140 research outputs found
Microauris Pal & Vijayakumar & Shanker & Jayarajan & Deepak 2018, gen. nov.
No full textMicroauris gen. nov. (Fig. 8b) Type species. Calotes aurantolabium (Krishnan, 2008) Etymology. The genus epithet is derived by adding the word ‘Micro’ as a prefix to the Latin word ‘auris’ meaning ear, referring to the extremely small tympanum of this genus. Diagnosis. Microauris gen.nov. differs from all other members of draconinae lizards from the Indian subcontinent in having the smallest tympanum. Microauris gen.nov. differs from Mantheyus phuwuanensis by the absence of femoral pores (Manthey & Nabhitabhata, 1991; Ananjeva & Stuart 2001); from the members of the genus Bronchocela by the absence of a fold of skin from angle of jaw to shoulder (Hallermann & Böhme 2000). Microauris gen. nov. can be easily diagnosed from the genera Otocryptis, Sarada and Sitana by the presence of a well-developed fifth toe (Smith, 1935; Deepak et al, 2016); from Cophotis, Ceratophora, Lyriocephalus, Ptyctolaemus, Phoxophrys, Japalura otai, J. planidorsata, J. sagittifera and Otocryptis by the presence of external tympanum (Boulenger, 1885; Smith, 1935; Inger, 1 960; Pethiyagoda & Manamendra-Arachchi 1998; Schulte II et al. 2004; Bahir & Silva 2005; Manamendra-Arachchi et al. 2006; Samarawickrama et al. 2006). Microauris gen. nov. can be diagnosed from other members of genus Japalura by the absence of heterogenous dorsal scales and short and thick nuchal scales; from Salea by the absence of enlarged plate like scales between the eye and tympanum (Smith, 1 935). Microauris gen. nov. can be diagnosed from the members of Psammophilus and Monilesaurus by the absence of a well developed antehumeral fold. Microauris gen. nov. can be diagnosed from Complictus nigrigularis, Hypsicalotes kinabaulensis, Malayadracon robinsonii, Oriocalotes, Pseudocophotis and Pseudocalotes by the absence of enlarged row of suborbital scales (Smith, 1935; Taylor 1963; Ota & Hikida, 1991; Manthey & Denzer 1992; Inger & Steubing 1994; Ota & Hikida, 1996; Hallermann & Böhme 2000; Manthey & Denzer, 2000; Hallermann & McGuire 2001; Leong 2001; Manamendra-Arachchi et al. 2006; Samarawickrama et al. 2006; Ananjeva et al. 2007; Hallermann & Böhme 2007; Das & Lakim 2008; Hallermann et al. 2010; Mahony 2010; Harvey et al. 2014; Denzer et al. 2015; Grismer LL et al. 2016; Harvey et al. 2017). Microauris gen.nov. can be distinguished from the members of the genus Calotes (C. bachae, C. bhutanensis, C. calotes, C. ceylonensis, C. chincollium, C. desilvai, C. emma, C. grandisquamis, C. hutunwini, C. irawadi, C. jerdoni, C. liocephalus, C. liolepis, C. versicolor, C. manamendrai, C. maria, C. medgoensis, C. minor, C. mystaceus, C. nemoricola, C. nigrilabris, C. nigriplicatus and C. pethiyagodai) and Lophocalotes (Günther, 1872) in having the smallest tympanum (Hardwicke & Gray, 1827; Duméril and Bibron, 1837; Gray, 1845; Jerdon, 1854; Günther, 1864; Günther, 1870, Günther, 1872, Günther, 1875; Boulenger, 1885; Biswas, 1975; Zhao & Li, 1984; Hallerman, 2000; Vindum et al. 2003; Hallerman et al. 2004; Bahir & Maduwage, 2005; Zug et al. 2006; Manthey, 2008; Krishnan, 2008; Hartmann et al. 2013; Amarasinghe et al. 2014a, b; Deepak et al. 2015). Suggested English. Small-eared dragon Holotype. BNHS 1436, an adult female collected from Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India; by N. M. Ishwar in 1997. Referred specimens. CESL 104, an adult female collected from a branch in the canopy of a shola forest tree near Chemunji peak, Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala, India; by SPP, SPV, MVP, VTR and ADR in 18th August 2010. Taxonomic comments. Microauris aurantolabium comb. nov. was described as Calotes aurantolabium in 2008 based on a single specimen (Krishnan 2008). Prior to this, the specimen was wrongly identified and reported as the rediscovery of Calotes andamanensis. (Ishwar and Das, 1998). During our fieldwork in the Agasthyamalai hills of Kerala in August 2010, we found a single female specimen sleeping on a branch of a tree in a shola forest. There have been no other reports of this species thereafter and thus all the known specimens are females. There is a clear gap in the knowledge of the morphology of this rare lizard considering that male lizards are known to be better representatives for morphological characterization because of the presence of secondary sexual characters. In spite of this, the two specimens share some common characters, which are unique to this lizard. Based on the presence of unique morphological characters along with the phylogenetic position of this species in the subfamily Draconinae, we designate this species as a new monotypic genus. Diagnosis. A medium sized light green agamid lizard with a distinct orange streak from above the lip scales till behind the jaw; a moderately broad head with a pointed snout; very small tympanum relative to the orbit diameter (TymD/OrbD = 0.14–0.19); acutely keeled scales over the body and throat; scales on head small, sub-triangular (vs. uniform shield like in members of genus