Eremias kakari, Masroor & Khisroon & Khan & Jablonski, 2020

Masroor, Rafaqat, Khisroon, Muhammad, Khan, Muazzam Ali & Jablonski, Daniel, 2020, A new species of Eremias (Squamata: Lacertidae) from the arid mountains of Pakistan, Zootaxa 4786 (1), pp. 101-121 : 103-115

Eremias kakari sp. nov.

Suggested vernacular name: Kakar’s Racerunner

Pashto name:

( Figs. 2–5 )

Holotype. PMNH 842 , an adult male, collected from Tanishpa village, Torghar Mountains, Killa Saifulla district , Balochistan (31.1869º N, 68.4126º E; Fig. 1 ), elevation 2,506 m a.s.l., May 24, 1997, leg. Khalid Javed Baig ( Fig. 2 ).

Paratypes. All paratypes were collected from the same locality as the holotype. PMNH 840 , 844 , 845 (males) and 843, 846 (females), leg. Khalid Javed Baig ( PMNH 843–844 , collected along with the holotype; PMNH 845– 846 , collected on May 25, 1997; PMNH 840 , collected on May 26, 1997). PMNH 4092–4097 (subadults), collected on September 09, 2018, leg. Rafaqat Masroor. PMNH 4048 , adult male, collected on September 01, 2018, leg. Muazzam Ali Khan ( Figs. 3 & 4 ) .

Generic and subgeneric placement. A member of the genus Eremias , based on the following combination of morphological characters: head shields normal, but occipital often vestigial or absent; nostril between three or four nasals, not touching labial; lower eyelid scaly; collar complete or nearly so; dorsal scales small or granular, subimbricate or juxtaposed; ventral plates subquadrangular, imbricate, smooth in converging longitudinal rows; digits with or without lateral fringes; tail cylindrical; femoral pores present (except in E. aporosceles , which is considered a synonym of E. acutirostris by Szczerbak (1974). Furthermore, E. kakari sp. nov. is assigned to the subgenus Rhabderemias based on the following combination of morphological characters sensu Lantz (1928: 37): subocular in contact with the edge of the mouth; striped dorsal pattern in young individuals is retained in adults.

Diagnosis. A medium-sized lacertid lizard, maximum snout-vent length (SVL) = 52.2 mm, tail being 1.9 to 2.2 times longer than body length (SVL), hindlimbs relatively long (HLL/SVL ratio 0.58–0.66); subocular scale reaching to the edge of the mouth, 5–7 (mainly 6) supralabials anterior to subocular; dorsals 48–55; ventrals in 11–14 oblique longitudinal series; frontal mostly separated from supraoculars or in few instances in contact with anterior large supraocular only; height of the first two to three transverse rows of ventral scales in pectoral region more than its breadth; 17–21 femoral pores on each side, separated medially by 4–5 scales, the space between the femoral pores about one–fourth or less than one–fourth length of each row; toes without fringe, encircled by three scales and with a single series of 22–26 unicarinate scales underneath. Hindlimbs reach to the base of collar in males and to the axilla of forelimbs in females. Color creamy beige in life with eight dark brown stripes on body dorsum (including the narrow stripes on flanks) and an additional short median stripe (nuchal) originating from the junction of parietals.

Etymology. The species is dedicated to the “Kakar” tribe of Pashtun people inhabiting the Torghar Mountains in the Toba Kakar Range where the holotype and paratypes were collected.

Description of holotype. SVL: 52.2, TL: 115.0, HL: 14.0, HW: 8.1, HH: 6.7, Trl: 23.1, HLL: 34.5, FLL: 19.0, FrL: 3.7, FrW: 1.7. An adult male preserved in formalin in a good state of preservation ( Fig. 2 ); head and body moderately depressed; tail long, ca. 2.2 times longer than the body, cylindrical and depressed at the base. Head relatively long (HL/SVL ratio 0.27) ( Fig. 2C ), 1.7 times longer than wide (HW/HL ratio 0.57), head height slightly less than head width (HH/HW ratio 0.82). Limbs strong, hindlimbs slightly less than two times the length of forelimbs (FLL/ HLL ratio 0.55), hindlimbs comprise more than half of the body length (HLL/ SVL ratio 0.66).

