Calotes grandisquamis Günther, 1875

Pal, Saunak, Vijayakumar, S. P., Shanker, Kartik, Jayarajan, Aditi & Deepak, V., 2018, A systematic revision of Calotes Cuvier, 1817 (Squamata: Agamidae) from the Western Ghats adds two genera and reveals two new species, Zootaxa 4482 (3), pp. 401-450 : 423-424

Calotes grandisquamis Günther, 1875

Calotes grandisquamis— Günther, 1875. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1875: 226.

Original description. Günther, 1875. Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1875: 226, Plate xxx.

Taxonomic comments. Calotes grandisquamis was described based on specimens collected from ‘foot of Canoot Ghat, near Manantoddy, Bramagherry hills’. This large bodied, green Calotes is a well-defined species and can be distinguished from the closely related C. nemoricola .

Syntypes. BMNH 1946.8 .11.44 to 47, collected from ‘foot of the Canoot Ghat, near Manantoddy, Bramagherry hills’ (presently near Mananthawadi in the Brahmagiri hills, Kerala.

Material examined. CESL 0 35 adult female collected from near Chemunji, Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary , Kerala ; CESL 120 adult male collected from Upper Manalar, Periyar tiger reserve , Kerala and CESL 191 adult male collected from near Pulmeedu, Periyar tiger reserve , Kerala; BMNH 1946.8 .11.44 female , BMNH 1946.8.11.45 juvenile, BMNH 1946.8.11.46 juvenile, BMNH 1946.8.11.47 male all deposited by R.H. Beddome collected from the foothills of “Coonoor Ghat. Details of collection locality, specimen voucher and GenBank accession number in Appendix 1.

Diagnosis and comparison. A large sized Calotes (SVL up to 136.5 mm) characterized by the posterodorsal orientation of lateral scales; antehumeral fold absent; 27–35 midbody scale rows; nuchal and dorsal crest well developed, continuous, nuchal crest composed of long, curved spines, dorsal spines smaller, gradually reducing in length and reaches till above the tail base; row of 3–4 compressed supratympanic spines; postorbital spine absent; a crescent-shaped patch of granular scales in front of the shoulder present; dorsal and lateral scales large, smooth, subtriangular, ventral scales keeled, mucronate; paired postmentals, first pair separated by a single median scale; 22–25 subdigital lamellae under fourth finger, 27–30 subdigital lamellae under fourth toe; 10 supralabials and 9–10 infralabials; green above, often with 2–3 broad black transverse bars on the lateral side, lateral side of head darker, blackish, ventral pale green.

Calotes grandisquamis can be distinguished from members of Smith’s C. versicolor group by a combination of the following characters: larger body size: adult SVL 110.0– 136.5 mm, n=5 (vs. C. versicolor , adult SVL 73.8–99.4 mm, n=9 and C. calotes , adult SVL 73.6–96.8 mm, n=3); 27–35 midbody scale rows (30–35 in C. calotes , n=3; 38–44 in C. versicolor ; 58–63 in C. maria ; 45–57 in C. jerdoni ; 49–65 in C. emma ; 48–58 in C. mystaceus and 48– 60 in C. minor ); nuchal crest well developed with much longer spines than dorsal spines (vs. nuchal and dorsal crest well developed, composed of almost equal spines in C. versicolor and C. mystaceus ; nuchal spines long, dorsal crest reduced in C. maria ); row of 3–4 compressed supratympanic spines (vs. two well separated supratympanic spines in C. versicolor and 8–9 compressed spines in C. calotes , two parallel rows of compressed supratympanic scales in C. maria and C. jerdoni ; single well developed postorbital spine in C. emma ); presence of a crescent-shaped patch of granular scales in front of the shoulder (vs. absent in C. versicolor , C. calotes and C. maria ) and lateral scales much larger than ventrals (vs. almost equal to the ventrals in C. calotes ). For distinguishing from C. nemoricola , see comparison section of C. nemoricola .