Calotes); 3rd and 4th toe almost equal in length; dorsal and lateral body scales oriented backwards and downwards; nuchal crest indistinct, poorly developed; supratympanic and postorbital spines absent and a long and slender tail. Description of the Holotype. BNHS 1436; a medium sized agamid, adult female (SVL- 68.5 mm) Morphometric and meristic data are summarised in Appendix 2 & 3. General habitus moderately compressed. Head moderate (HL/SVL ratio 0.28), broad (HW/HL ratio 0.56), maximum height less than maximum width; snout pointed; rostral broader than high; nostrils in single nasal shield, which is separated from rostral by a single scale; mental shield almost as wide as the rostral; two postmentals; first pair touching each other at the base; genials partially keeled; gular sac small, composed of partially keeled scales, slightly smaller than genials; scales on the snout smooth, unkeeled; scales on top of head heterogenous, keeled, small, subtriangular; supraorbital scales keeled; orbit diameter 95% of distance between anterior border of orbit and snout tip; tympanum very small, exposed, its greatest diameter 11% of horizontal diameter of orbit; slightly keeled scales between tympanum and orbit; posterior region of jaws partially swollen; supralabials 10/10; infralabials 11/11. Nuchal crest poorly developed, composed of 13 small conical spines; the remaining vertebral scales slightly enlarged relative to adjacent rows and possess a more pronounced median keel; 54 longitudinal scale rows around midbody; scales on dorsum keeled; lateral scales smaller than dorsal, keeled, oriented postero-ventrally; ventrals slightly larger then dorsals, genials and gular scales strongly keeled. Limbs slender and covered with strongly keeled scales, larger than laterals; scales under thighs keeled; length of hindlimb ca. 64% SVL; relative lengths of toes 4=3>5>2>1; fourth toe and third toe subequal; 20 subdigital lamellae under fourth finger; 21 subdigital lamellae under fourth toe; tail slender, long; scales on dorsal and ventral surface of tail with sharp keels, mucronate, slightly larger than laterals; tail length 117 mm. Colouration. In life (CESL 104): dorsum and head uniform, light green overall with a distinct reddish orange streak from above the third lip scale covering 2–3 scale rows below the tympanum, ending just at the shoulder. A distinct pale whitish grey band, edged with black speckles from the base of tail till underside of knee. Mid-dorsal scales edged anteriorly with black, which is visible when the body is inflated; gular scales lighter, yellowish green; ventrally brighter, uniform green with a few rows of pale whitish scales towards the lateral side. This lizard was observed to quickly change its body color to dark blackish-brown on disturbance but the orange streak and band on thigh remained unchanged. In preservative: dorsum and head uniform, overall pale blue with brownish patches above the eyes and neck continuing on the mid-dorsal line, broader towards the tail; tail pale brown; orange lip streak paler turning whitish towards the neck; laterally pale blue with anteriorly black edged scales; ventrally pale whitish grey overall; limbs edged with brown blotches, broader towards the tips. Distribution. Currently, this lizard is known only from two sites in the high elevation tropical evergreen forests of Agasthyamalai hills. The second locality near Chemunji peak in Peppara wildlife sanctuary is approximately 50 kms northeast of the type locality near Kakachi in KMTR (See Appendix 1 for details). Both these sites are separated by almost contiguous shola grassland mosaic on undulating hills. Ecology and natural history. Nothing much is known about the ecology and natural history of this species. Ishwar and Das (1998) reported sightings of 3 individuals, all gravid females in the month of August. Two of these lizards laid 4 elliptical eggs each. This suggests that monsoon might be a breeding season for this lizard. Ishwar and Das (1998) also mentioned that this is a canopy dwelling species. The fact that it was only found again 12 years after its discovery and that too from a fairly well explored habitat suggests that this might be a rare lizard or it may occur high in the canopy of rain forests and thus escape detection.Published as part of Pal, Saunak, Vijayakumar, S. P., Shanker, Kartik, Jayarajan, Aditi & Deepak, V., 2018, A systematic revision of Calotes Cuvier, 1817 (Squamata: Agamidae) from the Western Ghats adds two genera and reveals two new species, pp. 401-450 in Zootaxa 4482 (3) on pages 440-441, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4482.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/144067
Monilesaurus acanthocephalus Pal & Vijayakumar & Shanker & Jayarajan & Deepak 2018
