title: Two new species of Japalura (Squamata: Agamidae) from the Hengduan Mountain Range, China.
abstract: Until recently, the agamid species, Japalura flaviceps, was recognized to have the widest geographic distribution among members of the genus occurring in China, from eastern Tibet to Shaanxi Province. However, recent studies restricted the distribution of J. flaviceps to the Dadu River valley only in northwestern Sichuan Province, suggesting that records of J. flaviceps outside the Dadu River valley likely represent undescribed diversity. During two herpetofaunal surveys in 2013 and 2015, eight and 12 specimens of lizards of the genus Japalura were collected from the upper Nujiang (=Salween) Valley in eastern Tibet, China, and upper Lancang (=Mekong) Valley in northwestern Yunnan, China, respectively. These specimens display a unique suite of diagnostic morphological characters. Our robust comparisons of phenotype reveal that these populations can be distinguished readily from J. flaviceps and all other recognized congeners. Herein, we describe the two Japalura lineages as new species, Japalura laeviventris sp. nov. and Japalura iadina sp. nov.. In addition, we provide updated conservation assessments for the new species as well as imperiled congeners according to the IUCN criteria for classification, discuss the importance of color patterns in the diagnosis and description of species in the genus Japalura, and discuss directions for future taxonomic studies of the group.
authors.affiliation: Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming Yunnan 650223, China; Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman OK 73072-7029, U.S.A. kai.wang-2@ou.edu.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming Yunnan 650223, China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming Yunnan 650223, China; Tibet University, Lhasa Tibet 850000, China.
authors.forename: Da-Hu
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming Yunnan 650223, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman OK 73072-7029, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Cameron D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Siler
authors.affiliation: Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming Yunnan 650223, China. chej@mail.kiz.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Che
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D008116:Lizards / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification*; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D010858:Pigmentation; D012727:Sex Characteristics
keywords: Coloration; Conservation; Hengduan Mountains; Hydropower development; Japalura flaviceps
references.citation: Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2009 Oct;53(1):99-112
references.pmid: 19460448
references.citation: Mol Phylogenet Evol. 1998 Aug;10(1):118-31
references.pmid: 9751922
references.citation: Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2002 Jan;22(1):111-7
references.pmid: 11796034
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2004 Nov 7;271(1554):2249-55
references.pmid: 15539350
references.citation: Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2011 Nov;61(2):363-80
references.pmid: 21787873
references.citation: PLoS One. 2014;9(4):e93197
references.pmid: 24718297
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2000 Mar 7;267(1442):445-52
references.pmid: 10737400