Brachylophus gau: A new species of South Pacific Iguana from Gau Island, Fiji.

Three living and one extinct species of South Pacific Iguana, Brachylophus spp., are known from the islands of Fiji, as well as a single species of a second genus Lapitiguana, a much larger, but also now extinct, Lizard. These Iguana’s are thought to have lived in isolation in the island group for around 40 million years, with their closest living relatives found in the deserts of the southwestern United States. Each species of South Pacific Iguana is recorded only from a single island, but several other islands of Fiji are known to host Iguanas, suggesting that either some of these species have greater ranges than has previously been recorded, or that there are undiscovered species of Iguana in the islands.

In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 6 June 2017, Robert Fisher of the San Diego Field Station of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Ecological Research Center, Jone Niukula of The National Trust of Fiji, Dick Watling of NatureFiji-MareqetiViti, and Peter Harlow of the Taronga Conservation Society, describe a new species of South Pacific Iguana from Gau Island, Fiji.

The new species is named Brachylophus gau, the Gau Iguana, and is distinguishable from all other members of the genus by the colouration of the throat, which is a plain green in both sexes. The species has a mean snout-vent length (length excluding the tail of 149.2 mm, and a maximum of 153 mm (the total length, including the tail, was not used as several specimens showed signs of having lost and regrown their tails, which will reduce this). These Iguanas are bright green in colour, shading from avocado green on their backs to sulphur green on their bellies, with a series of blue-grey bands on their body and tail. 

Illustration of the male, left, and female, right, of Brachylophus gau. The painting is from photographs of these specimens and others from life. Measurements to scale within illustration. The male is missing later 2/3 of tail, but tail drawn here based on photos from other males. Cindy Hitchcock in Fisher et al. (2017).

Although this species had not previously been recorded, examination of museum specimens found two additional examples of this Iguana in the collection of the Natural History Museum in London. These were donated by John MacGillivray of the H.M.S. Herald in 1855, with a recorded location only of ‘Fiji’. Examination of the MacGillivray’s private journal shows that the H.M.S. Herald did indeed visit Gau Island on 12 and 27 September 1854, where MacGillivray shot Green Iguanas hidden in the foliage of the Ivi (Tahitian Chestnut) Tree.

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Tropidurus sertanejo: A new species of Ground Lizard from Bahia State, Brazil.

Ground Lizards of the genus Tropidurus are found across tropical and subtropical South America. They are ground dwelling Iguanas, favouring open habitats, closely related to the Marine Iguanas of the Galapagos Islands. The group are quite variable, with Lizards with a wide range of sized placed within the genus, and many species showing a wide range of colours. These Lizards tend to be sexually dimorphic (males and females are not the same), with the sexes having different markings in most species and males usually larger than the females.

In a paper published in the American Museum Novitates on 20 February, André Carvalho of the Richard Gilder Graduate School and Division of Vertebrate Zoology (Herpetology) at the American Museum of Natural History, Marco Sena of the Departamento de Zoologia at the Universidade de São Paulo, Pedro Peloso, also of the Division of Vertebrate Zoology (Herpetology) at the American Museum of Natural History and of the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Fabio Machado of the Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva at the Universidade de São Paulo, Rachel Montesinos, also of the Departamento de Zoologia at the Universidade de São Paulo, Hélio Silva of the Departamento de Biologia Animal at the Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Gwyneth Campbell, again of the Division of Vertebrate Zoology (Herpetology) at the American Museum of Natural History and Miguel Rodrigues, again of the Departamento de Zoologia at the Universidade de São Paulo, describe a new species of Tropidurus  from the caatinga drylands of Bahia State in Brazil.

The new species is named Tropidurus sertanejo, 'sertanejo' being a Portuguese word meaning 'rural' which is applied in particular to people from the sertão, the dry caatinga areas of northeastern Brazil. The species is described from 25 specimens (five adult males, five adult females and fifteen juveniles) collected from two sites, one in the Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural Fazenda Pé da Serra in the Municipality of Ibotirama and the second within the Municipality of Caetité. The Lizards are light brown in colour with pale salmon spots, a lighter underside and a bronze sheen on the head. The species is small compared to most other members of the genus, with adult males ranging from 166.4-197.9 mm in length and adult females from 138.9-147.9 mm in length.