No full textMonilesaurus acanthocephalus gen. et. sp. nov. (Fig. 7a) Etymology. The species epithet is derived by combining the Greek word ‘acanthos’, meaning spine or thorn, and ‘kephale’ latinized as ‘cephalus’ meaning head; referring to the long posterorbital and supratympanic spines. Holotype. BNHS 2409, an adult male (Fig. 11) collected from a disturbed habitat, adjoining evergreen forest—tea garden edge in Upper Manalar (Fig. 12), Periyar tiger reserve, Megamalai (934'35. 81"N, 7720'11. 43"E; 1562 m a.s.l) by SPV on 8th April 2009. Paratypes. CESL 0 0 1 adult male and CESL 112 juvenile male collected by SPV on 8th April 2009; BNHS 2410 adult male collected by SPP on 4th September 2011 from Upper Manalar, Periyar tiger reserve, Megamalai (9°34'18. 25"N, 77°20'5. 02"E, 1547 m). Diagnosis and comparison. A medium sized agamid (SVL = 72.6 mm) characterized by backward and downward orientation of lateral body scales; antehumeral fold present, throat fold present; 62–64 midbody scale rows; nuchal crest composed of 6 long, well developed spines; dorsal crest developed, in the form of a serrated ridge; two long, separated supratympanic spines; a long, well developed postorbital spine; dorsal and lateral scales keeled, ventral scales strongly keeled; paired postmentals, first pair separated by a 1 or 2 scales; 22–24 subdigital lamellae under fourth finger, 27–31 subdigital lamellae under fourth toe; 9 supralabials and 8 infralabials; reddish brown above with alternating dark and light crossbars on the dorsum, two white spots below the eye. Monilesaurus acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov. can be can be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: 62–64 midbody scale rows (vs. 46–52 in M. montanus gen. et sp. nov., 52–58 in M. ellioti and 52–56 in M. rouxii); presence of much longer, distinct isolated spine in the posterior corner of orbit (vs. absent in M. rouxii; very small, indistinct tubercle like in M. montanus gen. et sp. nov., and smaller in M. ellioti); 6 very long nuchal spines (vs. 3–6 small nuchal spines in M. montanus gen. et sp. nov., 3–4 long nuchal spines in M. ellioti, 7–8 smaller nuchal spines in C. rouxii); longer, prominent isolated spine on the back of head and above tympanum (vs. much smaller in M. montanus gen. et sp. nov., and M. rouxii) and presence of a white spot below the eye (vs. absent in M. rouxii; in the form of a band in M. montanus gen. et sp. nov.). Description of holotype. BNHS 2409, a medium sized adult male (SVL: 72.6 mm), morphometric and meristic data are summarised in Appendix 2 & 3. General habitus moderately compressed. Head moderately large (HL/SVL ratio: 0.29), broad (HW/HL ratio: 0.65), maximum height less than maximum width; snout pointed; rostral broader than high; nostrils in single nasal shield, which is separated from rostral by a single scale; mental shield narrower than rostral; two postmentals; first pair in contact with each other; genials keeled; gular scales strongly keeled, slightly smaller than genials; scales on top of snout smooth except median row, which is keeled; scales on top of head heterogenous in size and shape, keeled; supraorbital scales keeled; canthus-rostralis and supraciliary edge sharp; a long, well developed, thick spine at the posterior corner of the orbit, ca. 54% the orbit in length; two separated spines on posterior end of head, the anterior much longer, between the nuchal crest and tympanum, posterior above tympanum; orbit diameter 56% of distance between anterior border of orbit and snout tip; tympanum exposed, its greatest diameter 49% horizontal diameter of orbit; enlarged keeled scale between tympanum and orbit; posterior region of jaws swollen; supralabials 9/8; infralabials 8/8. Nuchal crest well developed, composed of six primary, long conical spines, the first being the smallest and the fourth longest; the remaining vertebral scales subtriangular, pointed, much larger than adjacent rows of scales, and possessing a strong, median keel forming an elevated, serrated ridge like the dorsal crest which continues till the tail base; 62 longitudinal scale rows around midbody; scales on dorsum keeled, oriented postero-dorsally, while lateral ones oriented postero-ventrally; lateral scales smaller than dorsal, keeled; ventrals strongly keeled, irregular, slightly smaller than dorsals but of similar size as laterals, genials and gular scales; a strong, oblique antehumeral fold, extending across the throat. Limbs long, slender and covered with strongly keeled scales, larger than laterals, forming parallel longitudinal rows; scales under thighs keeled; length of hindlimb ca. 79 % SVL; relative length of fingers 4>3>5>2>1; relative lengths of toes 4>3>5>2>1; fourth toe longer than fifth finger; 22 subdigital lamellae under fourth finger; 27 subdigital lamellae under fourth toe; subdigital lamellae with sharp keels, bicarinate; tail slender, swollen at the base; scales on dorsal and ventral surface of tail with sharply keeled, mucronate, larger than laterals; tail length 215 mm. Colouration. In life: dorsum olive red with a light brown head, irregular alternating red and black blotches on the mid dorsum, the black blotches extend to the lateral side in the form of alternate ‘v’ shaped bands; 4–5 light green blotches on the lateral side followed by thin whitish stripes from behind shoulder till start of tail; two light broken dorsolateral stripes