A revision of the dwarf Zonosaurus Boulenger (Reptilia: Squamata: Cordylidae) from Madagascar, including descriptions of three new species

ientific Papers MCZ LIBRARY AUG 6 1 HARVARD UNIVERSITY Natural History Museum The University of Kansas 06 October 2000 Number 18:1-16 A Revision of the Dwarf Zonosaurus Boulenger ^11 (Reptilia: Squamata: Cordylidae) from Madagascar, including Descriptions of Three New Species By Z 2 c . *<< E 'o -7 -o " u -ACHILLE P. RASELIMANANA 1 , CHRISTOPHER J. RAXWORTHY 2 , AND RONALD A. NUSSBAUM 3 a 3 a: Si >; a. j ij r g, z « ' Biodiversity and Protected Area Management, World Wide Fund Madagascar, BP 738, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar. I S S | 2 Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The 3 J h ^ University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045-2454, USA j 3 ° ° (Present address: American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79"' Street, New York, New York 10024, USA). <j „ | ~ 3 Division of Herpetology, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109-1079, USA. -£ .9-o . 2 ot c "*. 1*5,0 CONTENTS Sip ABSTRACT 1 INTRODUCTION 2 Acknowledgments 3 > CI H "t: ° K "s I £• MATERIALS AND METHODS 3 I § 1 1 SYSTEMATICS 3 2 = Taxonomic Problems Regarding Zonos/iurua aeneus and Z. brygoo/ 3 Redescription of Zonosaurus aeneus 4 Descriptions of New Species 7 IDENTIFICATION KEY FOR THE DWARF ZONOSAURUS 13 DISCUSSION 14 LITERATURE CITED 16 ABSTRACT Surveys in Madagascar led to the discovery of three new species of dwarf Zonosaurus. One is endemic to limestone karst formations in the north, the second is endemic to limestone karst formations in the west, and the third is endemic to the low elevation humid forests in extreme south-eastern Madagascar. The two new karst-inhabiting species are the first species of Zonosaurus known to be confined to rocky habitats. The northern karst-inhabiting species and Zonosaurus subunicolor have © Natural History Museum, The University of Kansas ISSN No. 1094-0782