New species of lizards and some lizard stories from 2018


Lizards in the Gekkota clade made up a disproportionately large number of lizard species described in 2018. There were 55 species inthe family Gekkonidae, 4 species in the family Phyllodactylidae, and one Eublepharidae - for a total; of 60 geckos. Thus, 113 species of lizards described this past year, 53% were geckos. Skinks were next with 16.8% of the species described. Both clades, geckos and skinks, contain the largest number of lizard species. Perhaps most surprising is the description of only one species of Anolis - the largest genus of lizards - with 427 species.








Agamidae
Lophocalotes achlios Harvey, Scrivani, Shaney, Hamidy, Kurniawan & Smith, 2018

Agamidae
Monilesaurus acanthocephalus Pal, Vijayakumar, Shanker, Jayarajan & Deepak, 2018

Agamidae
Monilesaurus montanus Pal, Vijayakumar, Shanker, Jayarajan & Deepak, 2018

Agamidae
Sitana attenboroughii Sadasivan, Ramesh, Palot, Ambekar & Mirza, 2018

Agamidae
Sitana gokakensis Deepak, Khandekar, Chaitanya & Karanth, 2018

Agamidae
Sitana thondalu Deepak, Khandekar, Chaitanya & Karanth, 2018

Anguidae
Gerrhonotus mccoyi García-Vázquez, Contreras-Arquieta, Trujano-Ortega & Nieto-Montes De Oca, 2018

Chamaeleonidae
Calumma juliae Prötzel, Vences, Hawlitschek, Scherz, Ratsoavina & Glaw, 2018

Chamaeleonidae
Calumma lefona Prötzel, Vences, Hawlitschek, Scherz, Ratsoavina & Glaw, 2018

Chamaeleonidae
Calumma roaloko Prötzel, Lambert, Andrianasolo, Hutter, Cobb, Scherz & Glaw, 2018

Chamaeleonidae
Calumma uetzi Prötzel, Vences, Hawlitschek, Scherz, Ratsoavina & Glaw, 2018

Corytophanidae
Laemanctus julioi Mccranie, 2018

Dactyloidae
Anolis dracula Yánez-Muñoz, Reyes-Puig, Reyes-Puig, Velasco, Ayala-Varela, Torres-Carvajal, 2018

Diplodactylidae
Oedura argentea Hoskin, Zozaya & Vanderduys, 2018

Eublepharidae
Goniurosaurus zhoui Zhou, Wang, Chen & Liang, 2018

Gekkonidae
Agamura kermanensis Hosseinian-Yousefkhani, Aliabadian, Rastegar-Pouyani, Darvish, Shafiei & Sehhatisabet, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cnemaspis ajijae Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cnemaspis amboliensis Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cnemaspis anamudiensis Cyriac, Johny, Umesh & Palot, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cnemaspis limayei Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cnemaspis maculicollis Cyriac, Johny, Umesh & Palot, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cnemaspis mahabali Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cyrtodactylus bayinnyiensis Grismer, Wood Jr, Thura, Quah, Murdoch, Grismer, Herr, Lin & Kyaw, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cyrtodactylus bhupathyi Agarwal, Mahony, Giri, Chaitanya & Bauer, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cyrtodactylus chamba Agarwal, Khandekar & Bauer, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cyrtodactylus chaunghanakwaensis Grismer, Wood Jr, Thura, Quah, Murdoch, Grismer, Herr, Lin & Kyaw, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cyrtodactylus meersi Grismer, Wood, Quah, Murdoch, M Grismer, Herr, Espinoza, Brown & Lin, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cyrtodactylus myintkyawthurai Grismer, Wood, Quah, Murdoch, M Grismer, Herr, Espinoza, Brown & Lin, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cyrtodactylus naungkayaingensis Grismer, Wood Jr, Thura, Quah, Murdoch, Grismer, Herr, Lin & Kyaw, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cyrtodactylus sangi Pauwels, Nazarov, Bobrov & Poyarkov, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cyrtodactylus tahuna Riyanto, Arida & Koch, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cyrtodactylus tanahjampea Riyanto, Hamidy & Mcguire, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cyrtodactylus thathomensis Nazarov, Pauwels, Konstantinov, Chulisov, Orlov & Poyarkov, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cyrtodactylus tripuraensis Agarwal, Mahony, Giri, Chaitanya & Bauer, 2018

