Ceratophora karu

Ceratophora karu, commonly known as Karu's horned lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. The species is endemic to Sri Lanka.

Ceratophora karu
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Agamidae
Genus: Ceratophora
Species:
C. karu
Binomial name
Ceratophora karu

Etymology

The specific name, karu, is in honor of Sri Lankan zoologist G. Punchi Banda "Karu" Karunaratne (1930-1996).[1]

Geographic range and habitat

A species of horned lizard, C. karu is known only from Morning Side Forest Reserve in Sri Lanka at an elevation of 1,060 metres (3,480 ft).

Description

The head of C. karu is oval, and is longer than wide. The rostral appendage comprises more scales than rostral scales. The scales are triangular, smooth or weakly keeled. The length of the rostral appendage is less than eye-nostril distance. There are prominent superciliary scales. There is a backward-pointing V-shaped ridge at the back of the forehead. The dorsal scales are larger than the scales on the flanks. The lamellae under the fourth toe number 14-17.

The dorsum is dark black-brown, and the flanks are brown or olive-green. Some specimens have bright orange-red patches on the supralabials. The throat and venter are buff or dirty white to yellowish-brown with small black patches.

Reproduction

C. karu is oviparous. About 2 eggs are produced at a time, measuring 8.6 mm x 5.0 mm.

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References
  1. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Ceratophora karu, p. 138).

Further reading
  • Pethiyagoda R, Manamendra-Arachchi K (1998). "A revision of the endemic Sri Lankan agamid lizard genus Ceratophora Gray, 1835, with description of two new species". J. South Asian Nat. Hist. 3 (1): 1-50. (Ceratophora karu, new species).
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