Head broader than the neck. Anterior head shields including frontoparietals, interparietal and parietals smooth and convex. Nasals moderately swollen, three nasals, the lower in contact with three supralabials and separated from the rostral ( Fig. 2D ). Supranasals in contact slightly behind rostral, the suture between them is less than half the length of frontonasal, whose breadth is more than its length; prefrontals forming median suture, slightly longer than broad; length of frontal about equal to its distance from the tip of the snout, about two times as broad as long, narrow behind; parietals smooth, as broad as long; interparietal smooth, slightly more than half of the length of frontoparietals; no occipital. Two large supraoculars, about equal in size, the space anterior to supraoculars filled by several small and four larger granules; a third small, transverse, wide supraocular also present posterior to larger ones; anterior supraocular in contact with frontal while separated from supraciliaries by two series of granules, the second large supraocular separated from frontal by a scale ( Fig. 2C ); five supraciliaries, first longest, longer than its distance from the second loreal. Rostral pentagonal, broader than high, narrower beneath than above; anterior loreal slightly higher than wide, shorter than the second which is longer than high; supralabials 10; subocular keeled just below the eye, bordering the mouth, wedged between seventh and eighth supralabials on right side and between sixth and seventh on the left side ( Fig. 2D ). Temporals smooth, a large scale above ear; auricular denticulation indistinct or four small scales forming slight denticulation anteriorly. Lower eyelid covered with numerous small semi-transparent scales.

Six infralabials, gradually decreasing in size posteriorly. Five pairs of chin shields; anterior three completely in contact, the fourth one separated by four comparatively larger gulars, fifth not in contact with infralabials, separated by a single row of scales. Collar curved, free, serrated and composed of eight plates larger than adjacent gulars, the middle one quite enlarged than others. Gular fold distinct, 25 gular scales in a straight line between the symphysis of the chin shields and the collar ( Fig. 2B ).

Dorsal scales granular, smooth, 52 across the middle of the body. Ventral plates broader than long (except for outermost series), forming oblique longitudinal series of 12 plates across mid-belly and 32 transverse rows counted from behind collar to vent; first three rows of ventral scales in the pectoral region behind collar longer than broad, the first row is twice as long as broad. Precloacal region with an enlarged median plate just above the vent, surrounded by six large scales.

Foot longer than head, upper surface of the arm with rhombic, smooth scales. Scales on the upper surface of hindlimbs similar to dorsals, varying in size; enlarged plates covering the lower surface of hindlimbs, the lower surface of tibia with one row of very large and one comparatively smaller plates, hindlimb reaches the collar; 18 femoral pores on each side, the two series separated by four scales, the interfemoral space not greater than one–fourth length of each row. Toes slender, compressed, with no fringe. Subdigital lamellae unicarinate, in a single row of 22 scales under the 4 th toe, a total of three scales around 4 th toe. Upper caudal scales oblique, truncate, strongly and diagonally keeled, 18 scales in the 9 th– 10 th annulus behind the postcloacal granules.

Coloration in life. Color creamy beige in life with eight dark brown longitudinal stripes on body dorsum (including the two narrow stripes on flanks) and an additional short median stripe (nuchal) originating from the junction of parietals; seven stripes appear on the neck, the nuchal stripe runs for a short distance on the neck and disappears on shoulders; the two lateral-most stripes (not of flanks) on each side of the body broader, the two paravertebral stripes narrower; the first lateral-most broader stripe next to flank stripe originates from behind eyes and runs along with one-third of the tail, the other broader stripe originates from the outer edge of the parietal and continues onto tail slightly behind the vertebral stripes; the two paravertebral stripes join behind the base of tail; the stripe at flank on each side starts from behind the lower eye, runs through the ear and above forelimb to the insertion of hindlimb; head gray without any markings or spots; labials white without any markings except the lower edges of the supralabials which are dark brown; a faint dark brown line from nostril to the eye; limbs dark gray with white ocelli; belly creamy white; tail bluish gray.