Female specimen of Tropidurus sertanejo from the Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural Fazenda Pé da Serra, Serra do Arame. Carvalho et al. (2016).

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Babibasiliscus alxi: A Casquehead Lizard from the Early Eocene of Wyoming.   Casquehead Lizards, Corytophanidae, are a group of Iguanid Lizards found from the tropical forests of southern Mexico, through Central America to the northwest of South America. They belong to a group of Iguanians, the Pleurodonta, found today...

A new species of Twig Anole from Panama. Anoles are small Iguanid Lizards found in the Southern United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Twig Anoles, Norops spp., form a distinct cluster of medium sized Anole Lizard species within the genus Norops. There are currently eight...

Four new species of Treerunner from northern South America.                               Treerunners of the genus Plicaare Iguanid Lizards found in South America east of the Andes. They are medium sized, conspicuous Lizards that are active in the daytime, living in small colonies on rock outcrops or trees, and therefore are well represented in museum collections, as they tend to attract the attention of...

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Four new species of Treerunner from northern South America.

Treerunners of the genus Plica are Iguanid Lizards found in South America east of the Andes. They are medium sized, conspicuous Lizards that are active in the daytime, living in small colonies on rock outcrops or trees, and therefore are well represented in museum collections, as they tend to attract the attention of collectors. There are four species currently recognized, though two of these are considered to be both widespread and morphologically variable, making it likely that there are a number of cryptic species (species that cannot easily be differentiated from similar species by simple visual examination, but which are nevertheless reproductively isolated) within the group.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 25 November 2013, John Murphy of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and Michael Jowers of the Departamento de Etología y Conservación de laBiodiversidad at the Estación Biológica de Doñana describe four new species of Treerunner, from populations previously described as Plica plica.

The first new species described is named Plica caribeana, in reference to its distribution, on the Caribbean coast of Venezuela and the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Plicac aribeana has a lower number of dorsal scale rows than Plica plica, 92-125 as opposed to 126-140, and was confirmed to be a separate species by genetic analysis. It is mottled green and brown in colour, with distinctive black markings, females tend to be slightly larger than the males. The species lives in colonies of 6-15 individuals in forests or forest edges, and is frequently observed on trees, rock-faces, buildings and even in caves. The species is insectivorous, feeding on Ants, Beetles, Spiders, Cicadas and other Arthropods, and itself appears to be a favoured prey item of the Tropical Flat Snake Siphlophis compressus. Females lay clutches of two eggs.

 Plica caribeana, from the Arima Valley of Trinidad. Murphy & Jowers (2014).

The second new species is named Plica kathleenae, in honour of the herpetologist Kathleen Kelly of the Division of Amphibians and Reptiles at the Field Museum of Natural History. The species is described from a single male specimen collected by Emmet Reid Blake near the headwaters of the Itabu Creek in the Sierra Acarai Mountains of Guyana, close to the border with Brazil, during the Sewell Avery British Guiana Expedition of 1938. The specimen has 158 dorsal scale rows at mid body (considerably more than Plica plica) and is a dark brown colour with dark and light spots; though this is its colouration preserved in alcohol, and probably differes from the colouration of the living animal.

The head of Plica kathleenae in dorsal view. Murphy & Jowers (2014).

The third new species described is named Plica medemi, in honour of Colombian herpetologist Fredrico Medem, who collected the single known specimen of this species at Cerro de las Pinturas in Colombia in 1957. This species is also described from a single male specimen, with 145 dorsal scale rows at mid body. The specimen is green with dark spots and an orange head; since it is preserved in alcohol it was most likely more strikingly coloured in life.

The head of Plica medemi in dorsal view. Murphy & Jowers (2014).

