Sitana sushili, Deepak & Tillack & Kar & Sarkar & Mohapatra, 2021

Deepak, V., Tillack, Frank, Kar, Niladri B., Sarkar, Vivek & Mohapatra, Sh. P., 2021, A new species of Sitana (Squamata: Agamidae) from the Deccan Peninsula Biogeographic Zone of India, Zootaxa 4948 (2), pp. 261-274 : 263-268

Sitana sushili sp. nov.

Figs. 1–3 & 5 ; Tables 1–2 ; Appendix 2

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:AE630DB2-4A74-46A8-9AE7-94E16F360CD3

Sitana ponticeriana . — Sanyal (1993): 57 [in part]; Chandra & Gajbe (2005): 1815 [in part]; Chakraborty et al. (2008): 192 –193; Dutta et al. (2009): 68; Murthy et al. (2018): 501; Chandra et al. (2018a): 309 –310; Chandra et al. (2018b): 361; Chandra et al. (2018c): 368 –369; Chandra et al. (2018d): 242; Chandra et al. (2018e): 245.

Sitana cf. ponticeriana .— Manthey (2010): 153 [in part] plate RA04163-4.

Holotype. BNHS 2511 an adult male ( Fig. 1 ), Chiplima , Sambalpur district, Odisha, India (21.3501°N, 83. 9137°E), 174 m elevation, collected on 14 June 2014 by V. Deepak, S.K. Behera & N. B. Kar.

Paratypes (n=2). ZSI-CZRC V-7176 an adult female collected by V. Deepak, S.K. Behera and N. B. Kar; ZSI-CZRC V-7177 , an adult male collected by P. Mohapatra on 15 April 2015 both collected from Brooks hill, Sambalpur (21.483°N, 83.766°N), 183 m elevation (Appendix 2) .

Referred specimens (n=36). Males: CES 14698–14699, CES 141156–141159, CES 13584, CES 13579, IAG 103, IAG 106, IAG 126, ZSI-CZRC V- 6715, 6735a & b, 6744a, 6917, 6978, 7159a, 7186; Females: CES 14695–14696, CES 13580–13583, CES 13585, 14699, ZSI-CZRC V- 6788, 6979b, 7152, 7159b; unsexed juveniles: ZSI-CZRC 6744b-e, V- 6977 (see Table 1 & Appendix 2 for locality information).

Diagnosis. A small sized Sitana (maximum SVL 48mm), having 42–48 vertebral scales (42–48 in males, 44–47 in females), 61–94 ventrals (82–94 in males, 61–70 in females), 49–57 mid body scale rows; in adult males, dewlap with single dark blue line and dewlap scales mottled with brown, 0.10–0.23 % dewlap in trunk; brown dorsum with five black rhomboidal markings and venter off white with brown speckles.

The new species differs from its congeners by the following combination of characters: 1) dewlap feebly serrated without bright orange patches in breeding males (vs. well serrated in breeding males of S. ponticeriana , S. visiri , S. marudhamneydhal and S. devakai ), 2) dewlap extending beyond forearm insertion (vs. not extending in S. schleichi , S. sivalensis and S. fusca ), 3) four less prominent enlarged non spine like scales bordering the occipital region (vs. enlarged spine like scales in S. spinaecephalus ), 4) dewlap medium sized extending up to 23 % of trunk (vs. dewlap extending up to 29%, 45% and 46.5 % of trunk in S. laticeps , S. dharwarensis and S. spinaecephalus respectively and up to 42% of trunk in Sitana sp1 (in Deepak & Karanth, 2018), 5) body size small SVL(mm) = mean 43.7 +/- 0.59 SE, range 40–48.3 (n=18) (vs. large in S. gokakensis (SVL(mm): mean 48.8 +/- 3.6 SE; range 42.4–53.1; n=14) and S. thondalu (SVL(mm): mean 50.2 +/- 0.93 SE; range 44.9–56.3; n=19).