Variation. Paratypes agree with the holotype with some differences given in Table 1 ( Figs. 3 & 4 ). Besides sex, the specimens differ in the arrangement of supralabials i.e. subocular wedged between 6 th– 7 th in all the type series except PMNH 845 which exhibit the wedge between 7 th– 8 th supralabials and PMNH 4095 bearing the wedge between 5 th– 6 th supralabials; arrangement of postmentals have dissimilar pattern to that of holotype. In PMNH 843–46 , 4048 , 4092–94 and 4096–97, the fifth chin shield is in contact with the infralabials, the rest of the type series do not have such contact. In PMNH 843 and 846, the fifth postmental shield is in contact with 5 th supralabial whereas in PMNH 840 and 844 the fifth chin shield is in narrow contact with 7 th supralabial. In PMNH 845 , however, the fifth postmental shield contacts the 6 th supralabial. The scale count pertaining to dorsals, ventrals, gulars, collars, caudals at 9 th– 10 th whorl and lamellae under 4 th toe, however, show a unique value for every specimen within a certain range. The contact of infranasal with the rostral is also variable, for example there is contact of infranasal to rostral in PMNH 846 , 4048 , 4092–93 while the rest lacks such contact ( Fig. 5 ). Whereas majority of the specimens ( PMNH 843 , 846 , 845 , 4092–97 ) exhibit separation of supraoculars and frontal by a row of granules, the holotype PMNH 842 and paratypes PMNH 840 , 844 and 4048 do not bear granules between the anterior supraocular and frontal so that the frontal meets the anterior supraocular only ( Fig. 5 ). In paratypes PMNH 840 , 845 and 4048, the median short nuchal stripe is not present .

Sexual and age dimorphism. Apparently, males attain larger sizes than females in E. kakari sp. nov.: male SVL to 52.2 mm, female SVL 47.5 mm. Moreover, males have generally longer hindlimbs and shorter trunk as compared to females. For a larger female having SVL of 47.5 mm (PMNH 846), the hindlimb is 27.8 mm against a smaller-sized male (PMNH 840, SVL 46.8 mm) which has a hindlimb length of 29.4 mm. Similarly, the trunk length of a smaller female (PMNH 846, SVL 47.5 mm) is 24.1 mm against a larger male (PMNH 842, SVL 52.1 mm) which has a trunk length of 23.1 mm. The dorsal body color and pattern are, however, similar in juveniles and adults of both genders ( Fig. 6A, B ).

Comparison. The new species Eremias kakari sp. nov. differs from morphologically closely related species in the subgenus Rhabderemias ( E. andersoni Darevsky & Szczerbak 1978 , E. cholistanica , E. fasciata , E. lineolata Nikolsky 1897 , E. pleskei Nikolsky 1905 , E. scripta , E. vermiculata Blanford 1875 ) whose members exhibit the striped dorsal pattern in juveniles as well as in adults. The new species is strikingly different from species exhibiting striped and ocellate pattern like E. aria Anderson & Leviton 1967 , E. regeli Bedriaga 1905 and E. montana Rastegar-Pouyani & Rastegar-Pouyani 2001 (see published data in Lantz, 1928; Szczerbak 1974; Bischoff & Böhme 1980; Böhme & Scerbak 1991; Anderson 1999). A brief of morphological differences is provided (the material used for a first-hand comparison is listed in parentheses at each species; see also Tab. 2 and Supplementary Tab. 1).

From E. fasciata , that is very close in dorsal coloration and pattern, E. kakari sp. nov. differs in having a single row of subdigital lamellae and a complete row of pointed lateral scales and hence three scales around the penultimate phalanx of 4 th toe (versus two complete rows of subdigital lamellae, a complete row of sharply pointed lateral scales and hence four scales). The collar in E. kakari sp. nov. is provided with 7–10 enlarged plates (versus 11–19 small scales or plates barely distinguishable from adjacent gulars), 22–26 subdigital lamellae under 4 th toe (versus 28–30), 48–55 dorsal scales across midbody (versus 44–50), ventrals in 11–14 oblique longitudinal series across the belly (versus 14–16), 17–21 femoral pores (versus 16–19) and 17–21 scales in the 9 th– 10 th annulus posterior to the postcloacal granules (versus 26–36). Moreover, the adpressed hindlimbs in E. kakari sp. nov. reach to the base of the collar in males and to the axilla of forelimbs in females. While in E. fasciata the hindlimbs reach to the ear in males, the shoulder, the collar, or between the collar and the ear in females.

