Eremias graphica, Orlova & Rasegar-Pouyani & Rajabizadeh & Nabizadeh & Poyarkov & Melnikov & Nazarov, 2023

Orlova, Valentina F., Rasegar-Pouyani, Eskandar, Rajabizadeh, Khosrow, Nabizadeh, Hossein, Poyarkov, Nikolay A., Melnikov, Daniel A. & Nazarov, Roman A., 2023, Taxonomic diversity of racerunners with descriptions of two new Eremias species (Sauria: Lacertidae) from Central Iran, Zootaxa 5369 (3), pp. 336-368 : 351-356

Eremias graphica sp. nov. ( Figs 7a–c , 8 , 9e , g, and 13g )

Holotype. ZMMU R-13171— Iran, Khorasan Province, 150 km SW from Tabas city, on the road Yazd – Tabas , 33.087534° N; 55.912115° E; collected by R. A. Nazarov, D.A. Bondarenko & M. Rajabizadeh, 09 May 2010.

Paratypes. Five males ( ZMMU R-15624–15626, R-15628, and R-15630) and four females ( ZMMU R-15627, R-15629, R-15631, and R-12986) with the same data as holotype .

Diagnosis. Maximum SVL 58.3 mm, TL about two times longer than the body (max. 118 mm). Supraocular plates (preocular and postocular scales) usually separated from frontal and frontoparietal plates by small granular scales; fifth inframaxilare not in contact with infralabial plates. The collar scales are not strongly distinct from surrounding gular scales and usually only five collar scales are larger than the others. The body scales are relatively small, about 60 (54–65) scales around middle of the body (Sq); 15–18 well developed femoral pores on the left and right sides, separated from each other by 4–6 scales; series of femoral pores not reaching the knee bend by 3–4 scales.

Coloration. The main dorsal background color is beige; dorsal patterns comprise vermiculated light and darkbrown spots; no regular longitudinal dark lines on the dorsum but sometimes dark spots forming narrow longitudinal stripes are more visable on the neck. A light narrow longitudinal line begins from the upper side of tympanic region and continues to the tail, bordering the lateral body surface. Wide, dark, non-contrasting longitudinal stripes without light spots usually visible on the flanks and continue to the tail. Sometimes there is a narrow dark longitudinal line marking the lateral and ventral border of the body. No yellow spot on the tympanic plate. Dorsal surface of the limbs dark brown with round light or yellowish spots. The ventral surface of the body is whitish and the tip of the tail light greyish.

Description of the Holotype. ZMMU R-13171 ( Fig.8 ). Adult male, SVL 56.9 mm, TL 114 mm, Pa 20.5 mm, Pp 35.7 mm, Lpil 13.5 mm. Meristic features: G 30, Coll 5, Pfm (right/left) 16/15, Dist.Pfm 6, labialia (left/right) 9/10, infralabilia (left/right) 6/7, ventralia 32. Tail scales smooth on the base, not strongly keeled; Sq.c.cd 29, subdigital lamellae subdigitalia 29. Smooth roundish and relatively small dorsal scales; Sq. 65; Sq. dorsale 153.

Head and body moderately depressed. Head length (14.5 mm) 1.74 times its width (8.3 mm) and 1.93 times its height (7.2 mm); nasals swollen; snout longer than postocular part of the head; head wider than neck. Fore and hind limbs relatively long; Pa/SVL 0.34, Pp/SVL 0.63. Hind limb reaches the axilla of forelimb and extends far beyond it. Tail about twice as long as the body, SVL/TL 0.49, cylindrical and depressed at base.

Pileus shields smooth, nasals in contact behind the rostral, the suture between them half the length of frontonasal, whose width is more than its length; length of frontonasal is half of the width; prefrontals slightly longer than broad, forming median suture, at the top of posterior edge is placed one tiny triangular plate; frontal the same size as distance from end of the snout, two-thirds times as broad as long, narrow behind; parietals as broad as long; interparietal almost equal to half of the length of frontoparietals; no occipital. Parietals, frontoparietals, and interparietal weakly rugose. Two large supraoculars (preocular and postocular), preocular slightly longer than the postocular; three larger and a few small granules in front of supraoculars; a small, band-like additional supraocular also present behind the postocular; supraoculars separated from frontal and frontoparietal by a single row of granules. Five supraciliaris. Three nasals, the lower in contact with two supralabials and not in contact with rostral; anterior loreal slightly higher than wide, shorter than the second which is wider than high; subocular smooth, bordering the mouth, wedged between sixth/seventh and seventh/eighth supralabials. Temporal scales smooth; no auricular denticulation scales; lower eyelid translucent and covered with small scales.

Five pairs of submaxillaries; anterior three pairs completely in contact on the midline, fifth not contacted with infralabials (or separate from infralabials). Thirty gular scales in a straight line between the symphysis of the submaxillary and the collar. Gular fold not distinct. Collar weakly developed, not curved, serrated, and comprising five enlarged plates. Dorsal scales granular, smooth, 65 across midbody. Ventral plates broader than long (except for the outermost series), forming oblique longitudinal rows of 14 plates, in 32 slightly angular transverse rows; first 4–5 rows of pectoral scales longer than broad, first one is twice as long as broad. Precloacal region with two enlarged median plates, just anterior to the cloaca.

Upper surface of arm with rhombic smooth scales. Scales on upper surface of hind limbs similar to dorsal scales; enlarged plates covering the lower surface of hind limbs; 16 and 15 femoral pores on right and left sides, respectively; the two series separated by six scales; length of the series of femoral pores is three and 3.5 times the distance between these two rows. Femoral pores do not reach the knee bend by three and four scales on the right and left sides, respectively. Subdigital lamellaes unicarinate, in two rows of 29 scales under fourth toe. Two enlarged precloacal plates.