Description of holotype: The holotype BNHS 2511 is in good condition except the tail is detached from body and it also has a constriction near the groin region due to the knot for tag; hemipenis everted, exposed and seen on both sides when viewed dorsally. An adult male, SVL 46.6 mm. Head relatively long (HL/SVL ratio: 0.3), wide (HW/HL ratio: 0.6), not depressed (HH/HL ratio: 0.5), distinct from neck. Snout short (SE/HL ratio: 0.4), longer than eye diameter (OD/SE ratio: 0.8), obtusely pointed in profile when viewed dorsally; rostral wider than high (RH/RW ratio: 0.3), contacted laterally on either side by first supralabial, a prenasal and dorsally by two smaller scales, the second of which is roughly pentagonal. Canthus rostralis and supraciliary edge sharp. Nostril circular, laterally positioned and placed on top posterior region of a large, undivided nasal scale. Nasal scale bordered by seven scales on both sides; one supranasal, three postnasals the last of which much smaller than the first two, one prenasal, the first supralabial and the last of a series of enlarged scales bordering the supralabials. Ten supralabials on either side, first slightly higher than others, broader than high, roughly rectangular; rest more elongate, weakly keeled, bordered above by a row of slightly smaller, rectangular, weakly keeled scales, which start at posterior margin of first supralabial, decreasing in size posteriorly and terminating above the tenth supralabial. Eleven infralabials on the right side (ten on the left), elongate, first slightly smaller than the rest, weakly keeled increasing in size posteriorly. Loreal region concave, with scales of heterogeneous shape and size. Canthals enlarged, overlapping, slightly protruding on supraorbital ridge laterally. Loreal region with few weakly keeled scales. Eye large (ED/HL ratio: 0.3); pupil round, covered partially under the eyelids; eyelids covered with scales that are heterogeneous in shape and size; larger elongate, roughly rectangular scales on the upper eyelids and two rows of imbricate pointed scales on the lower, keeled, rest predominantly smooth; supraciliaries longer than broad. Orbital scales small but not granular. Scales on postorbital and temporal region, heterogeneous, sub-imbricate, strongly keeled, predominantly directed backward and upwards. Tympanum naked. Canthal scales, and orbit bordered below by a row of eleven enlarged scales that are heterogeneous in shape and size anteriorly, roughly rectangular under the eye, weekly keeled, starting at the posterior margin of nasal scale and terminating after the posterior margin of the orbit. Scales on dorsal surface of snout, forehead, interorbital and occipital region highly heterogeneous in shape and size, mostly elongate, sub-imbricate, strongly keeled longitudinally; scales on snout large in size, those on forehead larger and interorbital region largest; occipital region with much smaller scales; 9 scales anterior and 13 scales posterior to eyelids in the interorbital region; supraorbital scales along the supraciliary edge elongate, keeled, decreasing in size posteriorly, following curvature of orbit. Parietals larger than surrounding scales, longer than broad, strongly keeled in contact with each other; single inter-parietal, roughly pentagonal, with a distinct pineal eye. Mental shield narrower than rostral, roughly pentagonal, pointed posteriorly; a pair of elongate, curved postmentals, slightly longer than mental when viewed ventrally, completely separated from each other by a smaller gular scale; scales on the gular region homogenous in shape, those behind mental smooth, increasing in size and carination posteriorly. Dewlap medium (DEW/SVL ratio: 0.6), extends posteriorly up to 23% of trunk, about eight rows of anterior dewlap scales smaller, elongate, pointed, weakly keeled; remainder of scales much enlarged, keeled, ending obtusely, gradually increasing in size towards margin; single marginal row largest. Enlarged scales on dewlap in 16 rows. Nuchal and dorsal crest absent. Scales on nuchal region smaller, less than half the size of those on interorbital region, imbricate, strongly keeled. Body slender (TRW/SVL ratio: 0.2), 55 rows of scales around midbody; 45 vertebral scale, 4 or 5 dorsal scales on either side of the vertebral scales (1 or 2 rows), larger than the those on the neck and the largest enlarged scale on the lateral, these scales starts from back of neck until groin, sub equal in size, shape, imbricate, pointed, keeled, directed backwards forming regularly arranged longitudinal rows; those on flanks heterogeneous in shape and size, much smaller than those on dorsum, pointed, keeled, upper rows directed backwards and upwards, lower rows backwards and downwards, 16 distinctly enlarged scales on the flank (left); ventral scales imbricate around the dewlap, subimbricate posteriorly, keeled, homogenous in shape and size, arranged in 89 rows; Fore and hindlimbs relatively slender, tibia short (CL/SVL ratio: 0.3); digits moderately long, ending in strong, elongate, slightly recurved claw; subdigital lamellae entire, bi-mucronate, 21 subdigital lamellae on toe IV including claw sheath; relative length of fingers (right) 3> 4> 2> 5> 1, toes (right) 4> 3> 2> 1. Fore and hindlimbs covered above and below with regularly arranged, enlarged, pointed, strongly keeled scales. Tail long (TL/SVL ratio 2.4) but broken, base swollen, uniformly covered with similar sized, keeled, pointed, regularly arranged, backwardly directed imbricate scales; subcaudal scales keeled, weakly pointed near base, becoming pointed posteriorly; no enlarged subcaudals.

