Abstract
Due to a paucity of surveys in northern Indochina and lack of international collaborations among neighboring countries, recognized distributional ranges for many amphibian and reptile species end at the political borders for some countries, despite seemingly continuous suitable habitat spanning the region. Combining both morphological and genetic data, we report the first discovery of Japalura chapaensis, a rare agamid lizard believed previously to be endemic to northern Vietnam only, along the border region of southeastern Yunnan Province, China. To facilitate future research on the genus Japalura sensu lato in Indochina, we provide detailed descriptions of additional specimens of this rare species, including the first description of coloration in life and an expanded diagnosis, and discuss the species boundary of J. chapaensis with respect to its congeners.
Highlights
Species with distributions spanning the political jurisdictions of multiple countries pose special challenges to biodiversity and conservation studies
Field sampling A total of three specimens of J. chapaensis were collected from Lvchun, Honghe Prefecture, southern Yunnan Province, China on 10 November 2015 (N22.994 1°, E102.398 9°, 1 550 m elevation, WGS 84), and a topotypic newborn was collected from the vicinity of Tram Don mountain pass, Hoang Lien Son
Tissue samples were taken from the liver and preserved in 95% ethanol, and the voucher specimens were fixed in 10% buffered formalin and transferred to 70% ethanol after fieldwork
Summary
Species with distributions spanning the political jurisdictions of multiple countries pose special challenges to biodiversity and conservation studies.
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