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The Pondichéry fan-throated lizard (''Sitana ponticeriana'') is a
Upper head-scales small, sharply keeled; ''canthus rostralis'' and supraciliary edge sharp, with much enlarged scales. Dorsal scales larger than ventrals, with sharp keels forming straight longitudinal lines; lateral scales smallest, uniform or intermixed with scattered enlarged ones. The fore limb does not extend on to the vent, if laid backwards; the hind limb reaches to the orbit, if laid forwards; the lower thigh is rather shorter than the foot (measured from the heel to the tip of the longest toe), the length of which is only three-fourths of the distance between the shoulder and hip joints. Limbs above with uniform strongly keeled scales. The length of the limbs varies very much : in some specimens the hind limb stretched forwards does not extend beyond the orbit, in others it reaches the end of the snout or even considerably beyond. Brown, with a series of dark spots along the middle of the back, the spot on the neck being the darkest; a whitish band along each side of the back. The gular (throat) appendage is tricoloured— black, blue, and red.C. A. L. Gunther's (1864) The Reptiles of British India.
Tail round, slender, once and a half to twice as long as the head and body, covered with equal keeled scales. Olive-brown above, with a series of rhomboidal spots along the middle of the back; a more or less distinct light band along each side of the back. Dewlap color in this species is very variable. Typically the gular appendage is tricoloured— black, blue, and red; It is more developed in the breeding-season, and in the majority of individuals, at all events, is not coloured at other times.G. A. Boulenger (1890) Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia. Males are typically distinguished as coloured-fanned, intermediate-fanned, and white-fanned.
This species attains a maximum length of 8 inches, of which the tail takes 5 inches. From snout to vent 3-5 inches.
Ebanasar (1989) reported the histomorphology of thyroid gland and thyroid activity in ''Sitana ponticeriana'' in juveniles, males and females with different ovary maturation stages. He has also reported ovoviviparity in females from Madurai and Virudhunagar areas of Tamil Nadu.
M. A. Smith noted that there were variants with intermediates that were separated in 2016. Jerdon had described a form from near Bombay called ''deccanensis'' which is now included in the genus ''Sarada''.
Le Règne Animal Distribué d'après son Organisation, pour servir de base à l'Histoire naturelle des Animaux et d'introduction à l'Anatomie Comparée. Nouvelle Edition. Vol. 2. Les Reptiles
Déterville, Paris, i-xvi, 1-406 * Jerdon, T.C. 1870 Notes on Indian Herpetology. ''P. Asiatic Soc. Bengal'' March 1870: 66-85 * Kelaart, Edward Fred 1854 Catalogue of reptiles collected in Ceylon. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (2) 13: 137-140 * Ebanasar J. 1989. Histomorphology of thyroid gland in a ground lizard Sitana ponticeriana. M.Sc. Dissertation submitted to Madurai Kamaraj University. *Ebanasar J. and N.Inbamani 1989. Histomorphology of thyroid gland in a ground lizard Sitana ponticeriana (Cuvier). ANJAC Journal. 9:85-95.
The Pondichéry fan-throated lizard (''Sitana ponticeriana'') 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 ...
of agamid
Agamidae is a family of over 300 species of iguanian lizards indigenous to Africa, Asia, Australia, and a few in Southern Europe. Many species are commonly called dragons or dragon lizards.
Overview
Phylogenetically, they may be sister to the I ...
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 eastern peninsular India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. It was earlier thought to be widespread but studies in 2016 resulted in the splitting of the group into several species placed in two genera. The genus ''Sitana'' has an enlarged projecting scale on the posterior side of the hind thigh which is absent in the sister genus ''Sarada''.
The species is found mostly on the ground in open ground patches in thin forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
s. When disturbed this lizard sometimes runs with a bipedal gait.
Descriptions
Upper head-scales small, sharply keeled; ''canthus rostralis'' and supraciliary edge sharp, with much enlarged scales. Dorsal scales larger than ventrals, with sharp keels forming straight longitudinal lines; lateral scales smallest, uniform or intermixed with scattered enlarged ones. The fore limb does not extend on to the vent, if laid backwards; the hind limb reaches to the orbit, if laid forwards; the lower thigh is rather shorter than the foot (measured from the heel to the tip of the longest toe), the length of which is only three-fourths of the distance between the shoulder and hip joints. Limbs above with uniform strongly keeled scales. The length of the limbs varies very much : in some specimens the hind limb stretched forwards does not extend beyond the orbit, in others it reaches the end of the snout or even considerably beyond. Brown, with a series of dark spots along the middle of the back, the spot on the neck being the darkest; a whitish band along each side of the back. The gular (throat) appendage is tricoloured— black, blue, and red.C. A. L. Gunther's (1864) The Reptiles of British India.
Tail round, slender, once and a half to twice as long as the head and body, covered with equal keeled scales. Olive-brown above, with a series of rhomboidal spots along the middle of the back; a more or less distinct light band along each side of the back. Dewlap color in this species is very variable. Typically the gular appendage is tricoloured— black, blue, and red; It is more developed in the breeding-season, and in the majority of individuals, at all events, is not coloured at other times.G. A. Boulenger (1890) Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia. Males are typically distinguished as coloured-fanned, intermediate-fanned, and white-fanned.
This species attains a maximum length of 8 inches, of which the tail takes 5 inches. From snout to vent 3-5 inches.
Ebanasar (1989) reported the histomorphology of thyroid gland and thyroid activity in ''Sitana ponticeriana'' in juveniles, males and females with different ovary maturation stages. He has also reported ovoviviparity in females from Madurai and Virudhunagar areas of Tamil Nadu.
M. A. Smith noted that there were variants with intermediates that were separated in 2016. Jerdon had described a form from near Bombay called ''deccanensis'' which is now included in the genus ''Sarada''.
Distribution
This species occurs in eastern parts of peninsularIndia
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, along the Coromandel Coast
The Coromandel Coast is the southeastern coastal region of the Indian subcontinent, bounded by the Utkal Plains to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Kaveri delta to the south, and the Eastern Ghats to the west, extending over an ...
. It may be distributed in parts of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
A team of researchers has discovered a new species of colourful fan-throated lizard from coastal areas of Thiruvananthapuram. The new species belonging to the genus Sitana, have been named Sitana attenboroughii after Sir David Frederick Attenborough, veteran broadcaster and naturalist.
References
* Cuvier, G. J. L. N. F. D. 182Le Règne Animal Distribué d'après son Organisation, pour servir de base à l'Histoire naturelle des Animaux et d'introduction à l'Anatomie Comparée. Nouvelle Edition. Vol. 2. Les Reptiles
Déterville, Paris, i-xvi, 1-406 * Jerdon, T.C. 1870 Notes on Indian Herpetology. ''P. Asiatic Soc. Bengal'' March 1870: 66-85 * Kelaart, Edward Fred 1854 Catalogue of reptiles collected in Ceylon. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (2) 13: 137-140 * Ebanasar J. 1989. Histomorphology of thyroid gland in a ground lizard Sitana ponticeriana. M.Sc. Dissertation submitted to Madurai Kamaraj University. *Ebanasar J. and N.Inbamani 1989. Histomorphology of thyroid gland in a ground lizard Sitana ponticeriana (Cuvier). ANJAC Journal. 9:85-95.
External links
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2703943 Sitana Reptiles of India Reptiles of Pakistan Reptiles of Sri Lanka Reptiles described in 1929 Taxa named by Georges Cuvier