Colour of holotype in life: Head brown, a dark brown irregular stripe starting from behind the eye extends into the dorsum along the enlarged scale rows; tympanum pale yellow colour; a prominent broad dark brown band between the supracilliaries, on the top of the head. Dorsum brown, with five rhomboidal dark brown markings of subequal size; upper portion of the limbs same as dorsum colour; venter pale white and vent iridescent white. Dark brown bars found throughout the tail. Dewlap scales are mottled with dark brown/black; a single ‘ink blue’ line starting from the mental extends into the enlarged scales in the middle of dewlap. Nuchal region where the crest is located it had cyan and light green colours.

Colour of holotype in preservative. Head dark brown, darker than the body, a short pale brown stripe with white edges below the eye directed downwards; tympanum pale brown, a prominent broad dark brown band between the supraciliaries at the frontal region. Dorsum light brown with a dark brown line from the occiput joining the first rhomboidal marking on the back; in total there are five rhomboidal markings, subequal in size; between axilla-groin on the dorsum a faint cream midline runs through the last four rhomboidal markings; a small rhomboidal marking behind the hindlimb insertion on the dorsal side of tail base; dark brown bars found throughout the tail, the ones near tail tip are light brown. The 4–5 enlarged rows of scales on the dorsum, excluding the rhomboidal marking, are light brown in colour; flanks dark brown; the enlarged scales on the lateral sides are orange coloured and those towards the lower end of lateral scales are whitish with dark blackish-brown speckles. Venter pale white with dark blackish-brown speckles. Prominent dark brown bars on the dorsal side of limbs. Enlarged scales on dewlap mottled dark brown with pale white spots on the anterior of each scale, the throat region on either side of the enlarged scale on dewlap pale white with scattered dark brown speckles and the dark blue stripe colouration on the throat is visible ( Fig. 1D ).

Variation in paratypes. The two paratypes agree with the holotype in overall scalation with some exceptions. ZSI-CZRC V-7177 has 88 ventral scales and 34 belly ventral scales, 13 lamellae on the 4 th finger and 46 vertebral scales. The female ZSI-CZRC V-7176 agrees with the holotype in overall scutellation except it lacks a dewlap, and have 65 ventral scales, one less supralabial and infralabial on the right, one less infralabial on the left, 46 vertebral scales. ZSI-CZRC V-7177 differs in colouration from the holotype in having lighter dorsum, limbs, head and tail (an artifact of longer preservation), only the first rhomboidal marking is prominent.A broad dark brown patch at the frontal region, instead of a band, not touching the supraciliaries. Dorsum and flanks similar in colour (an artifact of preservation). Venter lighter compared to the holotype with scattered dark speckles. Enlarged scales on the dewlap are much lighter in colour compared to holotype. ZSI-CZRC V-7176 differs in colouration from the holotype in having seven markings on the dorsum, 5 of which are rhomboidal and two are irregular shaped. A prominent buff coloured line starting from the first rhomboid runs through the mid-dorsal region till the last marking on the dorsum. The stripe below the eye is longer and extending till the anterior border of tympanum on the left, the stripe starts behind the nostril on the right. Colouration on the throat region excluding the dewlap and the blue line is similar to that of the venter.

Hemipenial morphology. (CES 13584). Hemipenis bilobed, relatively small, as long as wide and shallowlyforked. Sulcus spermaticus bifurcated ( Fig. 3 ). Sulcal lips raised and papillate, sulcus smooth originating from the side of the base. Apex with a small serrated row of calyces and the sulcal region of apex nude. Ornamentation is differentiated and a combination of flounces, calyces observed. Papillae present between the apical lobes. Apical regions on the lobes of sulcal side calyces are serrated and continuous; calyces are relatively larger and non-serrated at the base of the lobes. Calyces are deep regular pits on the asulcal side and become shallow and broad at the basal region. Ridges between the calyces are thin and show micro-ornamentation which scalloped. Flounces present six to eight in numbers, all of them are prominent on the asulcal side. The hemipenial morphology of ZSI-CZRC V-7186 and 6917 corresponds to this description.

Etymology. The specific epithet is a patronym named in honor of ProfessorSushil Kumar Dutta from Odisha, India, for his continued support of our research in this region and for promoting herpetology in India through the “School in Herpetology”.

