Trapelus megalonyx Guenther , 1864

Jablonski, Daniel, Regan, John M., Holzheuser, Chace, Farooqi, Javeed, Basit, Abdul & Masroor, Rafaqat, 2019, Additional data to the herpetofauna of Afghanistan, Herpetozoa 32, pp. 177-193 : 177

publication ID

https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.32.e38171

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:54B962BC-DDA5-44CB-84C3-3A7B6A8AB0D0

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/DF5A7B68-5499-56AC-BD42-1A0452BDA6D9

treatment provided by

Herpetozoa by Pensoft

scientific name

Trapelus megalonyx Guenther , 1864
status

 

Trapelus megalonyx Guenther, 1864

Distribution in Afghanistan.

This species is known mainly from south-eastern parts of the country (provinces Baghlan, Ghazni, Kabul, Kandahar, Kapisa, Logar, Nangarhar, Uruzgan and Wardak; Wagner et al. 2016; Jablonski et al. 2019). One record is presented from Fayzabad (Badakhshan) that is not marked in the Wagner et al. (2016) map (Plate 5, p. 541).

Our records

( Fig. 2 View Figure 2 ). 1 - Kandahar, Air Base, Kandahar (17 May 2009), one adult individual ( Fig. 4I View Figure 4 ) in the desert habitat with bushes near the runway; 2 - Gardez, Gardez Base, Paktia (2 May 2008), one adult individual ( Fig. 4H View Figure 4 ) observed in the semi-desert, rocky habitat.

Remarks.

Both our records are new locality data. The record from Kandahar is currently the most western point of the species in the country and the record from Paktia is the first for the province. Although our records clearly correspond with the distribution range of the species in the country and individuals are very similar to T. megalonyx , photos do not allow better examination for clear species determination. Regan (2017) presents both records as T. agilis (pp. 15, 18). However, the individual from Gardez showed unusual colour patterns with an atypical violet dot on the lateral part of the body ( Fig. 4H View Figure 4 ). Therefore, we present our records as “affiliated” to T. megalonyx .

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Squamata

Family

Agamidae

Genus

Trapelus