Eremias kakari sp. nov. differs from E. andersoni , to which it is similar in having three scales around the penultimate phalanx of 4 th toe, by having lower count of dorsal scales (48–55 versus 56–58), gular scales (20–25 versus 28–30), frontal separated from supraoculars by a row of granules or in few instances only in contact with anterior supraocular (versus both the supraoculars in contact with frontal) and dorsal coloration of eight uninterrupted dark longitudinal stripes on the body (versus nine dark longitudinal stripes, of which medial stripes breaks into wavy segments).

From E. lineolata , E. kakari sp. nov. differs in the following morphological characters: lateral scales of 4 th toe not forming distinct fringe (versus lateral scales of 4 th toe forming distinct fringe in E. lineolata ), lower count of dorsals (48–55 versus 54–62), higher number of caudal scales in the 9 th– 10 th annulus behind the postcloacal granules (17–21 versus 12–17) and femoral pores (17–21 versus 9–17) and has two stripes on the flanks (versus no stripes on flanks).

Eremias kakari sp. nov. differs from E. scripta in having three scales around the penultimate phalanx of 4 th toe (versus four), lateral scales of 4 th toe not forming fringe (versus lateral scales of 4 th toe forming distinct fringe or comb in its entire length), rows of femoral pores reach to the knee (versus femoral pores well short of knee), lower number of dorsal scales (48–55 versus 55–69), ventrals across belly (11–14 versus 14–16) and the higher number of gulars (20–25 versus 15–23) and femoral pores (17–21 versus 12–13). Besides, the dorsal color pattern of E. kakari sp. nov. can be easily differentiated from E. scripta in having the striped dorsal pattern in juveniles as well as in adults compared to the reticulate pattern on dorsum in juveniles and adults in the latter species.

Eremias kakari sp. nov. can be distinguished from E. pleskei in having strongly keeled supracaudal scales (versus smooth), femoral pores narrowly separated by four to five scales (versus comparatively widely separated by six to eight scales), the space between the femoral pore rows about one-fourth or less (versus space at least one-third length of each row), lower number of gulars (20–25 versus 25–31), caudal scales in the 9 th– 10 th annulus (17–21 versus 20–32) and the higher number of femoral pores (17–21 versus 7–15).

Apart from its peculiar distribution in the remote valley in Torghar Mountains, a part of the Palearctic region, E. kakari sp. nov. can be differentiated from E. cholistanica in the following set of characters: no fringe at toes (versus fringes at toes), three scales around the penultimate phalanx of 4 th toe (versus four), generally lower number of ventrals across the belly (28–33 versus 30–36), caudal scales in the 9 th– 10 th annulus (17–21 versus 27–35) and the higher number of femoral pores (17–21 versus 14–18).

From E. vermiculata , E. kakari sp. nov. differs in dorsal body pattern, having no fringes on the 4 th toes (versus fringes), ventrals in 11–14 oblique longitudinal series across the belly and 28–32 transverse rows (versus 18–20 and 38–39, respectively), lower count of gulars (20–25 versus 31–43), dorsals (48–55 versus 55–68) and caudal scales in the 9 th– 10 th annulus (17–21 versus 42–46).

From E. regeli , E. kakari sp. nov. differs in having a single row of subdigital lamellae and hence three scales around the penultimate phalanx of 4 th toe (versus two rows of subdigital lamellae and hence four scales), higher count of gulars (20–25 versus 17–21), length of each femoral pore row about four times or more than four times the length of space between two rows (versus nine times), lower count of femoral pores (17–21 versus 21–24), supracaudals strongly keeled (versus moderately keeled) and striped dorsal body pattern (versus striped and ocellate pattern).

Besides distant distribution, body pattern and other decisive morphological characters, E. kakari sp. nov. can be distinguished from the geographically close species of other subgenera ( E. (Scapteira) acutirostris , E. (Eremias) aria , E. (Aspidorhinus) afghanistanica Böhme & Scerbak 1991 ) by subocular scale bordering the mouth (Supplementary Tab. 1).

