Search

Derycke, Elizabeth G., Gottscho, Andrew D., Mulcahy, Daniel G., Queiroz, Kevin De (2020): A new cryptic species of fringe-toed lizards from southwestern Arizona with a revised taxonomy of the Uma notata species complex (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae). Zootaxa 4778 (1): 67-100, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4778.1.3

Uma thurmanae sp. nov. Mohawk Dunes Fringe-toed Lizards Figs 5–8 Holotype. Adult female (USNM 590033; Figs 5–6) collected on 29 March 2015 by A. D. Gottscho at 17:28 hours. Type locality: the north end of the Mohawk Dunes (~ 2.2 km south of Interstate 8), Yuma County, Arizona, United States of America (32°41.698 N; 113° 48.935 W; WGS-84 datum). Deposited at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA. Paratypes. USNM 590034 adult female, USNM 590035 adult male, USNM 590036 adult male, USNM 590037 juvenile female, USNM 590038 adult female, USNM 590039 juvenile female, USNM 590040 adult male, USNM 590041 adult male, USNM 590042 juvenile female, USNM 590043 adult male. Collected 25 and 26 March 2016 by A.D. Gottscho, J. Rabbers, and S. Harrington from Mohawk Dunes, Yuma County, AZ, USA. Deposited at the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA. Diagnosis. Uma thurmanae is a morphologically cryptic species that doesn’t exhibit any known fixed morphological differences from other species in the complex, but it can be distinguished from those other species both by statistical differences in morphological characters (Table 5, Fig. 3) and in multivariate morphospace (Fig. 4). It can also be distinguished from all other members of the U. notata complex by nucleotide substitutions in three mtDNA loci (Table 8). Description of holotype. Adult female; SVL= 68 mm; tail length= 77 mm; head width= 12 mm; head length= 15 mm; head height= 8 mm. Scalation: dorsal head scales smooth, slightly raised; parietal eye present, centrally located in a circular interparietal scale; enlarged post-parietal scales present with three scales separating post-parietal scales from inter-parietal scale; five enlarged anterior auricular scales; four superciliaries; 12 lower festoons; three suboculars, with the third being substantially larger and more elongated than the first two; five enlarged anterior auricular scales; two canthals; four internasal scales; supralabials elongated, and strongly keeled, increasing in size posteriorly; eight from rostral scale to a point below middle of eye; 11 infralabials from mental scale to a point below middle of eye, 15 to corner of mouth; rostral single; five postrostrals, four in broad contact with the rostral scale, one in narrow contact; one mental; one postmental one; gular scales extend between anteriormost sublabial scales to contact postmental scale; gular region covered in small scales varying in shape from hexagonal to rectangular to rhombic to almost round; gular fold present, with enlarged scales; dorsal body scales small, flat, granular, uniform, with no middoral row of enlarged scales; ventral scales larger than dorsal scales, smooth, flat, and uniform; dorsal limb scales slightly larger than dorsal trunk scales; ventral limb scales smaller, more rounded than ventral body scales; anterior scales on front limbs enlarged and strongly keeled; anterior and posterior lateral scales on hind limbs weakly keeled and enlarged; 27 femoral pores on each hind leg in one row; fringes present on all digits, both anteriorly and posteriorly, but appearing smaller and more symmetrical on digits I, II, and V versus larger and more asymmetrical, with the fringes on the posterior edge larger than those on the anterior edge, on digits III and IV; largest fringe scales on the posterior edge of pedal digit IV; 31 fringe scales on left pedal digit IV, 30 on right pedal digit IV. Tail flattened ventrally, with whorls of enlarged scales; four rows of smaller scales separate the eighth and ninth whorls of enlarged scales ventrally. Position Uma sp. Rest of U. notata complex 20 T C 23 C T 89 A C 122 C A/G 203 T C 218 A G 383 G A 455 T C 485 G A 615 C T 773 C A 920 G A 962 C T 975 T C 1016 C T Coloration and pattern (in life). Dorsum with an ocellated pattern. The individual ocelli are roughly circular beige markings, each with a rusty central spot and radiating lines, surrounded by black. The lateral ocelli are aligned in rows so that their black borders form broken black longitudinal lines between the rows of ocelli. Underside of torso cream-colored and unblemished except for two black ventrolateral blotches slightly anterior to the midpoint between axilla and groin. Gular region marked by five black diagonal lines oriented anterolateral to posteromedial. Limbs lighter in coloration, consisting of a light-colored background with dark brown and gray spots. Eight black markings present ventrally on the tail, beginning 17.65 mm posterior to the cloaca as a small cluster of