The final new species described is named Plica rayi, in honour of Ray Pawley the former Curator of Reptiles at Brookfield Zoo, for his lifelong work with Reptiles and Amphibians. This species has 182-202 dorsal scale rows at mid body (considerably more than any other member of the group. The Lizards are a dark brown colour with black and white markings, the males develop red or orange markings on their faces in the breeding season. The species is known from colonies at two sites on the Orinoco River, at Puerto Ayacucho in Venezuela and at Puerto Carreno in Colombia, and has been seen at other sites along the river. The species is found in granitic rainforests (i.e. rainforests standing on granite-derived soils), and favours rocky areas. The breeding season is in May.

Plica rayi. A male in breeding coloration. Photographed at Tobogan de la Selva, Puerto Ayacucho. Zelimir Cernelic in Murphy & Jowers (2014).

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Two new species of Skink from the Cape York Peninsula in northeast Australia.

Tropical Rainforests in Australia are found in a 430 km lowland strip between Townsville and Cooktown in Queensland, known as the ‘Wet Tropics’, and in smaller patches on the mountainous Cape York...

A new species of Skink from Cape Melville in northeast Australia.

Skinks of the genus Carliaare found in northeast Australia, New Guinea and the Wallacea biogeographical province between Australia and...

Four new species of Forest Gecko from West and Central Africa.

The application of genetic studies to populations of widespread animals and plants in recent years has revealed that many widespread ‘species’ are in fact made up of several different cryptic species, which...

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Two new species of Woodlizard from northeast Peru.

Woodlizards (Enyalioides) are a group of Iguanas found living in woodland on either side of the Andes, from Bolivian north to Panama. The group has generally been viewed as being low-diversity, with seven species described in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but recent studies have revised this upwards, with three more species described in 2008-11, and it is now considered that there are likely to be more species living in unexplored forests in the Andean region.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 15 March 2013, Pablo Venegas of the División de Herpetología at the Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad, Omar Torres-Carvajal of the Escuela de Biología at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador and the Department of Vertebrate Zoology at the National Museum of Natural History, Vilma Duran of the División de Herpetología at the Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad, and Kevin de Queiroz of the Department of Vertebrate Zoology at the National Museum of Natural History, describe two new species of Woodlizard from the Cordillera Azul National Park in northeastern Peru.

The first new species of Woodlizard is named Enyalioides azulae, in honour of the Azul National Park where it was found. The species is named from two adult males, two adult females and four juveniles, two of each sex, all collected from the same location in the montane rainforest of the Río Huallaga basin in northeastern Peru at an elevation of 1100 m, on a mountain ridge between the Región San Martín and Región Loreto. Seven of the eight specimens were captured sleeping on low vertical bush stems at night. One was encountered on a path in daytime after rain, it fled when approached and hid under a log.

Adult specimens of Enyalioides azulae reached about 140 mm in length. The species has strongly keeled ventral scales and shows sexual dichromatism; the males being green in colour and the females brown.

Enyalioides azulae, male (top) and female (bottom). Venegas et al. (2013).

The second new species is named Enyalioides binzayedi, in honour of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE, who created the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund (MBZSCF) to support species conservation projects around the globe.

The species is described from a single adult male, six adult females and a juvenile male specimens, all being found at the same location as those of Enzalioides azulae. All specimens were collected sleeping on plant stems at night. 

Enyalioides binzayedi is a 180 mm Woodlizard with a row of a row of spine-like strongly projecting scales extending backwards from the base of the skull. The species is variable in colour, with green and brown specimens being found in the sample, but this does not appear to be sex related.

Enyalioides binzayedi, adult male specimen. Venegas et al. (2013).

Map showing the site where the two new species were discovered. Venegas et al. (2013).

The habitat where the two new Woodlizard species were found. Venegas et al. (2013).

See also A Venomous Lizard from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia, Three new species of Dragon Lizard from the western arid zone of Australia, Genetic Diversity in Atlas Dwarf Lizards, A giant Monitor Lizard from the Miocene of Samos, Greece and Velvet Geckos and Broad-headed Snakes; understanding the population structure of a favored prey item in order to help protect an endangered predator.

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