Type locality, habitat and ecological notes. The type locality, Tanishpa, is a small village situated in the Torghar Mountains (means “Black Mountains”) in the Toba Kakar Range, a southern offshoot of the Himalayas, ca. 60 km from the border with Afghanistan ( Fig. 1 ). The Torghar Mountains are very rugged semi-arid sandstone ridges with an average elevation of 2,400 m and is approximately 90 km long and vary from 15 to 30 km in width. This region is characterized by having dry temperate ecology, with sparse vegetation. The climate of the area is dry, with cold winters (an average mean temperature of 4°C) and warm summers (an average mean temperature 26 °C). Heavy snow often falls in winter and violent thunderstorms and dust storms occur in summer. The area receives very little precipitation with recorded annual precipitation between 180 mm and 270 mm ( Superintendent of Government Printing, 1991). An occasional drought cycles are experienced which severely affect the flora and fauna of the region ( Raja, 2000). Shrub-steppe plant communities dominate the semi-desert landscape of the Torghar Hills. Bunchgrasses, forbs, Ephedra sp., Artemisia sp., and other shrubs occur on the upland slopes. Cargana ambigua and Tamarix sp. grow in low lying areas and streambeds where water is available. Although trees are scarce yet wild olive ( Olea europea cuspidata ), juniper ( Juniperus excelsa ), wild pistachio ( Pistacia khinjuk ), almond ( Prunus brahuica ) and ash ( Fraxinus xanthoxyloides ) are scattered across the lower slopes, and orchids are cultivated where water is sufficiently available ( Woodford et al. 2004). Overgrazing of the valleys has led to the establishment of xerophytic scrub vegetation dominated by Acacia , Artemisia, Haloxylon , and Rosa species ( Frisina et al., 1998, 2002). The different mammals as Capra falconeri megaceros , Ovis orientalis cycloceros, Canis lupus, Otocolobus manul, Felis silvestris ornate, Hyaena hyaena , Vulpes vulpes, Martes foina, and number of small mammals, as Ochotona rufescens or Ellobius fuscocapillus and over 78 bird species have been reported from the area. The area is rich in reptiles, including the endemic species Laudakia melanura nasiri and Cyrtopodion rhodocauda . Other recorded species in the vicinity of the type locality were: Testudo horsfieldii , Microgecko sp., Cyrtopodion watsoni , Hemidactylus persicus , Phrynocephalus scutellatus, Ablepharus pannonicus, Eremias cf. persica , Laudakia microlepis , Trapelus isolepis, Platyceps rhodorachis, Psammophis schokari, Ptyas cf. mucosa, Macrovipera lebetina obtusa , Pseudocerastes persicus .

All the specimens were collected between 10:00 to 12:00 am. The specimens were quite active and were difficult to collect. Specimens were caught at the foothills in the barren area with man-made low walls, flanked by the cultivated orchards. Generally, the soil of the type locality is loamy, provided with herbaceous cover and occasionally shrubs and wild olive trees ( Fig. 7 ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. The type localities of the members of the subgenus Rhabderemias including the new species, Eremias kakari sp. nov.

FIGURE 2. The holotype of Eremias kakari sp. nov. PMNH 842: A—dorsal view; B—ventral view; C—dorsal head view; D—lateral head view.

FIGURE 3. Paratypes of Eremias kakari sp. nov. PMNH 840, 843–846 dorsal (above) and ventral (below) view.

FIGURE 4. Paratypes of Eremias kakari sp. nov. PMNH 4048, 4092–4097 dorsal (above) and ventral (below) view.

FIGURE 5. Paratypes of Eremias kakari sp. nov. PMNH 840, 842–846 showing the dorsal and lateral head view. Note the variations in arrangement of frontal, supraoculars, infranasal and rostal.

FIGURE 6. Live individuals of Eremias kakari sp. nov. in type locality: A—paratype PMNH 4048, adult, male; B—paratype PMNH 4092, subadult.

FIGURE 7. The type locality and habitat of Eremias kakari sp. nov. near the Tanishpa village, Toba Kakar Range: A—cultivated orchards along the type locality; B—type locality of E. kakari sp. nov.