present; head laterally light olive with three dark black bands from posterior part of eye till tympanum and two white spots below the eye; tympanum off-white with light green edge, lip scales light grey; a large blackish triangular patch behind the tympanum continuing to the antehumeral fold; ventral uniformly white; gular pouch light reddish; tail with alternating spaced dark blotches forming irregular bands towards the end. In preservative: dorsum and head uniform light brown, back banded with five ‘U’ shaped black bands from neck to start of tail; the black bands extend midway laterally forming an alternating pale brown and black pattern; tail banded with alternating thick brown and grey blotches; head laterally pale brown with yellowish white lip scales, tympanum pale grey; ventrally uniform pale whitish yellow with darker blotches below the limbs. Variation and secondary sexual characteristics. Morphometric and meristic data for the type specimens is presented in Appendix 2 & 3. The adult paratypes are all males and range from 68.9–72 mm in SVL. The paratypes agree with the holotype (CESL 002) in general morphology and scalation except for the following characters: 62– 64 longitudinal scale rows around midbody; 22–24 subdigital lamellae under fourth finger, 27–31 subdigital lamellae under fourth toe; infralabials 9 on the left in CESL 0 0 1 and 9 on the right in CESL 410; 1 st pair separated by a single scale in CESL 410. Dorsal and nuchal crest, spines above the orbit and tympanum not developed in the juvenile paratype CESL 112. Genetic distance. M. acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov. shows 4–6% interspecific genetic divergence in the 16S gene from M. rouxii comb. nov.; 5–6 % interspecific genetic divergence from M. ellioti comb. nov. and 2–3 % interspecific genetic divergence from M. montanus gen. et sp. nov. (Appendix 5). Distribution. Monilesaurus acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov. is currently known only from high elevations (above 1500 m asl) of Megamalai hills of southern Western Ghats (See Fig. 3 & Appendix 1 for details). Ecology and natural history. Monilesaurus acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov. is a diurnal lizard, semiarboreal to arboreal in habit, and has, so far, been recorded from high elevation evergreen forests and along foresttea garden edges (Fig. 12). Individuals were seen perching on shrubs, branches and on tree trunks. One of the type specimens (CESL 410) was found sleeping on a tree branch in a forest patch.Published as part of Pal, Saunak, Vijayakumar, S. P., Shanker, Kartik, Jayarajan, Aditi & Deepak, V., 2018, A systematic revision of Calotes Cuvier, 1817 (Squamata: Agamidae) from the Western Ghats adds two genera and reveals two new species, pp. 401-450 in Zootaxa 4482 (3) on pages 431-434, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4482.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/144067
Monilesaurus montanus Pal & Vijayakumar & Shanker & Jayarajan & Deepak 2018
No full textMonilesaurus montanus gen. et. sp. nov. (Fig. 7b) Etymology. The species epithet is derived from the word ‘montane’ referring to the restricted distribution of this species to high elevation forests (> 1500 m a.s.l). Holotype. BNHS 2411, adult male (Fig. 13), collected at Kudremukh National Park (Fig. 14), Karnataka (1307'54" N, 07516'39" E; 1534.9 m a.s.l); by SPP, SPV and KPD on 28th September 2011. Paratypes: BNHS 2412, adult male and BNHS 2413, adult female collected from Kudremukh National Park, Karnataka by SPV and ADR on 21st August 2009; CESL 131, adult female collected from Siruvani reserve forest, Kerala by SPP and MPV on 0 6th July 2010; CESL 133, adult female collected from Walakkad, Silent Valley National Park, Kerala by SPP and MPV on 23rd November 2010; CESL 330 adult female and CESL 331 an adult male collected from Naduvattam, Tamil Nadu by SPP on 23rd June 2011 and CESL 529 adult male collected from Narimala, Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka by SPP and SRC on 0 9th March 2012. Diagnosis and comparison. A medium sized Monilesaurus with a maximum SVL of 83.4 mm, arboreal species characterized by the backward and downward orientation of lateral body scales; presence of antehumeral fold, throat fold not prominent as the antehumeral fold; 46–52 midbody scale rows; nuchal crest composed of 3–6 small spines; two small separated supratympanic spines; a very small tubercle like postorbital spine barely distinguishable from the surrounding head scales; dorsal and lateral scales feebly keeled, stronger towards ventrals, ventral scales strongly keeled; scales on ventral thigh region feebly keeled; paired postmentals, first pair separated by a single scale; 21–24 subdigital lamellae under fourth finger, 25–30 subdigital lamellae under fourth toe; 9–10 supralabials and 8–9 infralabials; greenish brown above with darker dorsum, a white band below the eye extending till end of jaw. Monilesaurus montanus gen. et sp. nov. can be distinguished from its sister species based on the combination of following characters: