Diploderma shuoquense, Liu & Hou & Rao & Ananjeva, 2022
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publication ID |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1131.86644 |
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publication LSID |
lsid:zoobank.org:pub:EEC27CDE-E9B7-4D00-ACD9-ADB1806D737F |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/53A4844E-ADBF-4BE0-A924-355D1534019E |
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taxon LSID |
lsid:zoobank.org:act:53A4844E-ADBF-4BE0-A924-355D1534019E |
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treatment provided by |
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scientific name |
Diploderma shuoquense |
| status |
sp. nov. |
Diploderma shuoquense sp. nov.
Figs 6 View Figure 6 , 7 View Figure 7 , 8 View Figure 8
Holotype.
KIZ2022004, adult male, collected on 23 April 2022 by Shuo Liu from the Shuoqu River Valley, Qingde Town, Xiangcheng County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China (28°48′50″N, 99°49′47″E, 2700 m elevation).
Paratypes.
KIZ2022005-KIZ2022007, three adult males, collecting information the same as the holotype.
Etymology.
The specific epithet refers to the Shuoqu River, by which the new species was discovered.
Diagnosis.
Diploderma shuoquense sp. nov. can be diagnosed from congeners by a combination of the following morphological characteristics: (1) body size small, SVL 48.2-52.3 mm in males; (2) tail moderately long, TAL/SVL 1.87-1.97 in males; (3) limbs moderately long, FLL/SVL 0.45-0.49 in males, HLL/SVL 0.69-0.74 in males; (4) head moderately wide, HW/HL 0.72-0.74 in males; (5) MD 34-40; (6) F4S 13-16, T4S 19-21; (7) tympanum concealed; (8) nuchal and dorsal crest scales feebly developed, not distinctively erected or raised on skin folds in males; (9) distinct transverse gular fold present; (10) ventral head scales smooth or weakly keeled and ventral body scales strongly keeled; (11) ventral head scales homogeneous in size; (12) no distinct gular spot in males; (13) dorsolateral stripes jagged in males, yellowish-white or greyish-white in life; (14) 8-10 radial stripes around the eye on each side; (15) oral cavity, inner lips and tongue pink in life.
Description of holotype.
Adult male, SVL 52.3 mm; tail moderately long, TAL 98.3 mm, TAL/SVL 1.88; limbs moderately long, FLL 23.4 mm on left side, FLL/SVL 0.45, HLL 36.6 mm on left side, HLL/SVL 0.70. Head relatively robust, HW/HL 0.74, HD/HW 0.82; snout relatively short, SEL/HL 0.34. Rostral rectangular, bordered by six small postrostral scales; dorsal head scales heterogeneous, all strongly keeled; indistinct Y-shaped ridge on dorsal snout. Nasal oval, separated from first supralabial by single row of scales; loreals small, keeled; suborbital scale rows 3/4, keeled; canthus rostralis elongated, greatly overlapping with each other; enlarged, keeled scales forming single lateral ridge from posteroinferior eye to posterosuperior tympanum on each side; tympanum concealed under scales; SL 10/10, feebly keeled. Mental pentagonal; IL 9/9; enlarged chin shields 6/5, smooth, first one contacting IL on left side and first two contacting IL on right side, remaining ones separated from IL by one or two rows of small scales; ventral head scales homogeneous in size, smooth or weakly keeled; distinct transverse gular fold present; gular pouch weakly developed.
Distinct shoulder fold present; dorsal body scales heterogeneous in size and shape, all keeled, tip pointing backwards; axillary scales much smaller than remaining dorsals; enlarged dorsal scales roughly forming four or five longitudinal rows from neck to pelvis on each side of body. Nuchal and dorsal crests feebly developed, slightly raised compared to dorsals, not erect; no skin fold under nuchal and dorsal crests; MD 40. Dorsal limb scales strongly keeled, homogeneous; F4S 15/16, T4S 21/20. Ventral body scales approximately parallel, almost homogeneous, all strongly keeled, VN 61. Ventral limb scales parallel, almost homogeneous, approximately equal in size to ventrals, all strongly keeled. Tail scales all strongly keeled, ventral tail scales slightly larger than dorsal tail scales.
Colouration of holotype in life.
Dorsal surface of head grey. Two distinct black transverse bands present between orbits on dorsal surface of head and two indistinct greyish-black transverse bands present on dorsal surface of snout. Lateral surfaces of head greyish-white. Ten black radial stripes around eye on each side. Upper lips light orange. Oral cavity, inner lips and tongue pink.