Coloration. Unlike most members of Eremias in which the dorsal pattern is formed by dark, narrow, longitudinal stripes, the new species has a vermiculated dorsal pattern ( Figs. 7a, b ; 8a, f ). The dorsum has a sand-colored background combined with the dark pattern forming worm-shaped vermiculations. The venter is white; ventral side of the tail is light-greyish.

Distribution. The new species is known only from the type locality— Iran, Khorasan Province, 150 km S from Tabas city, on the road from Yazd to Tabas, 33.087° N; 55.9121°E ( Fig.1 ).

Etymology. The name of this species is derived from the Greek root graphikos, meaning “drawn” or “written,” because the dorsal pattern resembles artificial hieroglyphs.

Natural history. This species inhabits unstabilized sand dunes on gravel plains. The habitat is characterized by scattered vegetation cover consisting of sparse bushes and the desert graminoid plant genus Stipagrostis . Eremias graphica sp. nov. is associated with Stipagrostis , using this plant as cover form predators and as a source of its insect prey, and usually dig burrows under it ( Fig. 7d ). These lizards have a relatively short period of daily activity in the summer of approximatley 2–3 hours in the morning and the same active time in the evening. The lizards spent the rest of the day in the shadow of the bushes. In the same habitat, we recorded the following sympatric reptile species: Bunopus tuberculatus Blanford, 1874 , Phrynocephalus maculatus Anderson, 1872 , Rhinogekko misonnei De Witte, 1973 , Teratoscincus keyserlingii Strauch, 1863 , and Eremias fasciata Blanford, 1874 .

Comparison. The new species can be distinguished from Eremias fasciata by the following characters: vermicular dorsal patterns versus striped patterns in E. fasciata and yellow tympanic shields ( Fig. 9a, b ) in E. fasciata versus a white tympanum in E. graphica ( Fig.9 e, g ). Eremias graphica has a wider interspace between the left and right rows of femoral pores (4–6 scales) than does E. fasciata (2–5 scales). Furthermore, E. fasciata has bright-yellowish coloration on the tip of the tail, whereas E. graphica has a light-greyish tail tip.

Eremias graphica can be easy distinguished from Eremias andersoni by a greater SVL (max SVL) of 58.3 mm versus 40 mm, longitudinal stripes on the dorsum versus vermiculated pattern in E. graphica , and fewer ventral scales in E. andersoni —28–29 versus 32–35. In addition, E. andersoni has light-bluish coloration at the tip of the tail, whereas E. graphica has a light-greyish tail tip.

Eremias graphica differs from E. lineolata by the vermiculated dorsal pattern versus longitudinal dark strips in E. lineolata and the number of scales around the tail segment (Sq.c.cd) of 23–29 versus 12–17, in E. lineolata .

Eremias graphica can be clearly distinguished from E. scripta by a higher number of femoral pores with 8–17 versus 15–18 and a higher number of gular scales of 26–31 versus 15–23. Although the dorsal patterns in some subspecies of E. scripta can be vermiculated, the new species clearly differs on the basis or meresitc data.

Eremias graphica differs from E. cholistanica by the number of gular scales—26–31 versus 20–24, the number of scales around the tail segment—23–29 versus 27–35, and by its vermiculated versus striped dorsum.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution of Eremias species in Central Asia and sampling localities used in this study. Stars correspond to the type localities of species: a) E. lineolata Lectotype (designated by Szczerbak 1974) ZISP 8801.1—“Feizabad-Nusi in Persia orientali” [Feizabad, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran, 35.02° N 58.78° E], Coll. N. A. Zarudny, IV-V.1896 (in Ananjeva et al. 2020); b) E. fasciata Lectotype (designated by Szczerbak 1974) ZMB 9329—“Karman” = Kerman, Iran (exact locality unknown); c) E.acutirostris Syntype BMNH 1946.8.7.46—near Nushki, N. Baluchistan, Pakistan; d) E. scripta lasdini Holotype ZISP 12107—Uzbekistan, Surkhandarya Region, Sands Katta-Qumy, vicinity Termez, 18.05.1915, Coll. V.J. Lazdin; e) E. scripta scripta Lectotype (designated by Szczerbak, 1974:213) ZISP (ZIL) 3669—Transcaspia, “Aralo-Caspian desert” (exact locality unknown); f) E. scripta pherganensis Holotype NMNHU (National Museum of Natural History, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev) Re 6–Uzbekistan, Fergana Valley, Ak-Kum sands, 35.05.1969, Coll. E.V. Vashetko. For all other localities see Table 1.

FIGURE 7. Eremias graphica sp. nov.: a–c; d: Habitat at the type locality.

FIGURE 8. Morphological features of Eremias graphica sp. nov. a) general view of holotype ZMMU R-13171; b–d) Dorsal, lateral, and ventral views of the head; e) toes without fringes; f) dorsal patterns; g) well-developed femoral pores, marked on one side.

FIGURE 9. Sexual dimorphism in five species of Iranian Eremias with females in the left column and males in the right. a–b) Eremias fasciata; c–d) Eremias pseudofasciata sp. nov.; e–g) Eremias graphica sp. nov.; h–i) Eremias andersoni; j–k) Eremias lineolata.

FIGURE 13. The main species of Eremias discussed in the present work: a) E. andersoni, b) E. acutirostris, c) E. pseudofasciata sp. nov., d) E. fasciata, e) E. lineolata, g) E. graphica sp. nov., h) E. kavirensis, i) E. s. scripta, j) E. scripta pherganensis, k) E. lasdinii.