black dots in the center of the tail, and increasing in length and width posteriorly. In preservative, dorsal coloration is yellowed, with muted contrast between ocelli and background. Variation. Paratypes are similar to the holotype in coloration and pattern. Adult males were identified as specimens with SVL ≥ 65 mm and the presence of enlarged postanal scales; adult females were identified as specimens with SVL ≥ 60 mm and no enlarged postanal scales (Norris 1958). For adults of both sexes combined, rostral width averaged 1.69 mm (range 1.34 to 1.89); mental width 0.55 mm (0.35–0.73); head length 16.90 mm (14.66–18.54); head width 13.51 mm (12.00–15.53); head depth 9.75 mm (7.89–12.11). Body width averaged 26.77 mm (23.16– 31.32); ventrolateral blotch width 4.28 mm (3.27–5.59); femur length 18.57 mm (16.00–21.05); length of pedal digit IV 16.00 mm (13.80–18.19); tail length 81.02 mm (67.65–93.16); tail base width 14.72 mm (12.96–17.39). Postrostral scales had a median of four (range 4–5); one mental scale; one postmental scale; postmental scale came in contact with gular scales in all but two specimens (USNM 590036 and USNM 590040). Infralabial scales had a median of 11 scales (range 10–11); eight supralabial scales per side except in USNM 590043 (seven scales) and USNM 590041 (nine scales); four internasal scales (3–6); four supercilliaries (4–5); 12 festoons on lower eyelid (11–14); five enlarged anterior auricular scales (5–6); 27 femoral pores (25–30); 30 fringe scales on posterior edge of pedal digit IV (25–33). USNM 590035 had one enlarged post-anal scale on the right. Dorsum ocelli had black borders and rusty central spots, with the background coloration ranging from off-white to slate gray. Limbs usually lighter in coloration than dorsum, with grey or light brown spotting. Ventral coloration ranged from cream to tawny. Ventrolateral markings ranged from a clustering of small black dots to solid black blotches. Gular markings ranged from five to six pairs of black diagonal lines. Black ventral tail markings ranged from six to eight. Juveniles duller than adults in dorsal coloration. Distribution. Uma thurmanae is only known from the Mohawk Dunes, Yuma County, Arizona, USA (Figs. 1,7). The type material comes from the northern, central, and southern parts of the main dune system. The distance between our northernmost and southernmost samples is ~ 24 km. Nearly all of the probable range of U. thurmanae falls within the boundaries of the Barry M. Goldwater Range operated by the U.S. Marine Corps, although the holotype was collected on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management on the northernmost extent of the Mohawk Dunes abutting Interstate 8 (north of the Range). While this manuscript was in preparation additional individuals of what are likely members of U. thurmanae were observed east of the Mohawk Mountains near Dateland, Yuma County, Arizona (D. Leavitt, Arizona Dept. Game and Fish, pers. comm.). Examination of satellite imagery reveals that likely habitat for this species may extend east of the mountains through a pass in the southern end of the range (~ 32° 31’ N, ~ 113° 35’ W). Further work is needed to assess the distributional limits of this species. For this to occur, researchers would need to secure special use permits from the U.S. Air Force and/or Marine Corps to access restricted areas on this active range. Even if the range includes Dateland, U. thurmanae is endemic to Yuma County, Arizona. Natural History. Uma thurmanae is a lowland, arenicolous, diurnal, insectivorous species specialized for life in windblown sand (Fig. 8) much like other members of the Uma clade. Its natural history is presumed to be like that of other members of the U. notata complex (Stebbins 1944; Norris 1958; Mayhew 1966; Stebbins 2003). U. thurmanae (under the name U. rufopunctata) was the subject of an ecological study conducted at the Barry M. Goldwater Range (Bagne & Finch 2012). The study used a System for Assessing Vulnerability of Species (SAVS; Bagne et al. 2011) to evaluate the various wildlife species found within the bombing range in terms of their resilience or vulnerability to both climate change and military activity in order to propose efficient management strategies. Of the 23 categories for which a species could possibly be impacted by through climate change, Uma thurmanae had an overall vulnerability score of 5.2, the fourth highest score of the 15 species evaluated. The most threatening impacts of both climate change and military activity are burrows collapsing from military vehicular activity, decrease in vegetative shade, and inhibited egg development from lack of moist sand. Etymology. The specific name thurmanae honors Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970), an American actress and pop icon, for her philanthropic contributions and outreach promoting wildlife conservation and human rights.

