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New records for Bronchocela smaragdina Günther, 1864 and B. vietnamensis

Hallermann & Orlov in Hallermann, 2005 in Nui Ong Nature Reserve, Vietnam

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Herpetology Notes, volume 13: 501-504 (2020) (published online on 25 June 2020)

New records for Bronchocela smaragdina Günther, 1864 and

B. vietnamensis Hallermann & Orlov in Hallermann, 2005 in
Nui Ong Nature Reserve, Vietnam

Thao Ngoc Hoang1,*, Quang Xuan Hoang2, and Tay Thanh Tran3

The genus Bronchocela Kaup, 1827 includes 13 Materials and Methods

species of arboreal lizards distributed throughout
Our observations are based on two specimens
South and Southeast Asia, including Myanmar,
collected in 2018 and 2019 at Nui Ong Nature
Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Reserve, Binh Thuan Province, Vietnam. Specimens
the Philippines, Singapore, India, and New Guinea
were preserved in 90% ethanol and deposited in the
(Diong and Lim, 1998; Hallermann, 2004, 2005, 2009;
collection of the Zoological Laboratory, Hong Duc
Grismer et al., 2010, 2015, 2016; Zug et al., 2017).
University, Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam (HDU).
Among them are endemics or species with narrow
Morphological characters of the specimen from Nui
distributions, such as B. danieli (Tiwari & Biswas,
Ong conformed with the descriptions of Hallermann
1973) and B. rubrigularis Hallermann, 2009 in India; B.
(2005). The specimen of B. smaragdina (HDU.3258)
hayeki (Müller, 1928) in Indonesia; B. marmorata Gray,
has three postmentals (Fig. 2A), whereas the specimen
1845 in the Philippines; B. orlovi Hallermann, 2004 and
of B. vietnamensis (HDU.3259) has two postmentals
B. vietnamensis Hallermann & Orlov in Hallermann,
(Fig. 2B).
2005 in southern Vietnam; and B. rayaensis Grismer
et al., 2015 and B. shenlong Grismer et al., 2015 in
Results and Discussion
Peninsular Malaysia. In contrast, B. cristatella (Kuhl,
1820) and B. jubata Duméril & Bibron, 1837 are much Bronchocela smaragdina
more widely distributed (Uetz et al., 2019).
The single specimen (HDU.3258) is an adult male
Until 2004 only Bronchocela smaragdina was
(Fig. 1A) collected by Tran Thanh Tay on 26 Feb 2018
recorded in Vietnam. Based on specimens collected
at Doc Dai (11.071550°N, 107.746289°E, elevation 742
in An Khe District, Gia Lai Province, Vietnam by
m), Duc Binh Commune, Tanh Linh District, which is
the Russian herpetologists Nikolai Orlov and Ilya
part of Nui Ong Nature Reserve, Binh Thuan Province,
Darevsky, Hallermann (2004) described B. orlovi and
Vietnam.
Hallermann & Orlov in Hallermann (2005) described B.
The following measurements (in mm) and ratios
vietnamensis. In this paper, we present new distribution
were used to inform our species-level identification:
records for B. smaragdina and B. vietnamensis.
snout–vent length (SVL) 103.5; tail length (TL) 139.4
(broken); head length (HL) 20.6; head width (HW)
12.5; head depth (HD) 11.9; diameter of the orbit (DO)
5.0; diameter of the tympanum (DT) 2.8; ratio DT/DO
= 0.56; hindlimb length 87.5; forelimb length 58.3.
Length of toes 1–5: 6.5-9.5-17.2-23.2-13.5. Length of
fingers 1–5: 4.9-9.1-15.9-15.7-7.9.
1
Faculty of Natural Sciences, Hong Duc University, Thanh Hoa
Head covered above with small uniform keeled
Province, Vietnam.
scales; no enlarged scales between orbit and tympanum;
2
Vinh University, Nghe An Province, Vietnam.
3
Nguyen Van Troi High School, Tanh Linh District, Binh Thuan nuchal crest indicated by 15 very small erect scales
Province, Vietnam. (up to the front of the shoulder), dorsal crest absent.
*
Corresponding author. E-mail: hoangngocthao@hdu.edu.vn Canthus rostralis sharp, five scales longitudinally along
502
Figure 1. (A) Bronchocela smaragdina and (B) B. vietnamensis in life. Photos by Tran Thanh Tay.
the canthus rostralis from nostril to anterior margin of
eye and continuous with six (on the left) or seven (on
the right) enlarged superciliary scales extending to the
posterior border of the eye. Mental scale small, bordered
posteriorly by the first infralabial on each side and three
postmentals (Fig. 2A), scales in gular region keeled,
smaller than ventrals. Body scales small, homogenous,
feebly keeled, 45 scales around midbody; ventral scales
2–3 times larger than dorsal scales, strongly keeled. The
fifth toe short, shorter than the fourth finger (fifth toe
