Anadia hollandi, Amézquita & Daza & Contreras & Orejuela & Barrientos & Mazariegos, 2022

Amézquita, Adolfo, Daza, Juan Manuel, Contreras, Leidy Alejandra Barragán, Orejuela, Catalina, Barrientos, Lucas Santiago & Mazariegos, Luis A., 2022, One more and one less: a new species of large bromelicolous lizard (Gymnophthalmidae: Anadia) from the Andean cloud forests of northwestern Colombia and the phylogenetic status of Anadia antioquensis, Zootaxa 5150 (2), pp. 217-238 : 221-225

Anadia hollandi sp. nov.

Holotype. MHUA-R 13725 ( Fig. 3 ). Male collected at the field station of the Mesenia-Paramillo Nature Reserve (5.496º N, 75.889º W), at 2170 m asl, Vereda La Mesenia, about 14 km south of the municipality of Jardín (Department of Antioquia), Colombia. The specimen was collected by Diana Rendón on September 1 st, 2011.

Paratypes. MHUA-R 13726 (field code GECOH3499 ), and MHUA-R 13727 (field code LSB409 ) ( Fig. 3 ). Two presumably adult males collected within 5 km from the field station, on January 25 th 2018 by Ubiel Rendón, and on June 26 th 2019 by Carlos Rendón, respectively .

Etymology. The specific epithet hollandi is a patronym in honour of Jim Holland, American olympic skier who enjoys the natural world and the challenges of outdoor exploration, for his generous contribution to the conservation of cloud forests in Colombia.

Definition and diagnosis. The largest species of Anadia known to date in the ocellata group ( Fig. 4 ), reaching 108 mm of SVL and 351 mm of TL. It can be diagnosed by the following combination of morphological characters: (1) subhexagonal smooth dorsal scales; (2) two prefrontal scales in broad (between 20–50% of scale size) contact; (3) divided nasal scales; (4) three supraocular scales; (5) 0–1 inserted scales between superciliary and supraocular scales; (6) five superciliary scales; (7) lower palpebrals without pigment; (8) five subocular scales; (9) 6–8 supralabial scales; (10) 5–6 infralabial scales; (11) seven postparietal scales; (12) first two pairs of genial scales in contact; (13) 43–45 transverse rows of dorsal scales; (14) 33–36 transverse rows of ventral scales; (15) 1.19–1.36 transverse rows of dorsal scales for each ventral row; (16) quadrangular ventral scales; (17) 41–43 scale longitudinal rows around mid body; (18) 10–12 supradigital scales on fourth toe; (19) 15–18 lamellae under fourth toe; (20) 10–12 femoral pores in males (no available females); (21) 7–9 large black ocelli with white centers per body side; (22) belly cream with scattered dark spots.

Anadia hollandi sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from all other Anadia species by a combination of the shape and imbrication of dorsal scales, and the number of scale rows around midbody. In particular [ A. hollandi sp. nov. in brackets], all members of the eastern group, and therefore of the bitaeniata , steyeri and marmorata species groups have longer, rectangular and juxtaposed [versus shorter, subhexagonal and imbricate] dorsal scales; within the western group, A. bogotensis has considerable imbrication of dorsal and ventral scales [versus subimbricate dorsal scales]; A. bogotensis in the western group and all other members of the ocellata group have a much lower number of longitudinal scale rows around mid-body: 24–32 in A. bogotensis and 27–32 to 30–37 [versus 41–43] ( Fig. 4 ). In addition, A. hollandi is the species with the largest body size [89.1–109.0 mm SVL] among the known species of the western group: 40.0 – 61.4 mm SVL in all other species ( Fig. 4 ).

