Systematics and phylogeny of Sitana (Reptilia: Agamidae) of Peninsular India, with the description of one new genus and five new species

Abstract

We revise the taxonomy of the agamid genus Sitana Cuvier, 1829, a widely distributed terrestrial lizard from the Indian subcontinent based on detailed comparative analyses of external morphology, osteology and molecular data. We sampled 81 locations spread over 160,000 km2 in Peninsular India including type localities, which represented two known and five previously undescribed species. Based on general similarity in body shape and dewlap all species were hitherto identified as members of the genus Sitana. However, Sitana deccanensis and two other morphotypes, which are endemic to north Karnataka and Maharashtra in Peninsular India, are very distinct from the rest of the known members of the genus Sitana based on their external morphology and osteology. Moreover, members of this distinct morphological group were monophyletic in the molecular tree, and this clade (clade 1) was sister to two well-supported clades (2 and 3) constituting the rest of the Sitana . The interclade genetic divergence in mtDNA between clade 1 and clades 2 and 3 was 21-23%, whereas clade 2 and clade 3 exhibited 14- 16% genetic divergence. Thus, we designate a new genus name “Sarada ” gen. nov. for species represented in Clade 1, which also includes the recently resurrected Sitana deccanensis . We describe two new species in Sarada gen. nov. and three new species in Sitana . Similarity in the dewlap of Sitana and Sarada gen. nov. is attributed to similar function (sexual signaling) and similarity in body shape is attributed to a similar terrestrial life style and/or common ancestry.

On the systematic status of the genus Oriocalotes Günther, 1864 (Squamata: Agamidae: Draconinae) with the description of a new species from Mizoram state, Northeast India

“…Additional sequences were generated for one sample of Calotes calotes (Linnaeus, 1758) (CESG 554), Calotes emma Gray, 1845 and Calotes mystaceus Duméril & Bibron, 1837, Psammophilus cf. blanfordanus (Stoliczka, 1871 (CESG 461), Salea anamallayana (Beddome, 1878), Sarada deccanensis (Jerdon, 1870), Sitana ponticeriana Cuvier, 1829 and Sitana spinaecephalus Deepak, Vyas and Giri, 2016 (Table 1). Genomic DNA was extracted from liver and tail tip tissue samples that were stored frozen at -20 o C in absolute ethanol.…”

A phylogeny of open‐habitat lizards (Squamata: Lacertidae: Ophisops) supports the antiquity of Indian grassy biomes

“…Phylogenetically, such cryptic diversity is not unexpected, given the deep cryptic divergence within Saharo-Arabian Ophisops (Kyriazi et al, 2008) and allied lacertid genera (Rastegar-Pouyani et al, 2010;Smid & Frynta, 2012;Kapli et al, 2014;Tamar et al, 2014), and the deep history of the Indian dry zone (e.g. Agarwal & Karanth, 2015;Deepak et al, 2016). However, candidate species within each species group are superficially similar in morphology, and though they have existed in museum collections for over a century (e.g.…”

“…Karanth, 2003Karanth, , 2006. However, molecular data reveals high diversity and a pre-Miocene history in at least dry zone lizards (Agarwal et al, 2014;Deepak et al, 2016). The decline of forests and the subsequent rise of grasslands are linked with the development of aridification and seasonality.…”

Reproductive phenotype predicts adult bite‐force performance in sex‐reversed dragons (Pogona vitticeps)

“…Sexual differences, most notably of secondary sexual characteristics, are a key aspect of within‐species variation impacting on anatomy, behavior, physiology, and life history (Chen, Stuart‐Fox, Hugall, & Symonds, 2012; Deepak et al 2016; Hoops et al, 2017; Littleford‐Colquhoun et al, 2019; McLean, Chan, Dickerson, Moussalli, & Stuart‐Fox, 2016; Stauber & Booth, 2003; Thompson & Withers, 2005; Wotherspoon & Burgin, 2011). Sex‐determination mechanisms in reptiles are incredibly diverse, exhibiting a rich evolutionary history of repeated independent transitions between sex‐determination modes (Alam, Sarre, Gleeson, Georges, & Ezaz, 2018; Gamble et al, 2015; Pokorna & Kratochvil, 2016; Sarre, Ezaz, & Georges, 2011).…”