Gekkonidae
Cyrtodactylus ywanganensis Grismer, Wood, Thura, Quah, M Grismer, Murdoch, Espinoza & Lin, 2018

Gekkonidae
Ebenavia robusta Hawlitschek, Scherz, Ruthensteiner, Crottini & Glaw, 2018

Gekkonidae
Ebenavia safari Hawlitschek, Scherz, Ruthensteiner, Crottini & Glaw, 2018

Gekkonidae
Ebenavia tuelinae Hawlitschek, Scherz, Ruthensteiner, Crottini & Glaw, 2018

Gekkonidae
Gehyra capensis Kealley, Doughty, Pepper, Keogh, Hillyer & Huey, 2018

Gekkonidae
Gehyra crypta Kealley, Doughty, Pepper, Keogh, Hillyer & Huey, 2018

Gekkonidae
Gehyra fenestrula Doughty, Bauer, Pepper & Keogh, 2018

Gekkonidae
Gehyra finipunctata Doughty, Bauer, Pepper, Keogh & Ellis, 2018

Gekkonidae
Gehyra granulum Doughty, Palmer, Bourke, Tedeschi, Oliver & Moritz, 2018

Gekkonidae
Gehyra incognita Kealley, Doughty, Pepper, Keogh, Hillyer & Huey, 2018

Gekkonidae
Gehyra macra Doughty, Bauer, Pepper & Keogh, 2018

Gekkonidae
Gehyra media Doughty, Bauer, Pepper & Keogh, 2018

Gekkonidae
Gehyra micra Doughty, Bauer, Pepper & Keogh, 2018

Gekkonidae
Gehyra ocellata Kealley, Doughty, Pepper, Keogh, Hillyer & Huey, 2018

Gekkonidae
Gehyra paranana Bourke, Doughty, Tedeschi, Oliver & Moritz, 2018

Gekkonidae
Gehyra peninsularis Doughty, Bauer, Pepper & Keogh, 2018

Gekkonidae
Gehyra pluraporosa Bourke, Doughty, Tedeschi, Oliver, Myers & Moritz, 2018

Gekkonidae
Gehyra polka Doughty, Bauer, Pepper & Keogh, 2018

Gekkonidae
Gehyra pseudopunctata Doughty, Bourke, Tedeschi, Oliver & Moritz, 2018

Gekkonidae
Gehyra unguiculata Kealley, Doughty, Pepper, Keogh, Hillyer & Huey, 2018

Gekkonidae
Hemidactylus paaragowli Srikanthan, Swamy, Mohan & Pal, 2018

Gekkonidae
Hemidactylus sahgali Mirza, Gowande, Patil, Ambekar & Patel, 2018

Gekkonidae
Hemidactylus siva Srinivasulu, Srinivasulu & Kumar, 2018

Gekkonidae
Hemidactylus vanam Chaitanya, Lajmi & Giri, 2018

Gekkonidae
Hemidactylus whitakeri Mirza, Gowande, Patil, Ambekar & Patel, 2018

Gekkonidae
Hemiphyllodactylus flaviventris Sukprasert, Sutthiwises, Lauhachinda & Taksintum, 2018

Gekkonidae
Hemiphyllodactylus hongkongensis Sung, Lee, Ng, Zhang & Yang, 2018

Gekkonidae
Hemiphyllodactylus khlonglanensis Sukprasert, Sutthiwises, Lauhachinda & Taksintum, 2018

Gekkonidae
Hemiphyllodactylus uga Grismer, Wood, Thura, Zin, Quah, Murdoch, Grismer, Li, Kyaw & Lwin, 2018