larger body size: adult SVL 61–83.4 mm, n=8 (vs. M. ellioti comb. nov. adult SVL 59.4– 73.8 mm, n=9; M. rouxii comb. nov. adult SVL 51.4–74.8 mm, n=9); lower number of midbody scale rows 46–52 (vs. 62–64 in Monilesaurus acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov., 52–58 in M. ellioti comb. nov., 52–56 in M. rouxii comb. nov.), presence of a very small, indistinct tubercle like, isolated spine in the posterior corner of orbit (vs. absent in M. rouxii comb. nov., long, distinct isolated spine in M. ellioti comb. nov. and M. acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov.), 3–6 small nuchal spines (vs. 7–8 small nuchal spines in M. rouxii comb. nov., 6 much longer nuchal spines in C. acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov., 3–4 long nuchal spines in M. ellioti comb. nov.); small isolated spine on the back of head and above tympanum (vs. longer, prominent spines in M. ellioti comb. nov. and M. acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov.) presence of white band below the eye (vs. none in M. rouxii comb. nov.; in the form of a spot in M. ellioti comb. nov. and M. acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov.). Description of holotype. BNHS 2411, a medium sized agamid, adult male (SVL- 78.2 mm). Morphometric and meristic data are summarised in Appendix 2 & 3. General habitus moderately compressed. Head moderately large (HL/SVL ratio 0.31), broad (HW/HL ratio 0.64), maximum height less than maximum width; snout pointed; rostral broader than high; nostrils in single nasal shield, which is separated from rostral by a single scale; mental shield narrower than rostral; two postmentals; first pair separated from each other by a single, small scale; genials keeled; gular sac small, composed of strongly keeled scales, slightly smaller than genials; scales on top of snout smooth except median row, which is keeled; scales on top of head heterogenous in size and shape, keeled; supraorbital scales keeled; canthus-rostralis and supraciliary edge sharp; a very small tubercle like spine at the posterior corner of the orbit; two separated small spines on posterior end of head, the anterior slightly longer, midway between nuchal crest and tympanum, posterior above tympanum; orbit diameter 59% of distance between anterior border of orbit and snout tip; tympanum exposed, its greatest diameter 48% of horizontal diameter of orbit; slightly keeled, enlarged scales between tympanum and orbit; posterior region of jaws swollen; supralabials 9/9; infralabials 8/8. Nuchal crest well developed, composed of three primary, conical spines, the first being the shortest, the third longest; the remaining vertebral scales slightly enlarged relative to adjacent rows and possess a median keel forming a slightly elevated ridge like dorsal crest which continues till the tail base; 50 longitudinal scale rows around midbody; 40 scales on the mid dorsum; scales on dorsum feebly keeled, oriented backwards, lateral scales smaller than dorsal, keeled, oriented backwards and downwards; ventrals strongly keeled, irregular, slightly smaller than dorsals but of similar size as laterals, genials and gular scales; an oblique antehumeral fold present, weakly developed, feebly extending into a throat fold which is not prominent. Limbs slender and covered with strongly keeled scales, larger than laterals, forming parallel longitudinal rows; scales under thighs weakly keeled; length of hindlimb ca. 71% SVL; relative length of fingers 4>3>2>5>1; relative lengths of toes 4>3>5>2>1; fourth toe much longer than fifth finger; 23 subdigital lamellae under fourth finger; 28 subdigital lamellae under fourth toe; subdigital lamellae with sharp keels, bicarinate; slender, swollen at the base; scales on dorsal and ventral surface of tail with sharp keels, mucronate; tail length 190 mm. Colouration. In life: dorsum and head yellowish-green with irregular, alternating light and dark brown patches on the back; a dark brownish band from above the shoulder till the dorsal crest forming a ‘v’ shape; head laterally greenish with a whitish band below the posterior end of eye to end of jaw; broken dark striations from above nostril to anterior margin of orbit extending till the tympanum from the posterior margin of orbit in the form of black band; tympanum pale green, lip scales white; thick blackish triangular patch behind the tympanum continuing to the antehumeral fold; an indistinct thin stripe above the labials from the nostril, ending into a black spot anterior to the tympanum; ventral uniformly lighter, pale grey; gular pouch white, irregular dark striations on the sides; tail with alternating dark and light blotches forming irregular bands towards the end. In preservative: dorsum and head buff to light brown with irregular, alternating grey and darker brown patches on the back; tail banded with alternating thick brown and grey blotches; laterally paler with darker brown blotches extending down from the dorsum; lead laterally speckled with grey and brown with a whitish yellow below the posterior end of eye to end of