''Diploderma polygonatum'', also known as Ryukyu japalure and Okinawa tree lizard, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

found in the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. It is diurnal and arboreal. An adult male ''Diploderma polygonatum'' measures "61 mm. from snout to vent, and 152 mm. from vent to tip of tail; total length 213 mm." The splenial of this lizard is short, as is that of ''

Trapelus agilis The brilliant ground agama (''Trapelus agilis'') is a species of agama found in Central, West and South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consis ...

''. The lizard is also closely related to

Diploderma swinhonis ''Diploderma swinhonis'', also known commonly as the Taiwan japalure, Swinhoe's japalure, Swinhoe's lizard, and Swinhoe's tree lizard (), is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. The species is native to Taiwan. It is considered an invas ...

References

Diploderma Reptiles of Japan Reptiles of Taiwan Reptiles described in 1861 Taxa named by Edward Hallowell (herpetologist) {{agamidae-stub