Cnemaspis tanintharyi sp. nov. Tanintharyi Rock Gecko Figs. 2–5 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 6FA94D80-F8A8-4D32-A355-602815A43CD5 Holotype. USNM 587514 (GenBank accession no. MN 104944), adult male collected by Daniel G. Mulcahy, Myint Kyaw Thura and Thaw Zin on 17 May 2015, between 0830–1000 h, near Payarhtan Cave, 28 km from Bokpyin town, proposed Lenya National Park, Tanintharyi Region, Myanmar (11.22945°N, 99.17611°E; 55 m elevation). Paratypes. Adult males: USNM 594371 (GenBank accession no. MN 104946), collected by Daniel G. Mulcahy, Myint Kyaw Thura, and Thaw Zin on 19 May 2016, 0845–1045 h, near Nint Tenku village, proposed Lenya National Park extension, Tanintharyi Region, Myanmar (11.45189°N, 99.22590°E; 54 m elevation); USNM 594372–594374 (GenBank accession nos. MN104947 –49 respectively), collected by Grant Connette and Katherine J. LaJeunesse Connette on 22 May 2016, 1620–2200 h, same location as the holotype. One of these specimens, USNM 594373, is immature and was only included in the molecular analysis. Diagnosis. Cnemaspis tanintharyi sp. nov. is a diminutive member of the C. kandiana group distinguished from all other members of the group by the combination of the following morphological characters: 1) a maximum SVL of 29.6 mm; 2) each postmental bordered by 2–4 scales; 3) four spine-like ventrolateral tubercles on flank; 4) gular scales smooth; 5) pectoral scales keeled, abdominal scales smooth; 6) ventral scales smooth; 7) 2–4 precloacal pores; 8) 4–5 femoral pores on each leg; 9) subcaudal scales smooth, scales on median row enlarged and smooth; 10) coloration of the gular region beige, dark gray-brown with dark blue hueing towards throat; 11) 6–7 supralabials; 12) 5–7 infralabials; 13) 15–18 subdigital lamellae on the 4 th toe; 14) 21–23 ventral scales at midbody. Description of the holotype. Adult male (USNM 587514) in good condition, with some of skin missing from the back and anterior portion of the tail. Lateral insertions along venter for gonadal examination and tissue retrieval, testes pigmented marbled black. SVL 28.9 mm, TailL 32.1 mm, TailW 2.6 mm, BrachiumL 3.8 mm, ForearmL 4.6 mm, AxillaGroinL 11.8 mm, ThighL 5.6 mm, CrusL 5.4 mm, HeadL 8.8 mm, HeadW 4.6 mm, HeadD 2.7 mm, EyeD 1.6 mm, EyeEar 2.0 mm, SnEye 3.6 mm, NarEye 3.1, InterorbD 2.6 mm, EarL 0.5 mm, InternarD 0.9 mm, HeadL/SVL 30.4%, HeadW/SVL 15.9%, HeadD/HeadL 26.1%, SnEye/HeadL 40.9%, EyeD/HeadL 18.2%. Head oblong dorsally, moderately sized, narrow, highly flattened, distinct from neck; snout moderate in proportions, slightly concave in lateral view; rostral scale concave, divided by a median groove in dorsal view, posteroventrally in contact with the first supralabial; rostral contacted posteriorly by the nostril and dorsally by two enlarged supranasals; nostril round, dorsally oriented; scales along snout and occipital regions granular, slightly elevated, scales on snout larger than scales on occipital region; from eye, approximately five or six scale rows blocking contact with supralabials; seven supralabials; mental scale subtriangular, wider than long, in contact along its posteriolateral edge with two large postmental scales and one smaller medial postmental; lateral postmental scales bordered posteriorly by four smooth scales, medial scale bordered by only three; scales on gular region smooth; seven infralabials, both supra and infralabial rows decrease in size posteriorly. Body slender and elongate; ventrolateral furrow separating dorsal scales from ventral scales; dorsal tubercles keeled, round, slightly enlarged, separated from each other by 3–6 scales; 17 paravertebral tubercles form a straight line; four ventrolateral spine-like tubercles; dorsal scales small, weakly keeled, slightly raised, granular, smaller than ventral scales; pectoral scales keeled, ventral scales on midbody and abdominal region