Calotes Nigrilabris At Horton Plains

''Calotes'' is a genus of lizards in the draconine clade of the family Agamidae. The genus contains 29 species. Some species are known as forest lizards, others as " bloodsuckers" due to their red heads, and yet others (namely '' C. versicolor'') as garden lizards. The genus name ''Calotes'' has been derived from the Greek word ''Καλότης (Kalótës)'', meaning ‘beauty’, referring to the beautiful pattern of this genus.

Geographic range

Species in the genus ''Calotes'' are native to South Asia, southern China, mainland Southeast Asia and Ambon. Additionally, ''C. versicolor'' has been introduced to Florida (USA), Borneo, Sulawesi, the Seychelles, Mauritius and Oman.
Calotes versicolor
'' The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org. Retrieved 17 January 2013 The greatest species richness of the genus is from the Western Ghats, northeast India, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Description

''Calotes'' is distinguished from related genera in having uniform-sized dorsal scales, and lacking a fold of skin extending between the cheek and shoulder, and in having proportionately stronger limbs than '' Pseudocalotes''. Compared to ''Bronchocela'', ''Calotes'' have a proportionately shorter tail and limbs. ''Calotes'' as we know it today was classified by Moody (1980) prior to which all of the above-mentioned genera were included in this genus.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Calotes'' is still a heterogeneous group that may be divided into the ''C. versicolor'' and ''C. liocephalus'' groups. The former occurs through most of South Asia and further east. All species in this group have their dorsal and lateral scales directed upward. The latter is restricted to the southern Western Ghats and Sri Lanka. All species in this group have their scales directed back, or up and down, or down only. Whether further splitting is necessary or whether the groups constitute subgenera of a monophyletic ''Calotes'' remains to be studied.

Species

Listed alphabetically.

* ''Calotes bachae''
* '' Calotes bhutanensis''
* ''Calotes calotes'' – common green forest lizard
* ''Calotes ceylonensis'' – painted-lip lizard, Ceylon bloodsucker
* '' Calotes chincollium''
* '' Calotes desilvai'' - Morningside lizard, Ceylon black-band whistling lizard
* ''Calotes emma'' – Emma Gray's forest lizard, forest crested lizard
** ''Calotes emma alticristatus''
** ''Calotes emma emma''
* '' Calotes farooqi'' – Farooq's garden lizard
* '' Calotes geissleri''
* ''Calotes goetzi''
* ''Calotes grandisquamis'' – large-scaled forest lizard
* '' Calotes htunwini''
* '' Calotes irawadi''
* ''Calotes jerdoni'' – Jerdon's forest lizard
* ''Calotes liocephalus'' – spineless forest lizard, crestless lizard, lionhead agama
* ''Calotes liolepis'' – whistling lizard, Sri Lanka agama
* '' Calotes manamendrai'' – Manamendra-Arachchi's whistling lizard
* ''Calotes maria'' – Khasi Hills forest lizard
* ''Calotes medogensis'' – Medog bloodsucker
* '' Calotes minor'' – Hardwicke's bloodsucker
* ''Calotes mystaceus'' – Indo-Chinese forest lizard, blue-crested lizard
* '' Calotes nemoricola'' – Nilgiri forest lizard
* ''Calotes nigrilabris'' – black-cheek lizard
* '' Calotes nigriplicatus''
* '' Calotes paulus'' – small forest lizard
* ''Calotes pethiyagodai''
* ''Calotes versicolor'' – Oriental garden lizard, changeable lizard, eastern garden lizard
* ''Calotes vindumbarbatus''
* ''Calotes zolaiking'' – Mizoram montane forest lizard

Two species formerly treated as members of the genus were separated into a new genus in 2018 - ''Monilesaurus'':
* ''Monilesaurus ellioti'' – Elliot's forest lizard
* ''Monilesaurus rouxii'' – Roux's forest lizard, Roux's forest Calotes

'' Nota bene'': A binomial authority in parentheses or a trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species or the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than ''Calotes''.

Gallery

File:Garden lizard3.jpg, A juvenile male garden lizard seen in Andhra Pradesh, India.
File:Indian Garden Lizard Calotes versicolor W2 IMG 6829.jpg, A female Oriental garden lizard, ''Calotes versicolor''.
File:Calotes female.jpg, A female ''Calotes'' at Pune, India.
File:Garden Lizard India vs.JPG, A garden lizard, South India.
File:Garden Lizard India vs.jpg, A garden lizard, South India.
File:Calotes Garden Lizard at Madikai Ambalathukara Kerala 04.jpg, Garden lizard at Madikai Ambalathukara Kerala, India
File:Calotes Garden Lizard at Madikai Ambalathukara Kerala 10.jpg, Garden lizard

Further reading

*HALLERMANN J, BÖHME W. 2000. A review of the genus ''Pseudocalotes'' (Squamata: Agamidae), with description of a new species from West Malaysia. ''Amphibia-Reptilia'' 21: 193–210.
*HALLERMANN J. 2005. A taxonomic review of the genus ''Bronchocela'' (Squamata: Agamidae), with description of a new species from Vietnam. ''Russian Journal of Herpetology'' 12 (3): 167–182.
*MOODY SM. 1980. Phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeographical relationships of the genera in the family Agamidae (Reptilia: Lacertilia). PhD dissertation. University of Michigan.
*ZUG GR, BROWN HHK, SCHULTE JA II, VINDUM JV. 2006. Systematics of the garden lizards, ''Calotes versicolor'' Group (Reptilia, Squamata, Agamidae), in Myanmar: Central Dry Zone populations. ''Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences'', Series 4, 57 (2): 35–68.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1875940

Lizard genera
Taxa named by Georges Cuvier