''Diploderma polygonatum'', also known as Ryukyu japalure and Okinawa tree lizard, 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), ...

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 ...

found in the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. It is diurnal and

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 ...

. An adult male ''Diploderma polygonatum'' measures "61 mm. from snout to vent, and 152 mm. from vent to tip of tail; total length 213 mm." The

splenial The splenial is a small bone in the lower jaw of reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology ...

of this lizard is short, as is that of ''

Trapelus agilis The brilliant ground agama (''Trapelus agilis'') is a species of agama found in Central, West and South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture ...

''. The lizard is also closely related to ''Diploderma swinhonis''.

References

Diploderma Reptiles of Japan Reptiles of Taiwan Reptiles described in 1861 Taxa named by Edward Hallowell (herpetologist) {{agamidae-stub