''Japalura austeniana'', also known commonly as the Abor Hills agama or Annandale's dragon, is a rare

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Agamidae Agamidae is a family containing 582 species in 64 genera of iguanian lizards indigenous to Africa, Asia, Australia, and a few locations in Southern Europe. Many species are commonly called dragons or dragon lizards. Overview Phylogenetically ...

. The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''austeniana'', is in honor of English

topographer Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scienc ...

Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS Zoological Society of London, FZS Royal Geographical Society, FRGS British Ornithologists' Union, MBOU (6 July 1834 – 2 December 1923), known until 1854 as Henry ...

. Beolens B, Watkins M,

Grayson M Grayson may refer to: Places Canada * Grayson, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Grayson No. 184, Saskatchewan United States * Grayson, California * Grayson, Georgia ** Grayson High School * Grayson, Kentucky * Grayson, Louisiana * Gray ...

(2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Mictopholis austeniana'', p. 13).

Geographic range

''J. austeniana'' is found in

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

(

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

). Type locality: "Hills near Harmatti, Assam" Annandale N (1908). "Description of a new Species of Lizard of the Genus ''Salea'' from Assam". ''Records of the Indian Museum'' 2: 37-38. (''Salea austeniana'', new species). (= Dafla Hills, Assam, fide M.A. Smith 1935).

Rediscovery

This species, ''J. austeniana'', was previously known only from its

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

, but was rediscovered in 2006 at

Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary Eaglenest or Eagle's Nest Wildlife Sanctuary is a Protected areas of India, protected area of India in the Himalaya#Midlands, Himalayan foothills of West Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh. It conjoins Sessa Orchid Sanctuary to the northeast an ...

in Arunachal Pradesh. Athreya R (2006). ''Eaglenest Biodiversity Project − I (2003–2006): Conservation Resources for Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary''. A report submitted to the Forest Department of the Government of Arunachal Pradesh, India, and the Rufford-Maurice-Laing Foundation (UK). Pune, India: Kaati Trust
p. 54.

Description

The

of ''J. austeniana'', a female, has a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of . The tail is very long, .

Reproduction

''J. austeniana'' is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

Etymology

Geographic range

Rediscovery

Description

Reproduction

References

Further reading