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Issue: Vol. 3986 No. 2: 16 Jul. 2015
Type: Article
Published: 2015-07-16
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3986.2.2
Page range: 173–192
Abstract views: 45
PDF downloaded: 1

A new species of spectacularly coloured flat lizard Platysaurus (Squamata: Cordylidae: Platysaurinae) from southern Africa

Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney NSW 2109, Australia.
Port Elizabeth Museum, P.O. Box 13147, Humewood 6013, Republic of South Africa Research Associate, Department of Zoology, P O Box 77000, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth 6031, South Africa
Division of Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
Division of Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
Reptilia southern Africa lizard new species reptile Platysaurus attenboroughi sp. nov. Platysaurus capensis

Abstract

We describe a new species of flat lizard (Platysaurus attenboroughi sp. nov.) from the Richtersveld of the Northern Cape Province of South Africa and the Fish River Canyon region of southern Namibia. This species was formerly confused with P. capensis from the Kamiesberg region of Namaqualand, South Africa. Genetic analysis based on one mtDNA and two nDNA loci found Platysaurus attenboroughi sp. nov. to be genetically divergent from P. capensis and these species can also be differentiated by a number of scalation characters, coloration and their allopatric distributions. To stabilize the taxonomy the type locality of Platysaurus capensis A. Smith 1844 is restricted to the Kamiesberg region, Namaqualand, Northern Cape Province, South Africa.