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.
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.

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