Suggested common name. Sushil’s fan-throated lizard.

Distribution. Sitana sushili sp. nov. is endemic to the Deccan peninsula Biogeographic zone and has been recorded from Eastern Highlands (6A), Chotta Nagpur Plateau (6B) and Eastern Highlands (6C) provinces according to Rodgers et al. (2000) classification of Biogeographic zones of India. Based on our present understanding, the distribution limit of this species is bounded by Gangetic Plains to the north, Kaimur and Maikal hills to the west and Godavari River to the south ( Table 1 , Fig. 4 ).

Habitat and natural history. Sitana sushili sp. nov. is found in open habitats with shrubby vegetation and rocky outcrops ( Fig. 2C ). The areas in which this species occurs are low to mid elevations (10 to 600 m a.s.l.) and the mean annual rainfall is between 800–1400 mm (Source: Indian Meteorological Department, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India). The type locality of the species is close to Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary and the species is patchily distributed in the sanctuary area, mostly seen in open fields, scrub forests, bamboo brakes ( Dendrocalamus strictus ), forest clearings and barren hillocks. The broad habitat types occupied by the species are northern tropical dry deciduous forests, dry mixed deciduous forests, moist and deciduous Sal forest and also grasslands and savannah ( Champion & Seth, 1968). Individuals were also found along roadside gravels, near agricultural fields, Lantana camara invaded lands and essentially with scattered boulders on the surface. This species was seen taking refuge under boulders during night and also during winter months (November–January), when the activities are limited. Breeding activities were observed during the summer (April–June) and hatchlings are seen during post-monsoon (July–August). During the breeding season, the males appear vivid with prominent dewlap lined with a blue streak at the anterior part. The dorsal nuchal crest develops a greenish-blue patch, hemipenial bulges at the ventral tail base become pronounced and the overall body colour changes with whitish spots on lateral sides and bands on the tail. Male–male competition is prominent in breeding season and was observed in the form of flashing of dewlaps and display of raised nuchal crests and dorsal crests in some cases. The latter two behaviours are aggressive in nature. The raising of nuchal and dorsal crests is possibly the effect of some muscular actions, as no trace of raised crest was observed after preservation of the animals. Territorial show-offs between two males were observed by VS and PPM on 24.05.2013 during one of the field trips to Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary ( Fig. 5 ). The two individuals were approximately 30 cm apart on an open ground and continued to display for a period of 20 minutes until one of them left the area and went hiding into the bushes. Male combats were observed occasionally as the last option to chase the intruder away in the form of wrestling (like that of monitor lizards, Varanus spp.) in bipedal position, pushing each other with the help of anterior body and using forelimbs, and biting at the base of the tail. Male combat was observed by PPM during April 2010 at Utkal University campus at 11:00hrs and the wrestling part took 6 minutes. Similar observations of male-male combat and tail biting were observed in S. visiri in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu (DV pers. obs.) in October 2013. The nuchal crest was observed only during male-male combats in S. laticeps , S. spinaecephalus , S. gokakensis , S. thondalu and S. ponticeriana (DV pers. obs.) and in S. marudhamneydhal (A. Balan pers. obs.)

Figures

FIGURE 1. Holotype of Sitana sushili sp. nov. (BNHS 2511) from Sambalpur, Odisha. (A) full body dorsal; (B) full body ventral; (C) dorsal, (D) ventral, and (E) right lateral view of head. Scale bars= 10 mm.

FIGURE 2. Live image of Sitana sushili sp. nov. (A) Male from near Hirakud dam, Sambalpur, Odisha (Photo: V. Deepak), (B) male in a defensive display from Debrigarh, Hirakud WLS, Sambalpur, Odisha (Photo: Vivek Sarkar). (C) habitat near Hirakud dam, Sambalpur, Odisha (Photo: V. Deepak)

FIGURE 3. Hemipenis of Sitana sushili sp. nov. (CES 13584): (A, C) sulcal view; (B, D) asulcal view. Scale bars= 10 mm. (drawings made by Mohammad Asif).

FIGURE 4. The distribution of Sitana sushili sp. nov. and other species from the Sitana sivalensis complex shown with different symbols. Type localities of each species are marked with a red arrow. Locality numbers correspond to those in Table 1. Note that samples collected from India and labelled here as S. sivalensis are based only on genetic similarity.

FIGURE 5. Two uncollected males of Sitana sushili sp. nov. in combat (note the prominent nuchal crest) photographed in Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Odisha. (Photo: Vivek Sarkar)