Description of the holotype (Figs 3,5). A male, 89.1 mm of snout-vent length (SVL), 210.7 mm of tail length, and 299.8 mm of total length. Head length 20.9 mm, head width 13.1 mm, and snout length 17.2 mm. Head scales smooth, glossy, and juxtaposed. Rostral wider than high, mostly in contact with frontonasal, less with the first supralabial, and barely with the anterior division of the nasal. Frontonasal pentagonal, not elongated, and with a slightly rounded anterior edge, contacting laterally the divided nasals, and posteriorly the prefrontals. No contact between frontal and loreals. Prefrontals in mid contact, about 30% of the scale length, hexagonal, also contacting frontonasal, the posterior division of the nasal, the loreal, the presupraocular, and the frontal. Frontal pentagonal, slightly wider on the anterior edges, about the same size as the frontonasal, mostly in contact with prefrontals, supraoculars, and the frontoparietals; barely in contact with presupraoculars. Frontoparietal two, subhexagonal, contacting laterally the second and third pair of supraoculars, and posteriorly the parietals and the interparietal. Interparietal hexagonal, about twice as long as wide, contacting laterally the two pentagonal and larger parietals; parietals and interparietal contact posteriorly a row of seven uneven postparietals, also considered the first transversal row of dorsal scales. Supraoculars three, the anterior larger than the other two, in contact laterally with five superciliary scales. Divided nasal scales, in contact ventrally with first and second supralabials, posteriorly with loreal, and dorsally with dorsal and prefrontal scales. Nostril rounded, placed mostly within the anterior division of the nasal. Loreal pentagonal, in contact dorsally with prefrontal, posteriorly with presuperciliary and frenocular, and ventrally with the second supralabial. Frenocular contacting dorsally the presuperciliary, posteriorly the first subocular, and ventrally the second and third supralabials. Presuperciliary roughly pentagonal, in contact posteriorly with first superciliary and first ciliary, and expanded onto dorsal surface of head, contacting dorsally a small triangular presupraocular. Superciliary five, much larger at the anterior and posterior extremes, and in contact ventrally with ciliary. Six ciliary scales. Lower palpebrals translucent and unpigmented. Suboculars five, polygonal, first contacting posterior end of third supralabial, second contacting both third and fourth supralabials, third contacting fourth supralabial, fourth contacting both fourth and fifth supralabial, and fifth contacting fifth and marginally sixth supralabial. Postoculars three, polygonal. Supralabials seven, third longest. Mental wider than long, and in contact posteriorly with the first two pairs of infralabials and the postmental. Infralabials five, fifth the longest. Postmental single, pentagonal, wider than long, in contact posteriorly with the first pair of genials. Three pairs of genials, the anterior two pairs in broad medial contact. The first pair in direct contact with second and mostly third infralabials. The second pair of genials in contact with the third and the fourth infralabials. Third pair of genials in contact with fourth and fifth infralabials. Transverse gular scales in 14-15 rows between the posterior edge of the third pair of genials and the collar fold. Dorsal scales sub-hexagonal in shape, twice longer than wide, with straight lateral edges, - smooth and glossy. Dorsal scales arranged in 43 transverse rows. Thirty-one transverse dorsal scales between the posterior edge of forelimbs and the anterior edge of hindlimbs. Lateral scales similar to dorsal scales, smaller near the insertions of limbs. More rows (1.30 times) of dorsal transverse scales for each ventral row. First transverse row of pentagonal ventral scales -. From that point, all transverse ventral scales are roughly quadrangular, smooth and juxtaposed. Ventral scales 1.3–1.5 times longer than wide, and 1.2 times longer and 1.2 times wider than dorsal scales. Ventral scales arranged in 33 transverse rows. Scale rows around the mid body 41. Six posterior cloacal plate scales. Tail complete but the very tip, cylindrical, with scales rectangular, smooth, juxtaposed and arranged clearly in transverse rows. Limbs pentadactyl and digits clawed. Anterodorsal brachial scales polygonal, subequal in size, imbricate and smooth. Posteroventral brachial scales rounded, uneven in size, smooth and imbricate. Dorsal and anterior antebrachial scales rounded, subequal in size, smooth, and subimbricate. Scales on dorsal surfaceof manus polygonal, smooth and imbricate. Scales on manus palmar surface ovoid, juxtaposed, slightly smooth and smaller than dorsals. Thenar scales three. Scales on dorsal surface of fingers smooth, quadrangular, imbricate, overhanging supradigital lamellae, three on finger I, six on II, nine on III, nine on IV, and six on V. Subdigital lamellae three on finger I, eight on II, 11 on III, 14 on IV, and nine on V. Dorsal and anterior scales of thigh large, polygonal and juxtaposed. Posterior thigh scales small, rounded and slightly imbricate. Ventral thigh scales large, rounded and imbricate. Seven and eight femoral pores per leg, and no scales between each pair of femoral pores. Dorsal and anterodorsal crus scales polygonal, smooth and juxtaposed. Ventral and posterior crus scales rounded, small and imbricate. Scales on dorsal surface of toes rounded, smooth, varying in size. Supradigital lamellae four on toe I, seven on II, 10 on III, 10 on IV, and 10 on V. Subdigital lamellae single, five on toe I, nine on II, 13 on III, 12 on IV, and 12 on V.

