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Issue: Vol. 3451 No. 1: 4 Sep. 2012
Type: Articles
Published: 2012-09-04
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3451.1.3
Page range: 31–45
Abstract views: 37
PDF downloaded: 1

A new species of Coryphophylax Fitzinger in: Steindachner, 1867 (Sauria: Iguania: Agamidae) from the Andaman Islands, India

Wildlife Institute of India, P.O. Box 18, Dehradun 248001, Uttarakhand, India
Wildlife Institute of India, P.O. Box 18, Dehradun 248001, Uttarakhand, India
Wildlife Institute of India, P.O. Box 18, Dehradun 248001, Uttarakhand, India
Wildlife Institute of India, P.O. Box 18, Dehradun 248001, Uttarakhand, India
Department of Zoology, North Orissa University, Sriram Chandra Vihar, Takatpur Baripada 757003, Orissa, India
Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia
Reptilia Squamata Iguania Agamidae Coryphophylax brevicaudus sp. nov. Andaman Islands India

Abstract

The systematic position of the agamid genus Coryphophylax (Squamata: Agamidae) is given as monotypic and endemicto the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal, India. After having surveyed intensively in thirteen differentIslands and examined several individuals in the Andamans group of islands, we describe a second species ofCoryphophylax from the lowland rainforests of the South Andaman Island. Coryphophylax brevicaudus sp. nov. isdifferentiated from its congener, C. subcristatus (Blyth, “1860” 1861) by its smaller size, relatively shorter tail, presenceof nuchal and dorsal crests in both sexes, midbody scale row counts and colour pattern. The new species lives in sympatrywith C. subcristatus. The taxonomic history and systematic status of the genus Coryphophylax are discussed, and the need for continued surveys in the Islands is emphasized.

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