jaw; tympanum pale white, lip scales whitish yellow; ventrally uniform pale grey, lighter below the limbs. Variation and secondary sexual characteristics. Morphometric and meristic data for the type specimens is presented in Appendix 2 & 3. Adult male paratypes range from 61–78.8mm in SVL, whereas adult female paratypes range from 68.4–83.4mm in SVL. The paratypes agree with the holotype (BNHS 2411) in general morphology and scalation except for the following characters: 46–52 longitudinal scale rows around midbody; 21– 24 subdigital lamellae under fourth finger, 25–30 subdigital lamellae under fourth toe. Supralabials 8 on the right in CESL 124; infralabials 8 on the right in CESL 133 and 8 on the left in CESL 529. All the examined female paratypes (CESL 126, CESL 131, CESL 133 and CESL 331) have slightly smaller nuchal spines compared to the males; lack a dorsal crest and gular sac. Genetic distance. M. montanus gen. et sp. nov. shows 0–1% intraspecific genetic divergence in the 16S gene; 7–8% interspecific genetic divergence from M. rouxii comb. nov.; 4–8% interspecific genetic divergence from M. ellioti comb. nov. and 2–3 % interspecific genetic divergence from M. acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov. (Appendix 5). Distribution. Monilesaurus montanus gen. et sp. nov., is endemic to the Western Ghats and distributed across the high elevation evergreen forests (above 1250 m asl) of central Western Ghats. During this study, M. montanus gen. et sp. nov. was recorded from montane forests of the following hill ranges: Kudremukh, Brahmagiri, Nilgiri and Elivalmalai (See Fig. 3 & Appendix 1 for details). Ecology and natural history. Monilesaurus montanus gen. et sp. nov., is a diurnal lizard, semi-arboreal to arboreal in habit and so far, has been recorded from montane shola forests (Fig. 14). Individuals were mostly found at night, sleeping on branches of stunted trees within sholas or actively moving on tree trunks. Only in one instance, a female specimen (CESL 133) was found in evergreen forest at a slightly lower elevation (ca. 1250 m asl). In some sites, the lower elevational limits of their distributional range might overlap with the range of M. ellioti comb. nov., but these two species were not observed to be syntopic in any of the sites. A gravid female was recorded in the month of July in Siruvani reserve forest, which hints that pre-monsoon might be a breeding season for this species. No other congeners were found to be syntopically distributed with M. montanus gen. et sp. nov.Published as part of Pal, Saunak, Vijayakumar, S. P., Shanker, Kartik, Jayarajan, Aditi & Deepak, V., 2018, A systematic revision of Calotes Cuvier, 1817 (Squamata: Agamidae) from the Western Ghats adds two genera and reveals two new species, pp. 401-450 in Zootaxa 4482 (3) on pages 435-437, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4482.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/144067
Monilesaurus rouxii Pal & Vijayakumar & Shanker & Jayarajan & Deepak 2018, comb.nov.
No full textMonilesaurus rouxii (Duméril & Bibron, 1837) comb.nov. Calotes rouxii —Duméril & Bibron, 1837. Erp. Gen, iv, 1837: 407. Calotes ellioti —(not of Günther) Stoliczka, 1872. J. Asiat. Soc. Beng. (2) xli, 1872: 113. Calotes rouxii — Smith, 1935. Fauna of British India, ii, 1935: 206. Syntypes. MNHN—MNHN-RA-0.6894 & MNHN-RA-1994.1857 collected from “ Indes Orientales ” and deposited in the National Museum of Natural History (France). Original description. Duméril, A. M. C. and G. Bibron. 1837. Erpétologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle Complete des Reptiles. Vol. 4. Libr. Encyclopédique Roret, Paris, 570 pp. Taxonomic comments. The exact type locality of M. rouxii comb.nov. is unknown, as the localities for the syntypes in MNHN and in the original publication are given as “Indes Orientales” or India. The only precise locality of a specimen in the catalogue of British Museum is given as “Matheran, Bombay Presidency” (Boulenger 1885, 1890); Smith (1935) gives the range of M. rouxii comb. nov. as “Bombay Presidency (Matheran, Khandala, Kanara, Jog); Travancore”. Of these, other than “Travencore” all the other localities are from the northern and central Western Ghats. Material examined. CESL 129, adult male collected from Matheran, Maharashtra; CESL 523, adult male collected from Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka; CESL 554, adult male collected from Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka; CESL 669, adult female collected from Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, Goa; CESL 834, adult female collected from Narsimparvata, Kudremukh National Park, Karnataka, CESL 678, adult male collected from Madhei wildlife sanctuary, Goa; CESL 875, juvenile collected from Radhanagri, Maharashtra; CESL 0 95, juvenile, collected from Agumbe, Karnataka; 0 72, adult male collected from Wayanad wildlife sanctuary, Kerala; CESL 123 and CESL 153 adult males collected from Vazhachal, Kerala; CESL 215, adult male collected from near Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary, Kerala