characters: exposed tympani, prominent dorso-lateral stripes, and small gular scales. It is very similar with but differs from J. dymondi by having smooth or feebly keeled dorsal head scales, three relatively enlarged spines on either side of the post-occiput area, strongly keeled and mucronate scales on occiput area and within the lateral stripes, back of arm and leg green, higher number of dorsal-ridge scales (DS) and fourth toe subdigital scales (T4S). A principal component analysis of body measurements of adult male specimens of the new species and J. dymondi showed principal component 1 loading highest for upper arm length, fourth toe length and snout to eye length and principal component 2 loading highest for head width, head length and fourth toe length. Keywords Agamidae, Japalura sp. nov., Goaligongshan Mountain, Nujiang River Valley, Hengduan Mountains, Yunnan, China 1. Introduction et al., 1999). New collections made along the Nu River Valley (Figure 1) by D. Q. RAO and D. T. YANG, Of the 32 known species of Japalura, 18 occur in as well as subsequent collections made by the China continental China (Wang et al., 2015; Wang et al., 2016). Natural History Project (a collaborative project between Of these, ten (J. dymondi, J. flaviceps, J. laeviventris, the Kunming Institute of Zoology (KIZ), the Kunming J. iadina, J. vela, J. yulongensis, J. brevicauda, Institute of Botany (KIB) and the California Academy J.szechwanensis, J. splendida, J. varcoae, and J. of Sciences (CAS)) and the NSF-funded Gaoligongshan yunnanensis) occur in Yunnan Province of southwestern Project (also a collaborative project between KIZ, KIB, China. Meanwhile, the populations of Japalura within and CAS) revealed that the lizards formerly thought to be the Nu (Salween) River Valley drainage system, between J. splendida represent a new species. the towns of Liuku, Liushu County, and Bingzhongluo, Gongshan County, Yunnan Province, have peviously 2. Materials and Methods been assigned to J. splendida (Yang et al., 1983, Zhao * Corresponding authors: Prof. Dingqi RAO, from Kunming Institute Specimens were hand collected from the Nu River Valley of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China, in 1973, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2005. They were with his research mainly focusing on herpetology; Dr. Jeffery A. subsequently euthanized, fixed in 10% buffered formalin WILKINSON, from California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA, with his research mainly focusing on systematics of and transferred to 70% ethanol. Latitude, longitude and Asian reptiles and amphibians. elevation were recorded for specimens collected between E-mail: [email protected] (Dingqi RAO); JWilkinson@calacademy. org (Jeffery A. WILKINSON) 2000–2005 using a Garmin 12 GPS receiver (datum WGS Received: 31 August 2016 Accepted: 12 December 2016 84). No. 2 Dingqi RAO et al. Description of a New Species of Japalura Lizard 87 The following measurements were obtained for Table 1 Loadings for the first two principal component axes for 18 specimens of the new species and Japalura dymondi: male Japalura slowinskii sp. nov. and 20 male J. dymondi. snout-vent length (SVL), distance from tip of snout to Eigenvectors Variable anterior edge of vent; head length (HL), distance from Compoent1 Compoent2 tip of snout to rear border of right angle of the jaw; head SVL 0.17066 0.31689 width (HW), widest point in the temporal region, anterior HL 0.1865 0.45849 HW 0.14983 0.46952 to the tympanum; interorbtal distance (IOD), distance IOD 0.18751 0.30542 between outer edges of superciliary series; snout to eye SEL 0.34883 0.2715 length (SEL), distance from tip of snout to anterior margin UAL 0.32532 0.03411 of eye; upper arm length (UAL), distance from axilla to LAL 0.43406 –0.2698 elbow; lower arm length (LAL), distance from elbow HandL 0.3375 –0.22821 to the posterior edge of palm of right hand; hand length ULL 0.26205 0.05713 LLL 0.24312 –0.02333 (HandL), distance from the posterior edge of palm of FootL 0.30515 –0.17752 right hand to end of fourth finger (to base of claw); upper 4thToeL 0.35742 –0.37492 leg length (ULL), distance from groin to knee; lower leg length (LLL), distance from knee to heel; foot length (FL = FootL), distance from heel to distal end of fourth toe (to base of claw); fourth toe length (4thToeL), distance from the juncture of the third and fourth toes to the base of the claw