Abstract

We describe a new species of agamid lizard, Ctenophorus mirrityana sp.nov. currently known from two disjunct populations in western New South Wales. The species is a member of the C. decresii species complex, and was formerly recognized as an outlying population of C. decresii due to similarities in dorsal colour pattern and adjacent distributions. Previous work documented deep molecular divergence, across multiple loci, with no genetic admixture between the new species and proximal C. decresii populations. We find that the new species differs in morphology from all other members of the species complex and is characterized by distinct male throat and lateral coloration, a small head size relative to snout-vent length, a large number of labial scales, and a lack of tubercular scales. We also identify two geographically structured lineages (northern and southern) within C. decresii as requiring further taxonomic investigation, based on notable genetic and morphological (including colour) divergence. We find that divergence in coloration is associated with genetic and body form differentiation within the C. decresii species complex.

 
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Bibliographic Data

Short Form
McLean et al., 2013. Rec. Aust. Mus. 65(3): 51–63
Author
Claire A. McLean; Adnan Moussalli; Steve Sass; Devi Stuart-Fox
Year
2013
Title
Taxonomic assessment of the Ctenophorus decresii complex (Reptilia: Agamidae) reveals a new species of dragon lizard from western New South Wales
Serial Title
Records of the Australian Museum
Volume
65
Issue
3
Start Page
51
End Page
63
DOI
10.3853/j.2201-4349.65.2013.1600
Language
en
Date Published
18 December 2013
Cover Date
18 December 2013
ISSN (print)
0067-1975 2201-4349
CODEN
RAUMAJ
Publisher
Australian Museum, Sydney
Place Published
Sydney, Australia
Subjects
Agamidae; Barrier Range; colour variation; Ctenophorus mirrityana; reptilian morphology
Digitized
18 December 2013
Available Online
18 December 2013
Reference Number
1600
EndNote
1600.enw
Title Page
1600.pdf
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1600_complete.pdf
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