Gekkonidae
Hemiphyllodactylus ywanganensis Grismer, Wood, Thura, Zin, Quah, Murdoch, Grismer, Li, Kyaw & Lwin, 2018

Gekkonidae
Paroedura fasciata Glaw, Köhler & Vences, 2018

Gekkonidae
Paroedura kloki Glaw, Köhler & Vences, 2018

Gekkonidae
Paroedura spelaea Glaw, Köhler & Vences, 2018

Gekkonidae
Ptychozoon popaense Grismer, Wood, Thura, M Grismer, Brown & Stuart, 2018

Gekkonidae
Trigonodactylus persicus Nazarov, Melnikov, Radjabizadeh & Poyarkov, 2018

Gekkonidae
Tropiocolotes confusus Machado, Smíd, Mazuch, Sindaco, Shukaili, Carranza, 2018

Gekkonidae
Tropiocolotes hormozganensis Rajabizadeh, Faizi, Anderson, Zarrintab & Nazarov, 2018

Gymnophthalmidae
Alopoglossus meloi Ribeiro-Júnior, 2018

Gymnophthalmidae
Anadia buenaventura Betancourt, Reyes-Puig, Lobos, Yánez-Muñoz & Torres-Carvajal, 2018

Gymnophthalmidae
Cercosaura snordosquama Sturaro, Rodrigues, Colli, Knowles & Avila-Pires, 2018

Gymnophthalmidae
Neusticurus arekuna Kok, Bittenbinder, Van Den Berg, Marques-Souza, Sales-Nunes, Laking, Teixeira Jr, Fouquet, Means, Macculloch & Rodrigues, 2018

Gymnophthalmidae
Selvasaura brava Moravec, Šmid, Štundl & Lehr, 2018

Lacertidae
Mesalina arnoldi Sindaco, Simó-Riudalbas, Sacchi & Carranza, 2018

Lacertidae
Mesalina austroarabica Sindaco, Simó-Riudalbas, Sacchi & Carranza, 2018

Lacertidae
Ophisops kutchensis Agarwal, Khandekar, Ramakrishnan, Vyas & Giri, 2018

Lacertidae
Ophisops pushkarensis Agarwal, Khandekar, Ramakrishnan, Vyas & Giri, 2018

Liolaemidae
Liolaemus absconditus Vega, Quinteros, Stellatelli, Bellagamba, Block & Madrid, 2018

Liolaemidae
Liolaemus antonietae Troncoso-Palacios, Esquerré, Urra, Díaz, Castro-Pastene & Ruiz, 2018

Liolaemidae
Liolaemus evaristoi Gutiérrez, Chaparro, Vásquez, Quiroz, Aguilar-Kirgin & Abdala, 2018

Phrynosomatidae
Sceloporus esperanzae Mccranie, 2018

Phrynosomatidae
Sceloporus hondurensis Mccranie, 2018

Phyllodactylidae
Homonota marthae Cacciali, Morando, Avila & Köhler, 2018

Phyllodactylidae
Phyllodactylus benedettii Ramírez-Reyes & Flores-Villela, 2018

Phyllodactylidae
Phyllodactylus kropotkini Ramírez-Reyes & Flores-Villela, 2018

Phyllodactylidae
Phyllopezus heuteri Cacciali, Lotzkat, Gamble & Köhler, 2018

Scincidae
Acontias albigularis Conradie, Busschau & Edwards, 2018

Scincidae
Acontias Wakkerstroomensis Conradie, Busschau & Edwards, 2018

Scincidae
Carlia crypta Singhal, Hoskin, Couper, Potter & Moritz, 2018

Scincidae
Eremiascincus rubiginosus Mecke & Doughty, 2018

Scincidae
Lampropholis bellendenkerensis Singhal, Hoskin, Couper, Potter & Moritz, 2018

Scincidae
Lampropholis elliotensis Singhal, Hoskin, Couper, Potter & Moritz, 2018

