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Uromastyx Dispar Heyden, 1827, and U. Ocellata Lichtenstein, 1823 (Sauria: Agamidae) Elagba H

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Uromastyx Dispar Heyden, 1827, and U. Ocellata Lichtenstein, 1823 (Sauria: Agamidae) Elagba H This article was downloaded by: [197.208.167.192] On: 10 March 2013, At: 13:42 Publisher: Taylor & Francis Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Zoology in the Middle East Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tzme20 Notes on a sympatric population of two species of spiny-tailed lizards in Sudan: Uromastyx dispar Heyden, 1827, and U. ocellata Lichtenstein, 1823 (Sauria: Agamidae) Elagba H. A. Mohammed a & Dawi M. Hammad b a Natural History Museum, Faculty of Science, University of Khartoum, P. O. Box 321, Khartoum, Sudan b Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, University of Khartoum, P.O. Box 321, Khartoum, Sudan Version of record first published: 28 Feb 2013. To cite this article: Elagba H. A. Mohammed & Dawi M. Hammad (2008): Notes on a sympatric population of two species of spiny-tailed lizards in Sudan: Uromastyx dispar Heyden, 1827, and U. ocellata Lichtenstein, 1823 (Sauria: Agamidae), Zoology in the Middle East, 44:1, 51-56 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09397140.2008.10638288 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. Downloaded by [197.208.167.192] at 13:42 10 March 2013 Notes on a sympatric population of two species of spiny-tailed lizards in Sudan: Uromastyx dispar Heyden, 1827, and U. ocellata Lichtenstein, 1823 (Sauria: Agamidae) by Elagba H. A. Mohammed and Dawi M. Hammad Abstract: A series of 27 Uromastyx was collected at Abu Hammad, Nile State, northern Sudan, consisting of two distinct, sympatric species: three U. dispar Heyden, 1827 and 24 U. ocellata Lichtenstein, 1823. The morphological analysis of these specimens reveals some data exceeding the previously known range of variability in these two species, including the maximum length. Key words. Uromastyx dispar, Uromastyx ocellata, morphology, cluster analysis, Sudan. Introduction Two species of Uromastyx are known from Sudan: Uromastyx dispar Heyden, 1827, and U. ocellata Lichtenstein, 1823. In the most recent revision of the genus (WILMS 1998, WILMS & BÖHME 2000, 2001), the latter species is treated as monotypic, because these authors con- sider both U. ornata Heyden, 1827 and U. macfadyeni Parker, 1932, known from southeast- ern Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti and northwesternmost Somalia, to represent distinct species. In contrast, U. dispar, originally described as U. acanthinurus dispar, is considered to represent a polytypic species occurring in the southern Saharan range, with three subspe- cies: U. d. dispar from Sudan and Tchad, U. dispar maliensis from southern Algeria and Mali, and U. dispar flavifasciata from the Western Sahara, westernmost Algeria, and Mauri- tania. The nomenclatural histories of both species, reflecting earlier, differing taxonomic concepts, can be found in the synonymy/chresonymy lists given in WILMS & BÖHME (2001). Whereas U. ocellata is widespread and regionally abundant, and is well represented in interna- tional natural history museums including samples from Sudan, the nominotypic form of U. dispar Downloaded by [197.208.167.192] at 13:42 10 March 2013 is much rarer in collections. Most specimens originate from Tchad; from Sudan, only three specimens, including the lectotype, were previously known, originating from Wadi Halfa, south- east of El Debba and Ambukol respectively (see WILMS & BÖHME 2001). The three specimens from Abu Hammad described in this paper double the number of Sudanese voucher specimens of this taxon. Material and methods Twenty-seven specimens of Uromastyx were taken from the living collection of the Sudan Natu- ral History Museum. All specimens were previously obtained from Abu Hammad in the Nile State in the north of the Sudan. Eighteen characters were measured for each specimen: total length (TL), standard length (SL), head length (HL), snout length (SNL), snout-vent length (SNVL), tail length (TaL), eye-ear length (EEL), head width (HW), mouth width (MW), Zoology in the Middle East 44, 2008: 51–56. ISSN 0939-7140 © Kasparek Verlag, Heidelberg 52 Zoology in the Middle East 44, 2008 Table 1. Descriptive statistics of nineteen morphological characters for 3 specimens of Uromastyx dispar and 24 specimens of U. ocellata from northern Sudan. Character N Mean Maximum Minimum 3 380.7 399.0 362.3 Total length (TL) 24 244.7 321.9 202.5 3 224.3 244.4 204.2 Standard length (SL) 24 133.3 152.4 114.2 3 44.7 50.8 38.6 Head length (HL) 24 27.4 31.3 23.4 3 12.7 19.0 6. 