''Monilesaurus rouxii'', commonly known as Roux's forest lizard, Roux's forest calotes, or the forest blood sucker, is a

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), ...

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

, diurnal,

agamid 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, ...

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 ...

, which 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 ...

to hills of peninsular

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 ...

. In July 2018, it was proposed that the species should be transferred to the new genus ''Monilesaurus''. (''Monilesaurus rouxii'', new combination, p. 427).

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 ...

, ''rouxii'', is in honor of Jean Louis Florent Polydore Roux, who was a French painter and naturalist.

Description

''M. rouxii'' can attain a total length (including tail) of up to , but is more common. Its body has an olive-brown color, with a lighter belly, a dark band along the side of the head on to the neck, and dark lines radiating from the eye. The limbs are slender, with elongated toes. Two small groups of spines adorn each side of the neck. xxviii + 452 pp. + Plates I-XXVI. (''Calotes rouxii'', p. 142). xiii + 440 pp. + Plate I + 2 maps. ("''Calotes rouxi'' ic, pp. 206-207). In males, the upper part of the head, nape, and

gular pouch Gular skin (throat skin), in ornithology, is an area of featherless skin on birds that joins the lower mandible of the beak (or ''bill'') to the bird's neck. Other vertebrate taxa may have a comparable anatomical structure that is referred to as ...

become brick-red in the breeding season.

Distribution and habitat

''Monilesaurus rouxii'' is endemic to hills of peninsular India, including the Western Ghats from Surat Dangs till Palghat; and parts of the Eastern Ghats (Shevaroys, Yelagiri, Melagiri, and in Malkangiri, Araku, Devarakonda) and hills of Deccan plateau (Bellary, Sandur). It has been reported largely from the wet hill forest tracts of peninsular India, except the far south. The species is generally widespread and common throughout its range. It can be found at elevations of above sea level, in forest habitats ranging from moist evergreen to secondary deciduous forests.

Ecology

''M. rouxii'' is an

insectivore file:Common brown robberfly with prey.jpg, A Asilidae, robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivore, carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the Entomophagy ...

, hunting during the day both on the ground and in trees. It 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 ...

, breeding between April and September.

Etymology

Description

Distribution and habitat

Ecology

References

External links

Further reading