smooth; ventrolateral scales smooth, round, slightly elevated; 23 ventral scales at midbody; three precloacal pores, arranged in a circular patch; four femoral pores arranged in a single row on each hindleg, completely separated from precloacal pores. Ventral scales on brachium keeled, smooth under thigh; digits slender, elongate, lacking webbing, bearing distinct recurved claws; 18 subdigital lamellae entire on the 4 th toe; relative length of toes 4> 3> 5> 2> 1; no significantly enlarged submetatarsal scale on toes. Tail base swollen, latter half appears regenerated; two postcloacal openings, one on each side, presumably openings of hemipenial sheaths; one ventrolateral row of nine enlarged spiny tubercles; caudal tubercles whorled, present anteriorly, extending the full length of the tail; each caudal tubercle bordered by five scales laterally; dorsal caudal scales keeled, slightly pointed; subcaudal scales smooth; enlarged medial subcaudal row present, approximately 1.5–2.0x as large as surrounding scales. All scales on regenerated part of tail strongly keeled. Coloration in preservative. After formalin fixation and three years of preservation the dorsum is brown dorsally; a series of irregularly shaped dark brown paravertebral markings occur along the body transforming into irregularly shaped dark-brown caudal bands; a pair of dark-brown round poorly defined spots starting at nape and terminating posterior to the hindlimbs on anterior portion of the tail; scattered mottling of gray and white spots, especially along tubercles; area around eyelids bluish; scattered broken dark-brown bands on limbs and toes. Top of head brown, labial scales mainly gray-brown, edged with white; dark brown postorbital stripe present. Venter light-gray; mid-pectoral and midbody region immaculate bordered laterally with gray mottling; limbs and abdominal regions with scattered gray mottling and dark colored scale edges; subdigital lamellae gray-brown; underside of regenerated subcaudal region gray brown; underside of throat and gular region gray-brown, edges of scales white; postmental region immaculate, silver in color. Coloration in life. Based on a photograph of the holotype (Fig. 4), ground color light brown bearing scattered cream-colored mottling on dorsal scales and tubercles; pairs of irregularly shaped dark-brown, well-defined blotches, unevenly arranged along midbody; ground color of head brown with dark-brown mottling; iris yellow; ground color of limbs tan, overlain with brown irregularly shaped bands along thigh and forearm; digits with small well-defined brown bands; ventrolateral spine-like tubercles on tail and midbody yellow. Description of the paratypes and variation. Paratypes largely match coloration and scalation of holotype. Detailed comparisons in scale morphology and measurements are provided in Table 1. Notably, USNM 594374 has two enlarged postmentals, with both scales contacting each other medially. Only two or three posterior genial scales bordering each postmental. USNM 594371 has four postmentals, two of which are enlarged and border the mental and two smaller postmentals along the midline with four or five genial scales bounding each postmental. The dorsal coloration of the paratypes in preservative is quite variable. In addition to the row of round dark brown blotches observed in the holotype, the paratypes USNM 594372 and USNM 594374 have a row of light gray irregularly shaped dorsal body blotches extending from the nape to the anterior portion of the tail along with a small gray vertebral stripe separating each blotch. Light-colored blotches are also present in paratype USNM 594372, but are faded and more poorly defined than in other two specimens. The coloration of the paratypes were not recorded in life, but are assumed to be similar to the holotype. Comparisons. We compare the species Cnemaspis tanintharyi sp. nov. to all