Calotes

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Calotes
Male, Oriental Garden Lizard, Calotes versicolor
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Lacertilia
Family: Agamidae
Subfamily: Agaminae
Genus: Calotes
(Daudin, 1802)[1]
Species

25 species, see text

Calotes is a lizard genus in the draconine clade of the family Agamidae, containing 24 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. They 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.[2] The greatest species richness of the genus is from the Western Ghats, northeast India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

Calotes is distinguished from related genera in having uniform size 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.

The genus is still a heterogeneous group that may be divided into the C. versicolor and C. liolepis groups.[3] 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.[4]

  • Calotes andamanensis Boulenger, 1891 – Andaman and Nicobar Forest Lizard, Green Crestless Forest Lizard
  • Calotes aurantolabium Krishnan, 2008 – Orange-lipped Forest lizard
  • Calotes bachae Hartmann et al., 2013[5]
  • Calotes bhutanensis Biswas, 1975
  • Calotes calotes (Linnaeus, 1758) – Common Green Forest Lizard
  • Calotes ceylonensis (Müller, 1887) – Painted-lip Lizard, Ceylon Bloodsucker
  • Calotes chincollium Vindum, 2003
  • Calotes desilvai Bahir & Maduwage, 2005
  • Calotes ellioti Günther, 1864 – Elliot's Forest Lizard
  • Calotes emma Gray, 1845 – Emma Gray's Forest Lizard, Forest Crested Lizard
  • Calotes grandisquamis Günther, 1864 – Large-scaled Forest Lizard
  • Calotes htunwini Zug & Vindum, 2006
  • Calotes irawadi Zug, Brown, Schulte & Vindum, 2006
  • Calotes jerdoni Günther, 1870 – Jerdon's Forest Lizard
  • Calotes kingdonwardi (Smith, 1935) – Kingdonward's Bloodsucker
  • Calotes liocephalus Günther, 1872 – Spineless Forest Lizard, Crestless Lizard, Lionhead Agama
  • Calotes liolepis (Boulenger, 1885) – Whistling Lizard, Sri Lanka Agama
  • Calotes maria Gray, 1845 – Khasi Hills Forest Lizard
  • Calotes medogensis (Zhao & Li, 1984) – Medog Bloodsucker
  • Calotes mystaceus (Duméril & Bibron, 1837) – Indo-Chinese Forest Lizard, Blue-crested Lizard
  • Calotes nemoricola Jerdon, 1853 – Nilgiri Forest Lizard
  • Calotes nigrilabris (Peters, 1860) – Black-cheek Lizard
  • Calotes nigriplicatus Hallermann, 2000
  • Calotes rouxii Duméril & Bibron, 1837 – Roux's Forest Lizard, Roux's Forest Calotes
  • Calotes versicolor (Daudon, 1802) – Oriental Garden Lizard, Changeable Lizard, Eastern Garden Lizard
    • Calotes versicolor nigrigularis Auffenberg & Rehmann, 1993 – Black-throated Bloodsucker

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Calotes.
Wikispecies has information related to: Calotes
  1. ↑ Zipcode Zoo
  2. ↑ Reptile Database (17 January 2013). Calites versicolos. Retrieved 17 January 2013
  3. ↑ SMITH, M.A. 1935. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma: Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol II: Sauria. Taylor and Francis, London.
  4. ↑ Calotes, The Reptile Database
  5. ↑ Hartmann, T., P. Geissler, N.A.J. Poyarkov, F. Ihlow, E.A. Galoyan, D. Rödder, & W. Böhme (2013). A new species of the genus Calotes Cuvier, 1817 (Squamata: Agamidae) from southern Vietnam. Zootaxa. 3599(3): 246–260.
  • HALLERMANN, J. AND W. BÖHME. 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, S.M. 1980. Phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeographical relationships of the genera in the family Agamidae (Reptilia: Lacertilia). PhD dissertation. University of Michigan.
  • SMITH, M.A. 1935. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma: Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol II: Sauria. Taylor and Francis, London.
  • ZUG, G.R., H.H.K. BROWN, J.A. SCHULTE II, AND J.V. VINDUM. 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.

Gallery

  • A juvenile male Garden Lizard seen in Andhra Pradesh, India

  • Female, Oriental Garden Lizard, Calotes versicolor

  • Female Calotes at Pune, India

  • Garden Lizard, South India

  • Garden Lizard, South India

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