Scincidae
Lampropholis similis Singhal, Hoskin, Couper, Potter & Moritz, 2018

Scincidae
Lygosoma kinabatanganensis Grismer, Quah, Duzulkafly & Yambun, 2018

Scincidae
Lygosoma peninsulare Grismer, Quah, Duzulkafly & Yambun, 2018

Scincidae
Lygosoma samajaya Karin, Freitas, Shonleben, Grismer, Bauer & Das, 2018

Scincidae
Lygosoma siamensis Siler, Heitz, Davis, Freitas, Aowphol, Termprayoon & Grismer, 2018

Scincidae
Oligosoma hoparatea Whitaker, Chapple, Hitchmough, Lettink & Patterson, 2018

Scincidae
Oligosoma kardesi Kornilios, Kumlutas, Lymberakis & Ilgaz, 2018

Scincidae
Panaspis thomensis Ceríaco, Soares, Marques, Bastos-Silveira, Scheinberg, Harris, Brehm & Jesus, 2018

Scincidae
Scincella nigrofasciata Neang, Chan & Poyarkov, 2018

Scincidae
Scolecoseps broadleyi Verburgt, Verburgt & Branch, 2018

Scincidae
Sphenomorphus yersini Nguyen, Nguyen, Nguyen, Orlov & Murphy, 2018

Scincidae
Tytthoscincus keciktuek Grismer, Wood Jr, Ahmad, Baizul-Hafsyam, Afiq-Shuhaimi, Rizal4& Quah, 2018

Scincidae
Tytthoscincus monticolus Grismer, Wood Jr, Ahmad, Baizul-Hafsyam, Afiq-Shuhaimi, Rizal4& Quah, 2018

Teiidae
Ameivula apipensis Arias, Recoder, Álvarez, Ethcepare, Quipildor, Lobo & Rodrigues, 2018

Teiidae
Tupinambis matipu Silva, Ribeiro-Júnior & Ávila-Pires, 2018

Tropiduridae
Tropidurus azurduyae Carvalho, Rivas, Céspedes & Rodrigues, 2018

Xantusiidae
Lepidophyma inagoi Palacios-Aguilar, Santos-Bibiano & Flores-Villela, 2018

Xenosauridae
Xenosaurus fractus Nieto-Montes De Oca, Sánchez-Vega & Durán-Fuentes, 2018



Some of the more unusual discoveries about lizards in 2018 included the following.

Re-breathing behavior in an the aquatic anole

Video of the aquatic Costa Rican anole, Anolis oxylophus, demosntrated the lizard has the ability to breathe stored oxygen while underwater, something that has never been seen or documented before in lizards. The aquatic anole was caught on video "recycling" stored oxygen, visible as a bubble grew and shrank on its head. The lizard appeared to be recycling her air, much as a human diver would draw on oxygen from a tank. How the river anoles accomplish this feat is still uncertain. 
Some of the more unusual discoveries about lizards in 2018 included the following.



A new dolichosaur

University of Alberta paleontologists discovered a new species of dolichosaur, a marine lizard related to snakes and mosasaurs that lived 70 to 75 million years ago. Named, Primitivus manduriensis, it was found in Puglia, Italy, and named after the local Manduria variety of red wine grape primitivo. The fossil was discovered in what was once a shallow water environment. The species has paddle-like hands and feet for swimming but could also move on land.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsos.172411https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsos.172411



Hurricanes and Lizard Limb Lengths in an Anole





Chameleons in the Genus Calumma have Fluorescenent Bones

Chameleons are known to communicate with conspecifics by altering their surface coloration. Munich researchers have now found that the bony tubercles on the heads of many species fluoresce under UV light and form impressive patterns. The tubercles fluoresce under UV light to form distinct patterns that represent certain species or species groups. In addition, the males in most species of the genus Calumma have significantly more fluorescent tubercles than the females. Therefore, the researchers suspect that this fluorescence is not a mere coincidence, but helps the chameleons to recognize conspecifics, and presents a consistent pattern in addition to their skin-based colour language -- especially as blue is a rare colour and easily recognisable in the forest.