Distribution, Morphometric and Meristic Study of The Agamid Lizard Laudakia tuberculata Gray, 1827 in The North-Western Himalaya

Abstract

The Agamidae family, which includes 52 genera and over 350 species, is a monophyletic group of acrodont lizards that evolved in eastern Asia during the late Cretaceous period. These are essential components of the arid terrestrial vertebrate fauna found at low to high altitudes. Among the four species of the prominent genus Laudakia, species Laudakia tuberculata (Gray, 1827) dominates the Garhwal region of the Indian Himalayas. The current study documents the distribution, morphometric and meristic study of Laudakia tuberculata in the Garhwal region, ranging from 350 to 2200 m asl altitude. The species prefers mountainous habitats, such as holes, cliffs, and rocky structures with deep crevices near streams and rivers, old houses, stony walls, and highways. The male individuals are bigger in size and show magnificent blue shades during the breeding season, an abdominal and pre-anal callous patch of scale, indicating noticeable sexual dimorphism. The morphometric analysis revealed substantial (p<0.05) variations in body weight (Wt), snout-vent length (SVL), head length (HL), head width (HW), forelimb length (FLL), hindlimb length (HLL), and tail width (TW) except tail length (TL) and total body length (TBDL) between both sexes at different elevations. The subtropical population have significantly (p<0.05) larger TL and TBDL compared to temperate populations indicating altitude governing the morphology of Laudakia tuberculata.