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.