on the right foot; tail length (TailL), distance from tail tip to posterior border of vent (“+” indicates an incomplete tail); right hind limb length (HLL); tibia length (TibiaL), distance from the base of heel to knee on left leg. Data for the following meristic characters were recorded: supralabials (SupL = SL), number of enlarged scale bordering left margin of upper lip (not including rostral scale); infralabials (InfL = IL), number of enlarged scales boraering the left margin of lower lip (not including mental scale); dorsal crest scales (DC), enlarged mid- dorsal crest scales from just posterior to occiput to above the anterior margin of the vent; dorsal-ridge scales (DS), including DC; number of fourth toe subdigital scales (4thToeSL = T4S), including distal most scale on claw base. Measurements, except for TailL, were made with digital calipers with a 0.1 mm precision and rounded to the nearest 0.1 mm. Tail length was measured using a measuring tape with a precision of 1 mm. Scale counts and observations of external morphology were made using a dissecting microscope. Principal components analysis (PCA) was applied to Figure 1 Map of western Yunnan Province, China, illustrating the distribution of Japalura slowinskii sp. nov. Star represents the type 9 specimen measurements (SVL, HL, HW, HLL, TailL, locality. number 1 represent the Nujiang River, number 2 represent TibiaL, 4thToe, SupL, and InfL) of 18 adult male Japalura Lancang River, number 3 represent Jinsha River. from the Nu Valley and 20 adult male J. dymondi from the Yangtse River Valley, Da-Yao County, Yunnan Province groups. Museum codes follow Leviton et al. (1985). The (Table 1). All measurements were log-transformed. codes JBS and GLGS are followed by the field numbers Statistical analyses were performed using Stata/SE 8.2 for Joseph B. SLOWINSKI and the Goaligongshan for Linux. A MANOVA and discriminant analysis was project, respectively. JBS and GLGS specimens will be performed to test for significant differences between the deposited in the collections of CAS and KIZ. 88 Asian Herpetological Research Vol. 8 3. Results Japalura slowinskii sp. nov. Holotype KIZ2000R0608 (JBS16231) (Figures 2–5), adult male, from a small village S of Fugong (County), along Nu River, 26º48'44.0"N, 98º53'10.7"E, ca.1138m elevation, Nujiang Prefecture, Yunnan Province, collected by D.Q. RAO and Joseph B. SLOWINSKI on 14 July, 2000. Paratypes All from China, Yunnan Province, Nujiang Prefecture, KIZ-JBS 04233, 04235, 04237, 16133- 34, 16137, 16254, CAS214971-73, 214989-215003, 215053, data as for holotype, except CAS214971-73 were collected on July 2000; CAS 214906 from a small village N of Gongshan (County) on E bank of Nu River, 27º48'21.4"N, 98º41'03.9"E, ca.1509m elevation, Nujiang Prefecture, Yunnan Province, collected by D.Q. RAO and Joseph B. SLOWINSKI on 8 July, 2000; CAS 214951- 52, 214954 from Fugong along Nu River, 26º54'31.9"N, 98º51'59.8"E, ca.1206m elevation, Nujiang Prefecture, Figure 2 Japalura slowinskii sp. nov. (above) and Japalura Yunnan Province, collected by D. Q. RAO and Joseph B. dymondi (below) in life. SLOWINSKI on 11 and 12 July, 2000 respectively; CAS 215053 from near town of Luzhang, on eastern slope of Gaoligongshan, 25º56'47.2"N, 98º46'10.2"E, ca.2139m elevation, Nujiang Prefecture, Yunnan Province, collected by D.Q. RAO and Joseph B. SLOWINSKI on 22 July, 2000; CAS 228178 from along Fugong-Liuku road, E side of Nu River, 26º50'42.9"N, 98º52'42.9"E, ca.1231m elevation, Nujiang Prefecture, Yunnan Province, collected by D. Q. RAO and J. A. WILKINSON and J. V. VINDUM, on 10 October, 2002. Diagnosis A large species of Japalura with a robust head and body compressed dorso-ventrally; SVL = 89.6±5.44 mm (n = 18; Male); SVL = 83.9±6.71 mm (n = 7; Female); smooth or feebly keeled dorsal head scales; exposed tympani; a transverse gular fold; a distinct oblique fold anterior to shoulder extending dorsally from transverse gular fold and continuing posteriorly beyond shoulder; dorsal scales heterogeneous, larger scales strongly keeled; a broken dorso-lateral row of enlarged and strongly keeled scales separated from dorsal crest scales by one large or two smaller scales, and separated from each other by one or two small scales; tail in adult males slightly swollen posterior to base; dorsum of males black with a Figure 3 Dorsal view of Japalura slowinskii sp.
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