Dorsal surface of body greyish-black. A light yellowish-white dorsolateral longitudinal stripe with strongly jagged upper edge and relatively straight lower edge present on each side of body from occipital region to pelvis. Some indistinct dark and light transverse bands present between two dorsolateral stripes. Some white spots scattered below dorsolateral stripe on each side of body. Dorsal surfaces of limbs dark grey. Some irregular, greyish-white transverse bands present on dorsal surfaces of limbs. Dorsal surface of tail grey with some very indistinct dark transverse bands.
Ventral surface of head white with distinct black vermiculate stripes. A little yellowish colouration present on centre of gular pouch. Ventral surfaces of body, limbs and tail white with no patterns.
Variations.
The variations of morphological character of the type series are provided in Table 3 View Table 3 . The variations of colouration in life are as follows: the paratypes resemble the holotype in most aspects, except that the dorsal colouration is darker in the paratype KIZ2022007, the light orange colouration on upper lips is more indistinct in the paratypes KIZ2022005 and KIZ2022006, there is no yellowish colouration on the centre of the gular pouch in the paratypes KIZ2022006 and KIZ2022007 and there is some yellowish colouration on the chest in the paratype KIZ2022005.
Comparisons.
From species of Diploderma which are only distributed on East Asian Islands, Diploderma shuoquense sp. nov. differs from D. brevipes , D. luei , D. makii , D. polygonatum and D. swinhonis by the presence of a transverse gular fold (vs. absence).
From species of Diploderma which are distributed on mainland, but relatively distant from that of Diploderma shuoquense sp. nov., Diploderma shuoquense sp. nov. differs from D. chapaense , D. fasciatum , D. hamptoni , D. menghaiense , D. micangshanense , D. ngoclinense and D. yunnanense by the presence of a transverse gular fold (vs. absence); from D. dymondi , D. varcoae , by having concealed tympana (vs. exposed); from D. grahami by having a much longer tail (TAL/SVL 1.87-1.97 vs. 1.64) and a distinct transverse gular fold (vs. feeble); and from D. splendidum by having jagged dorsolateral stripes in males (vs. smooth).
From species of Diploderma which occupy distributions relatively close to that of Diploderma shuoquense sp. nov. in the Hengduan Mountain Region, Diploderma shuoquense sp. nov. differs from D. panlong , D. slowinskii and D. swild by having concealed tympana (vs. exposed); from D. angustelinea , D. aorun , D. batangense , D. flavilabre , D. formosgulae , D. iadinum , D. laeviventre , D. yangi , D. yulongense and D. zhaoermii by the absence of a distinct gular spot in males in life (vs. presence of a distinct colourful gular spot); from D. brevicauda by having a relatively longer tail in males (TAL/SVL 1.87-1.97 vs. 1.40-1.84) and pink inner lips and tongue in life (vs. inner lips light yellow and tongue light orange); from D. drukdaypo by having strongly keeled ventral scales of body (vs. smooth or weakly keeled); from D. flaviceps by the presence of distinct radial stripes around the eyes (vs. absence) and the absence of a skin fold under dorsal crest in males in life (vs. presence); from D. panchi by having less mid-dorsal crest scales (MD 34-40 vs. 42-46) and smooth or weakly keeled ventral scales of head (vs. distinctively keeled); from D. qilin by having a relatively shorter tail in males (TAL/SVL 1.87-1.97 vs. 2.01-2.18); and from D. vela by having feebly developed crests without strongly erected crest scales or skin fold in males in life (vs. distinctively erected crest scales on continuous, well-developed skin fold).
Diploderma shuoquense sp. nov. is phylogenetically sister to D. bowoense , but Diploderma shuoquense sp. nov. can be differentiated from the latter by the absence of a light chrome orange gular spot in males in life (vs. presence) and having a wider head (HW/HL 0.72-0.74 vs. 0.65-0.71) and smooth or weakly keeled ventral scales of head (vs. distinctively keeled).
Diploderma shuoquense sp. nov. differs from Diploderma limingense sp. nov. by having a smaller body size in males (SVL 48.2-52.3 mm vs. 55.6-56.8 mm), vermiculate stripes covering the whole ventral head (vs. stripes not reaching the centre of gular pouch), white ventral surfaces of body, limbs and tail in males in life (vs. light brick red), pink inner lips and tongue in life (vs. inner lips bright yellow, tongue light orange) and more radial stripes around the eyes (8-10 vs. five on each side).
Distribution.
This species is known only from the type locality, Qingde Town, Xiangcheng County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China (Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ).
Natural history.
This species is terrestrial, inhabiting the hot-dry valley. There are many thorny shrubs and some rock piles at the type locality (Fig. 12C, D View Figure 12 ). All specimens were collected between 1 and 3 p.m. when they were basking on rock piles, no female or juvenile being found. We found many locusts at the type locality, which may be the main prey of this species; however, the population density of this species was very low and the habitats at the type locality being threatened by human activities. According to IUCN Criteria, we recommend listing this new species as Vulnerable (VU).
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