13.5 mm, fourth finger: 15.7mm).
In life the dorsal surfaces of head, body limbs, and
anterior portion of the tail are grey-green; surrounding
of orbit and lower lip, gular region yellowish; brown
and white line on the back of the thigh, continue lateral
of the tail.
This specimen compares well with the description
of Hallermann (2005), except that the specimen from
Nui Ong has a smaller DT/DO ratio (0.56, compared to
0.57–0.68 in the description of Hallermann, 2005).
Thao Ngoc Hoang� et al.
Bronchocela vietnamensis
A single specimen (HDU.3259) an adult female (Fig.
1B) collected by Tran Thanh Tay on 26 Feb 2018, at
Thac Ba (11.012784°N, 107.734286°E, elevetion
230m), Duc Thuan Commune, Tanh Linh District, Nui
Ong Natutre Reserve, Binh Thuan Province, Vietnam.
Measurements and ratios: Snout–vent length (SVL)
94.9 mm; tail length (TL) 335.1 mm; ratio TL/SVL
= 3,53; head length (HL) 22.7 mm; head width (HW)
12.6 mm; head depth (HD) 11.1 mm; diameter of the
orbit (DO) 5.2 mm; diameter of the tympanum (DT) 2.8
mm; ratio DT/DO = 0.53; hindlimb length: 88.5 mm;
forelimb length: 56.4 mm. Length of toes 1–5: 5.3-8.8-
17.6-24.4-12.7. Length of fifth 1–5: 5.1-8.5-15.7-15.7-
7.9.
Head slight concave at the posterior part of snout and
interorbital, covered by small uniform keeled scales.
Scales of nuchal, between orbit and tympanum smaller
than above of head, no enlarged. Tympanum shallow.
New records for Bronchocela smaragdina in Vietnam
Figure 2. Ventral views of the heads showing (A) a mental scale with three postmentals in Bronchocela smaragdina, and (B) a
mental scale with two postmentals in B. vietnamensis. Photos by Hoang Ngoc Thao.
The mental triangular, wider than high, narrower than
the width of rostral; bordered by two postmentals (Fig.
2B) and the first infralabial on each side. Scales at the
mental and gular keeled, smaller than ventral scales.
Nuchal crest indicated by 14 very small erect scales
(up to the front of the shoulder), dorsal crest absent.
Mid-dorsal scale row not enlarged, 52 scales around
midbody; ventral scales strongly keeled, 2–3 times
larger than dorsals scales. Limbs long and slender.
Dorsal surfaces of head, body limbs and anterior
portion of tail green; lateral of the head is light green;
dorsal surface and tail have many cross-bands in dark
green. One white band from axilla to the base of the
groin, and other white bands on the posterior side of the
femur and lateral side of tail extended to one-fourths of
the tail.
Specimens of Bronchocela vietnamensis in Nui Ong
NR have measurements of the body parts that are smaller
than specimens of the description of Hallermann, only
the ratio DT/DO is bigger (0.53 compared to 0.43-
0.51). About scalation, supralabials and infralabials of
the specimen in Nui Ong difference between left and
right: supralabials 9/8 (left/right), infralabials 10/9
(left/right); specimens in the description of Hallermann
are stabilized on both sides with 8 supralabials and 9
infralabials.
503
According to Hallermann (2005), B. smargdina is
found in the southern Annam mountains, Lam Dong
Province, Vietnam, and in Mondolkiri Province,
Cambodia. Nguyen et al. (2009) added Gia Lai and
Dak Lak Provinces to the distribution. Bronchocela
vietnamensis was described by Hallermann & Orlov in
Hallermann (2005) based on two specimens collected
in 1993 and one specimen collected in 1995 with type
locality Tram Lap Commune, An Khe District, Gia Lai
Province, Vietnam. According to Nguyen et al. (2009),
the distribution of B. vietnamensis includes Gia Lai
(type locality), Phu Yen (Son Hoa), and Dong Nai (Cat
Tien) Provinces. Except for the distribution areas given
by Hallermann (2005) and Nguyen et al. (2009), no
other distribution areas of these two species have been
discovered in Vietnam. So, Nui Ong Nature Reserve is
their new distribution area. The distance from the nearest
location to the new distribution area of Bronchocela
vietnamensis is over 80 km (from Cat Tien National
Park, Dong Nai Province), and of B. smargdina is over
180 km (from Lam Dong Province).
Acknowledgments. We are grateful to the Board of Managers of
Nui Ong Nature Reserve, Binh Thuan Province for facilitating
field surveys and collected specimens and to Master Le Thi Hong
Lam for participating in a survey.
504 Thao Ngoc Hoang� et al.

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Accepted by Lukas Hartmann

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