and CESL 581, adult male collected from near Pooyamkutty, Kerala. MNHN-RA-0.6894 (photographs only). Details of collection locality, specimen voucher and GenBank accession number in Appendix 1. Diagnosis and comparisons. A small sized Monilesaurus (SVL up to 74.8 mm) characterized by the posteroventral orientation of lateral scales; antehumeral fold small, triangular spines; two separated small supratympanic spines; dorsal and lateral scales keeled, ventral scales strongly keeled; paired postmentals, first pair in contact or separated by a single scale; 18–21 subdigital lamellae under fourth finger, 24–29 subdigital lamellae under fourth toe; 9–10 supralabials and 8–9 infralabials; olive-brown to above, antehumeral fold black, top of head often darker than dorsum, body often speckled with dark and light blotches, prominent in juveniles and sub-adults. Morphologically, M. rouxii comb.nov. is superficially similar to M. montanus gen. et sp. nov., M. ellioti comb. nov.; and M. acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov., but can be distinguished by a combination of the following characters: 52–56 midbody scale rows (vs. 46–52 in M. montanus gen. et sp. nov., 62–64 in M. acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov., and 52–58 in M. ellioti comb. nov.) spine in the posterior corner of orbit absent (vs. very small, indistinct tubercle like in M. montanus gen. et sp. nov., long, distinct in M. ellioti comb.nov. and much longer in M. acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov.); 7–8 small nuchal spines (vs. 3–6 small nuchal spines in M. montanus gen. et sp. nov., 6 much longer nuchal spines in C. acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov., 3–4 long nuchal spines in M. ellioti comb.nov.); small isolated spines on the back of head and above tympanum (vs. longer, prominent spines in M. ellioti comb. nov. and M. acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov.) white spot below the eye absent (vs. present in M. ellioti comb.nov. and M. acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov.; in the form of a band in M. montanus gen. et sp. nov.) and smaller body size: adult SVL 51.4–74.8 mm, n=9 (vs. C. montanus gen. et sp. nov., adult SVL 61–83.4 mm, n=8; and M. acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov. adult SVL 68.9–72.6 mm, n=3). Description. Based on CESL 129. A medium sized adult male (SVL- 74.79 mm). Morphometric and meristic data are summarised in Appendix 2 & 3. General habitus moderately compressed. Head moderately large (HL/SVL ratio 0.29), elongate (HW/HL ratio 0.73), maximum height less than maximum width; snout pointed; rostral broader than high; nostrils in single nasal shield, which is separated from rostral by a single scale; mental shield narrower than rostral; two postmentals; first pair in contact with each other; genials keeled; gular scales strongly keeled, slightly smaller than genials; scales on top of snout smooth except median row, which is keeled; scales on top of head heterogenous in size and shape, keeled; supraorbital scales keeled; canthus-rostralis and supraciliary edge sharp; two separated spines on posterior end of head, the anterior slightly longer, midway between nuchal crest and tympanum, posterior above tympanum; orbit diameter 75% of distance between anterior border of orbit and snout tip; tympanum exposed, its greatest diameter 58% horizontal diameter of orbit; enlarged keeled scale between tympanum and orbit; posterior region of jaws swollen; supralabials 10/10; infralabials 9/9. Nuchal crest well developed, composed of eight primary, broadly conical spines, the first and last smaller than the rest; the remaining vertebral scales slightly enlarged relative to adjacent rows and possessing a more pronounced median keel forming a serrated ridge like the dorsal crest which continues till the tail base; 56 longitudinal scale rows around midbody; scales on dorsum keeled, oriented postero-dorsally, while lateral ones oriented postero-ventrally; lateral scales smaller than dorsal, keeled; ventrals strongly keeled, irregular, slightly smaller than dorsals but of similar size as laterals, genials and gular scales; a strong, oblique antehumeral fold, nearly extending across the throat. Limbs slender and covered with strongly keeled scales, larger than laterals, forming parallel longitudinal rows; scales under thighs weakly keeled; length of hindlimb ca. 82% SVL; relative length of fingers 4>3>2>5>1; relative lengths of toes 4>3>5>2>1; fourth toe longer than fifth finger; 20 subdigital lamellae under fourth finger; 24 subdigital lamellae under fourth toe; subdigital lamellae with sharp keels, bicarinate; tail slender, swollen at the base; scales on dorsal and ventral surface of tail with sharp keels, mucronate, slightly larger than laterals; tail length 118 mm (tail incomplete, broken at the tip). Colouration. In life: dorsum uniform blackish-brown; head bright reddish-orange, from snout tip to slightly behind mid vertebral; laterally a blackish-brown stripe from above nostril to anterior margin of orbit extending till