Coloration ( Figs. 3 , 5 ). In life, the holotype is light brown with irregular dark brown marks throughout trunk and near tail insertion. The dark marks become roughly rounded and connected throughout the rest of the dorsal tail. The paratypes lack dark brown marks and tail patterning. Venter is cream white, with few dark brown to black speckles. Near the head, the cream white coloration suffuses with light brown towards the supralabial scales. Each body flank bears a longitudinal row of 7–9 black ocelli with white centers. Limbs are dorsally light brown and ventrally cream white with few dark speckles. In specimens preserved in ethanol, light brown becomes darker, dark spots and speckles remain visible, and ventral cream white becomes dark grey.

Hemipenes ( Fig. 6 ). We extracted the hemipenes of both paratypes. They are bilobed with a similar length of truncus; the lobes are rounded with a reticulated surface and with the presence of small lateral calyces towards the sulcate side of the hemipene. The asulcated side exhibits several folds: at the base a horizontal fold, and towards the upper part of the truncus, laminar folds arranged in an inverted “V” shape, which reaches the middle of the truncus without touching the sulcus spermaticus.

Natural history. All individuals were found near the cloud forest edge, one of them apparently basking on the roof of the Reserve’s biological station, and a second within an open area of the house. The third was spotted coming out a large arboreal bromeliad, at about 2 m above the ground level. In captivity, they often adopted a hanging posture, using their long tails and posterior limbs to hang upside down from small branches or sticks ( Fig. 5 ). Near all species of Anadia are known or suspected to be arboreal, dwelling within bromeliad plants or the leaf litter accumulated between the large tree branches. Exceptions are the high-altitude species (e.g., A. bogotensis and A. brevifrontalis ), which are mostly found on the ground, under rocks and logs, or within rosette plants,.

Conservation status. The new species is only known from the edge of the Mesenia-Paramillo nature reserve and the specimens were collected within 5 ha. As mentioned above, the lack of sightings despite intensive search at the reserve may be due to the species’ arboreal habitat. Nonetheless, no specimens of this species were found in the large herpetological collections at the Universidad de Antioquia (Medellín, Colombia) and the Instituto de Ciencias Naturales of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Bogotá, Colombia). Due to the lack of information on its distribution, the relatively small area of the nature reserve, and the vulnerability of forests within this elevational belt, we suggest assigning A. hollandi sp. nov. to the category Vulnerable (VU: B1a, biii; IUCN, 2001), until new information is available.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Male individuals used as holotype and paratypes of Anadia hollandi sp. nov. from the Mesenia-Paramillo nature reserve. Photographs not to scale; see body size (snout-to-vent length, SVL). Photos by Luis A. Mazariegos H.

FIGURE 4. Known range of variation used to recognise Anadia hollandi sp. nov. against other species of the ocellata species group and the western group sensu Oftedal (1974).

FIGURE 5. The holotype of Anadia hollandi sp. nov. (MHUA-R 13725) in its branch-hanging posture (left). Detail of lateral, ventral, and dorsal head scales in photographs (middle) and drawing (right). Photos by Luis A. Mazariegos H.

FIGURE 6. Right hemipenis of Anadia hollandi sp. nov. MHUA-R13726 paratype in sulcate and asulcate views.