4 Snout length (SNL) 24 10.5 14.6 6.3 3 241.3 250 233 Snout-vent length (SNVL) 24 146 176 104 3 183 185 180 Tail length (TaL) 24 156.3 180 144 3 19.7 22.9 16.5 Eye-to-ear length (EEL) 24 12.8 15.2 9.8 3 45 47 43 Head width (HW) 24 28.5 33.4 21.0 3 36 40 29 Mouth width (MW) 24 21.9 26.3 17.6 3 8.7 10.2 7.2 Eye diameter (ED) 24 6.1 8.0 4.2 3 24.3 25.9 22.8 Inter-orbital distance (IOD) 24 16.3 19.5 13 3 9 10 8 Inter-nasal distance (IND) 24 6.6 8.0 5.3 3 40.3 44.8 35.8 Inter-audial distance (IAD) 24 23.8 27.7 19.9 3 89.7 94.2 85.2 Body depth (BD) 24 49.8 63.1 36.5 3 27.7 30.9 24.5 Peduncle width (PW) 24 18.5 23.1 13.9 3 35.3 37.9 32.8 Tail width (TaiW) 24 22 26.8 15.0 3 25 30 20 Pores number (PNO) 24 28 40 25 3 20 23 18 Downloaded by [197.208.167.192] at 13:42 10 March 2013 Whorls numbers (WNO) 24 24 29 17 3 396.9 450.0 346.6 Body weight (BW) 24 145.6 235.0 185.5 eye diameter (ED), inter-orbital distance (IOD), inter-nasal distance (IND), inter-audial distance (IAD), body depth (BD), peduncle width (PW), and tail width (TaW). The number of pre-anal and femoral pores (PNO) and the number of whorls on the tail (WNO) were also recorded. Sex was determined after dissection. Total and standard length were measured by a ruler-board. A fine dial caliper was used to measure the other parameters. All measurements were taken to the nearest millimetre. Cluster analysis was used to investigate the homogeneity of the examined specimens and to see whether they belong to one single species, subspecies or races of a single species, according to Reptilia 53 Fig. 1. Dendrogram based on morphological differences using average linkage (within and between groups) method, for 27 specimens of Uromastyx. CLIFFORD & STEPHENSON (1975). Cluster based on matrix of distances for 19 morphological Downloaded by [197.208.167.192] at 13:42 10 March 2013 characters (including body weight) and complete linkage within and between groups was used to produce hierarchical clusters of the specimens in a distance dendrogram. The statistical package (SPSS/ PC 2000, version 10) was used for the evaluation of the data. Results and discussion Cluster analysis separated the specimens studied into two separate groups (Fig. 1): one group comprised three specimens, and the other 24 specimens. The latter was further divided into two sub-clusters: one included four, that separated further into one and three specimens; the other sub-cluster divided further into two divisions, one including (1 + 6) and the other (3 + 9) specimens. The three specimens in the first dichotomy have a light beige skin without dots or stripes on the back, compared to the individuals of the other dichotomy. 54 Zoology in the Middle East 44, 2008 Fig. 2. Uromastyx dispar dispar. The test for equality of means for the 19 characters (Table 1) of the two major groups (3 + 24) showed a significant difference (p<0.05) in 16 characters. The sub-clusters (19 + 5) differed in 14 characters, and the specimens in the subdivision (12 + 7) differed in nine char- acters. The specimens in the subdivision (9 + 3) differed in 9 out of the 19 characters. The colour pattern plus the small light dots throughout the back of the lizards separates two distinct taxa, probably species, of the genus Uromastyx. The presence of two rows of scales between every two whorls on the lower side of the tail of the three specimens in the first group is another diagnostic feature (Fig. 3). The analysis of 19 morphological characters has revealed a pattern of shape variation be- tween the examined specimens. Cluster analysis suggested the presence of two distinct spe- Downloaded by [197.208.167.192] at 13:42 10 March 2013 cies that share some characters. The high diversity observed within the study population suggests the possibility of subspecies. But since all specimens were collected from the same area, it could be that some interaction took place between the genotype of the specimens with their local environment to produce different morphs of the lizard.
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