other members of the Cnemaspis kandiana group from southern Thailand, Sumatra and islands off its western coast and the Bay of Bengal. Further comparisons can be found in Table 3. C. tanintharyi sp. nov. is distinguished from Cnemaspis phuketensis Das & Leong, 2004 by having an enlarged medial subcaudal row (versus subequal), presence of both precloacal and femoral pores in males (versus both absent) and smooth gular scales (versus keeled). From the adjacent species C. thayawthadangyi sp. nov., C. tanintharyi sp. nov. is distinguished by 21–23 ventral scales at midbody (versus 18–20), ventral scales on pectoral, abdominal, subcaudal and thigh regions smooth (versus all keeled), HeadD 26.1–32.5% of HeadL (versus 34.4–36.5%) and a gular coloration that is beige, dark gray-brown with dark-blue hueing towards throat (versus gular coloration with irregularly-shaped dark-gray streaks). From species of Cnemaspis in the Bay of Bengal, C. tanintharyi sp. nov. can be distinguished from C. andersonii by the presence of smooth gular scales (versus weakly keeled), keeled pectoral scales (versus smooth), the presence of enlarged medial subcaudals (versus subcaudals equal sized) and a blotched coloration with dark-edged blotches sometimes present (versus coloration plain brown, rather immaculate) and from C. wicksi by having 6–7 supralabials (versus 5 supralabials), 15–18 subdigital lamellae on the 4 th toe (versus 14), the presence of smooth gular scales (versus keeled) and a blotched color pattern (versus no prominent features on color pattern). The presence of smooth gular scales distinguishes C. tanintharyi sp. nov. from all members of the C. kandiana species group found in Sumatra and adjacent islands (versus keeled in Cnemaspis aceh Iskandar, McGuire & Amarasinghe, 2017, Cnemaspis dezwaani Das, 2005, Cnemaspis jacobsoni Das, 2005, Cnemaspis minang Iskandar, McGuire & Amarasinghe, 2017, Cnemaspis modiglianii Das, 2005, Cnemaspis pagai Iskandar, McGuire & Amarasinghe, 2017, Cnemaspi tapanuli Iskandar, McGuire & Amarasinghe, 2017 and Cnemaspis whittenorum Das, 2005 except for C. andalas Iskandar, McGuire & Amarasinghe, 2017. C. tanintharyi sp. nov. is distinguished from C. andalas by having 2–4 precloacal pores (versus six), 15–18 subdigital lamellae on the 4 th toe (versus 18–20) and by four spine-like tubercles on the flank (versus six). Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the type locality of this species situated in the Tanintharyi Region, Myanmar. We recommend the English common name “ Tanintharyi Rock Gecko”. Distribution & natural history. Cnemaspis tanintharyi sp. nov. is known from just two localities in the proposed Lenya National Park and its proposed extension in the Tanintharyi Region, Myanmar. It may also exist in adjacent habitat in Southwest Thailand (see discussion). Both localities are situated near karst outcrops, with the surrounding habitat consisting of lowland tropical rainforest dominated by dipterocarp trees. Specimens were collected on karst outcrops and low down on the tree buttress of large dipterocarps. The immature specimen was found at dusk on a karst formation (G. Connette, pers. comm.). The type specimen was collected inside the margins of a cave during the day and the Nint Tenku specimen was collected during the morning from the buttress of a large dipterocarp tree, while running up the buttress after raking leaf litter. Like other species of the Cnemaspis kandiana group, this species probably uses caves, crevices, or leaf-litter as shelter. It is sympatric with C. siamensis at one locality (Nint Tenku).

Weisrock, David W., Macey, J. Robert, Matsui, Masafumi, Mulcahy, Daniel G., Papenfuss, Theodore J. (2013): Molecular phylogenetic reconstruction of the endemic Asian salamander family Hynobiidae (Amphibia, Caudata). Zootaxa 3626 (1): 77-93, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3626.1.3