the tympanum from the posterior margin of orbit in the form of black band; a bright reddish-orange stripe from snout covering labials till the anterior margin of tympanum, continuing backwards from posterior margin and ending abruptly in the antehumeral fold; tympanum pale grey; ventral uniformly black; gular pouch with a small orange stripe in the median row. Representative image showing live colouration (Fig. 6a). In preservative: colouration pattern mostly similar to that in life, except overall paler; bands on the head dull greyish brown. Variation and secondary sexual characteristics. The other specimens examined agree with CESL 129 in general morphology and scalation except for some differences that are summarised in Appendix 2 & 3. Both the examined female specimens (CESL 669 and CESL 834) have much smaller nuchal spines and lack a dorsal crest and gular sac; overall colouration olive-brown, lighter head and vertebral region, a dark band along the side of the head to the neck and the presence of a black antehumeral fold. Genetic distance. M. rouxii comb. nov. shows 1% intraspecific genetic divergence in the 16S gene; 4–7% interspecific genetic divergence from M. ellioti comb. nov.; 6% genetic divergence from M. acanthocephalus gen. et sp. nov. and 7–8% interspecific genetic divergence from M. montanus gen. et sp. nov. (Appendix. 5). Distribution. Monilesaurus rouxii comb. nov. is distributed across the low and medium elevation forests (up to 1000 m asl) of the Western Ghats and has also been reported from parts of the southern Eastern Ghats (Daniels & Ishwar 1994). This is one of the most common forest dwelling agamid lizards in the northern and central Western Ghats. During this study, M. rouxii comb. nov. was recorded in various sites across the Western Ghats (See Fig. 3 & Appendix 1 for details). Ecology and natural history. Monilesaurus rouxii is a diurnal lizard, semi-arboreal to arboreal in habit, and has so far been recorded mostly in deciduous, secondary and semi-evergreen forests. Individuals were mostly seen perching on branches and actively moving on tree trunks. In some instances, it has also been observed in forest fragments and plantations. In some sites, they occur syntopically in the same habitat as C. versicolor, but tend to prefer higher and thicker perches than C. versicolor, and were found to be more abundant than C. versicolor inside forests. In many instances, gravid females were recorded during pre and mid monsoon (June–August), which suggests that monsoon might be a breeding season for this species.Published as part of Pal, Saunak, Vijayakumar, S. P., Shanker, Kartik, Jayarajan, Aditi & Deepak, V., 2018, A systematic revision of Calotes Cuvier, 1817 (Squamata: Agamidae) from the Western Ghats adds two genera and reveals two new species, pp. 401-450 in Zootaxa 4482 (3) on pages 427-429, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4482.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/144067
FIGURE 8 in A systematic revision of Calotes Cuvier, 1817 (Squamata: Agamidae) from the Western Ghats adds two genera and reveals two new species
No full textFIGURE 8. Lateral photograph showing live coloration of A. adult male Psammophilus dorsalis and B. adult female Microauris aurantolabium comb. nov.Published as part of Pal, Saunak, Vijayakumar, S.P., Shanker, Kartik, Jayarajan, Aditi & Deepak, V., 2018, A systematic revision of Calotes Cuvier, 1817 (Squamata: Agamidae) from the Western Ghats adds two genera and reveals two new species, pp. 401-450 in Zootaxa 4482 (3) on page 418, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4482.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/144067
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Optical and Electronic Simulation of Gallium Arsenide/Silicon Tandem Four Terminal Solar Cells
No full textA tandem solar cell in a mechanical (stack like) arrangement of gallium arsenide and silicon solar cells is evaluated as a pathway towards higher efficiency terrestrial solar cells. In this work the technical feasibility of the tandem solar cell is investigated. Here we report on the detailed electrical and optical simulations of this structure quantifying various theoretical and practical loss mechanisms in the interface and in the device and indicate that an efficiency improvement of 5.13% would be attainable with present generation of gallium arsenide and silicon solar cells in this configuration. The optical and electrical parameters for gallium arsenide and silicon simulation models were extracted from experimental devices and material vendors. The developed simulation models were validated by comparing the performance of standalone gallium arsenide and silicon solar cells with experimental devices reported in the literature.NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Solar Energy. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Solar Energy, 97 (2013), DOI:10.1016/j.solener.2013.07.033Peer reviewe
Improvement of the spatial and spectral coherence in high power diode lasers
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