Diploderma vela

Diploderma vela
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Agamidae
Genus: Diploderma
Species:
D. vela
Binomial name
Diploderma vela
(Wang, Jiang, Pan, Siler and Che, 2015)
Synonyms[4]

Japalura vela Wang, Jiang, Pan, Siler and Che, 2015[2][3]

Diploderma vela, also known as sail mountain lizard, the mountain dragon or sail japalura, is a species of lizard endemic to China.[5] It is named after its distinct sail, with 'Vela' in Latin meaning sail.[6] It can be found in Tibet and Yunnan at elevations of 2,370 meters.[4][7]

It was previously considered a member of the genus Japalura.[8]

Description

The sail mountain lizard is a small lizard (5.6 to 6.9 cm). It has moderately-sized hind limbs, a long and flat head and a long and slender cylindrical tail. It can be distinguished by its irregular scales, gular sac, a lateral fold of skin in the axilla–groin region as well as a transverse gular fold and a gular pouch and a concealed tympanum.[8]

In males it displays a pronounced sail-like vertebral crest along the length of the body and a dorsally black and ventrally white colouration. There is also jagged yellow-white dorsolateral stripes displayed in males. In females there is no sail and it is medium to dark brown in colouration. There is also faint reddish dorsolateral lines in the anterior half of the axilla-groin region in females.[8]

It displays white transverse streaks on the head as well as black radiated markings around the eyes. Ventrally, the head is patterned with prominent black stripes.[8]

Behaviour

Sail mountain lizards are often found in rocky mountain areas or in steppe-shrubs.[8]

Adult males are territorial and can often be seen basking on the top of rocks while females and juveniles tend to stay near the bottoms of the rocks. When another male invades a territory, the territory holder will nod at the invader, displaying his gular pouch. If the invader refuses to leave the two males will fight.[8]

Possible predators

Some possible predators are snakes from the area, such as the Chinese Beauty Snake and the Lancang Plateau Viper, as well as large birds such as Corvus species.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ Rao, D. Q. (2019). "Diploderma vela". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019. IUCN: e.T104671586A104671711. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T104671586A104671711.en. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  2. ^ Wang, Kai; et al. (2015). "A new species of Japalura (Squamata: Sauria: Agamidae) from Upper Lancang (Mekong) Valley of Eastern Tibet, China". Asian Herpetological Research. 6 (3): 159–168. doi:10.16373/j.cnki.ahr.140042.
  3. ^ "Japalura vela Wang, Jiang, Pan, Siler and Che, 2015". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  4. ^ a b Diploderma vela at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 6 August 2019.
  5. ^ Wang, Kai; Che, Jing; Lin, Simin; Deepak, V; Aniruddha, Datta-Roy; Jiang, Ke; Jin, Jieqiong; Chen, Hongman; Siler, Cameron D (2019-01-01). "Multilocus phylogeny and revised classification for mountain dragons of the genus Japalura s.l . (Reptilia: Agamidae: Draconinae) from Asia". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 185 (1): 246–267. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zly034. ISSN 0024-4082.
  6. ^ "Diploderma vela". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  7. ^ Wu, Yayong; Li, Ke; Wang, Feng; Liu, Qin; Cai, Bo (2021-10-03). "Characterization of the complete mitochondrial genome and phylogenetic status of a recently described species of Mountain Dragon, Diploderma vela (Reptilia: Squamata: Agamidae), from the upper Lantsang valley in west China". Mitochondrial DNA Part B. 6 (10): 3041–3043. doi:10.1080/23802359.2021.1962756. PMC 8477936. PMID 34595335.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "A New Species of Japalura (Squamata: Sauria: Agamidae) from Upper Lancang (Mekong) Valley of Eastern Tibet, China". ResearchGate. Archived from the original on 2023-09-25. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  9. ^ "(PDF) A New Species of Plateau Pit Viper (Reptilia: Serpentes: Gloydius) from the Upper Lancang (=Mekong) Valley in the Hengduan Mountain Region, Tibet, China". web.archive.org. 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2025-01-29.


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