Calotes irawadi Zug, Brown, Schulte & Vindum, 2006

Liu, Shuo, Zuo, Changsheng & Rao, Dingqi, 2021, Distribution extension of Calotes irawadi Zug, Brown, Schulte & Vindum, 2006, previously confused with C. versicolor (Daudin, 1802): first record from China, Herpetozoa 34, pp. 83-88 : 83

Calotes irawadi Zug, Brown, Schulte & Vindum, 2006 Figs 2 , 3A, B Suggested Chinese name: 实皆树蜥 ( Wei et al. 2017)

Specimens examined.

KIZ 059191 (juvenile) and KIZ NB20180905 (adult male) collected by Shuo Liu on 5 September 2018 from Tongbiguan NR, Nabang Town , Yingjiang County, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China (24°45'47"N, 97°34'15"E; at an elevation of 320 m) ; KIZ HBH20200913 (adult female) and KIZ HBH20200914 (juvenile) collected by Shuo Liu on 13 and 14 September 2020 (respectively) from Tongbiguan NR, Xueli Village , Taiping Town , Yingjiang County, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China (24°26'32"N, 97°33'4"E; at an elevation of 350 m) .

Morphological description.

Morphometric and meristic data are presented in Table 3 . Head is triangular and distinct from neck; snout-tip blunt; head behind eyes with edges slightly bowed outward by jaw muscles but edges largely parallel; sides of head flat; dorsally head scales are variable in size and smooth surfaced, most equivalent in size to dorsal trunk scales; 6-7 scales on line transversally between left and right nasal scales; 8-9 elongate and sharply folded scales along dorsolateral snout ridge from above posterodorsal corner of nasal scale to and including the posterior most supraciliary scale; rostral equivalent to the supralabials in height; supralabials 11; laterally head with single large nasal scale on each side abutting rostral; loreal and preocular area with small scales. The tympanum is large and naked with a pair of spines or clusters in supratympanum area; medially the chin throat scales triangular and smooth to lightly keeled; mental triangular; intralabials 9-10.

Trunk scalation generally keeled dorsally and laterally; middorsal crest of elongate scales; the dorsal spines scales are blade-like and laterally compressed; 44-53 middorsal scales, 38-46 scale rows around trunk at midbody, all trunk scales are keeled, weakly so on ventrolateral half of neck and trunk. Keel and scale orientation are diagonally upward from neck and supra-axillary area to base of tail; preaxillary scales mostly smooth; ventral scales large and uniform in size from throat to vent and strongly keeled.

Limbs have modest to large scales, all keeled; 19-23 lamellae on fourth finger and 23-25 lamellae on fourth toe; each finger and toe with strongly bicarinate lamellae ventrally, whilst claws are long, thin and sharply pointed on all digits.

Tail length is 2.7-3.1 times of SVL; tail scalation similar to trunk although more strongly keeled with progressive loss of scale rows distally.

Coloration.

These lizards have a very clear ability to change their body colors. In life, body color varies from yellowish white to almost wholly black with or without dark or light stripes (Fig. 3A, B ). In preservative, the dorsal color is dark brown with some indistinct black or white stripes; the ventral color is white with some black stripes (Fig. 2B ).

Sexual dimorphism.

The width of the base of tail in adult males is significantly thicker than that in adult females, except for this, there is little difference in morphological characters between females and males, and there is little difference in body color between males and females during the nonbreeding season. It is difficult to distinguish the gender of the juveniles in appearance.

Ecological notes.

The specimens from Nabang Town and from Hongbenghe were found on the sides of a small road (Fig. 3C ) near a village and on the sides of a big road (Fig. 3D ), respectively. Specimens were collected during both the day and night. They were active on the trunks near the ground during the day, and asleep on the higher branches at night. Reproductive behavior was not observed.

Figures

Figure 2. The specimens of Calotes irawadi from Tongbiguan NR, Western Yunnan, China in preservative. A. Dorsal view; B. Ventral view.

Figure 3. Calotes irawadi in life and its habitats. A. Adult male (KIZ NB 20180905) from Nabang Town, Yingjiang County, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China; B. Adult female (KIZ HBH 20200913) from Xueli Village, Taiping Town, Yingjiang County, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China; C. Habitat at Nabang Town, Yingjiang County, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China; D. Habitat at Xueli Village, Taiping Town, Yingjiang County, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China.