Description. Based on specimen CESL 191. A large sized adult male (SVL- 136.5 mm), morphometric and meristic data are summarised in Appendix 2 & 3. General habitus compressed. Head moderately large (HL/SVL ratio 0.28), elongate (HW/HL ratio 0.60), maximum height slightly less than maximum width; snout pointed; rostral broader than high; nostrils in single nasal shield which is separated from rostral by two scales; mental shield narrower than rostral; two postmentals, first pair separated from each other by a single scale; genials smooth; gular sac well developed, composed of mostly smooth scales, weakly keeled only at the medial row, slightly smaller than genials; scales on top of snout smooth except median row, which is keeled; scales on top of head heterogenous in shape and size, keeled towards the edges; supraorbital scales weakly keeled; canthus-rostralis and supraciliary edge sharp; 3 supratympanic spines in a row, compressed; orbit diameter 71% of distance between anterior border of orbit and snout tip; tympanum exposed, its greatest diameter 41% of horizontal diameter of orbit; partially keeled, scales between tympanum and orbit smooth, enlarged, slightly smaller than the tympanum; posterior region of jaws distinctly swollen with large scales, equal to or slightly larger than tympanum; supralabials 10/10; infralabials 10/9.

Nuchal and dorsal crest well developed, continuous; composed of 28 long, conical spines, the first being the smallest; dorsal crest reaching above the tail base gradually decreasing in length, continues till the end of tail as a serrated ridge; longest nuchal spine 107% of the orbit; 30 longitudinal scale rows around midbody; dorsal and lateral scales sub-triangular, smooth, oriented postero-dorsally; ventrals strongly keeled, mucronate, smaller than dorsal and lateral scales; a crescent-shaped patch of small, granular scales present in front of the shoulder.

Limbs moderate and covered with smooth scales, weakly keeled scales towards the end; scales under thighs weakly keeled; length of hindlimb ca. 70 % SVL; relative length of fingers 4>3>2>5>1, third and fourth finger almost equal; relative lengths of toes 4>3>5>2>1; fourth toe much longer than fifth finger; 22 subdigital lamellae under fourth finger; 29 subdigital lamellae under fourth toe; subdigital lamellae with sharp keels, bicarinate; slender, swollen at the base; dorsal tail scales keeled, median row forming a serrated ridge, ventral tail scales mucronate, strongly keeled; tail length 267 mm (tail incomplete, broken at the tip).

Colouration. In life: dorsum and head uniform, green above with slightly yellowish lateral scales; three broad black bands on the lateral side; dorsal and scales around the orbit greenish yellow with thick black edges forming an indistinct black band from behind the nostril till above the tympanum; head laterally yellow, bluish below the cheeks; pupil black surrounded by a brick red iris; a thin black stripe across the horizontally orbit; lip scales yellow; gular pouch yellow with few slightly orange scales; legs uniform lighter shade of green; tympanum pale bluish green; ventral pale green; tail banded with thick dark and light bands, dark bands almost black near the end. Representative image showing live colouration ( Fig. 5a ). In Preservative: colouration mostly similar to that in life, except overall paler.

Variation and secondary sexual characteristics. Meristic and morphometric data of the examined specimens are given in Appendix 2 & 3. The examined specimens agree with each other in general morphology and scalation. The female specimen (CESL 035) has a reduced nuchal crest composed of shorter spines, dorsal crest almost indistinct and ending at mid body; gular pouch absent.

Distribution. Calotes grandisquamis is endemic to the Western Ghats and is distributed across the high elevation evergreen (above 1000 m msl) forests of the southern part of central Western Ghats (south of Brahmgiri hills) and the southern Western Ghats. During the present study, this species was recorded from various sites in the hills of the southern Western Ghats (See Appendix 1 for details). The only record of C. grandisquamis in Central Western Ghats is from Agumbe (Ganesh et al. 2013).

Ecology and natural history. Calotes grandisquamis is a diurnal lizard, mostly arboreal in habit, and so far, has been recorded from primary evergreen forests and montane shola forests. Individuals were mostly seen perched on branches, high in the canopy and actively moving on tree trunks inside forests. In a few instances, it was found sleeping on lower branches at night. This species has mostly been recorded from higher elevations (above 1000 m msl) in the southern Western Ghats although there are some reports of it from lower elevations.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Lateral photograph showing live coloration of A. adult male C. grandisquamis and B. adult male C. nemoricola.