Heremites afghanicus Jablonski, Hofmann, Idrees, Khan, Jamal, Böhme & Masroor, 2026, sp. nov.

Résumé fourni par la source

Heremites afghanicus sp. nov. Figs 4, 5 Suggested vernacular names. English name: Afghan grass skink or Dir grass skink. Pashto name: د افغانستان واښه څرمښکۍ یا دیر واښه څرمښکۍ (Da Afghanistan Wakha Sarmakhkay, Dir Wakha Sarmakhkay). Urdu name: افغانستان گھاس والی چھپکلی یا دیر گھاس والی چھپکلی (Afghanistan Ghas wali Chipkali, Dir Ghas wali Chipkali). Type material. Holotype. • PMNH 3518 (adult female), Shah Alam Baba, Tehsil Adinzai, Lower Dir District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan (34.7367°N, 72.1021°E; 1,110 m a. s. l.; WGS 84), collected 22 August 2014 by Muhammad Idrees (Fig. 4 A – F). Paratypes. • PMNH 3475 (adult male), Shah Alam Baba, Tehsil Adinzai, Lower Dir District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan (34.7367°N, 72.1021°E; 1,110 m a. s. l.; WGS 84), collected 14 June 2013 by Muhammad Idrees; • PMNH 3519 (adult male), PMNH 3522 (adult male), and PMNH 3523 (adult male), same locality, collected 22 August 2014 by Muhammad Idrees; • NHMW -Zoo-HS-42309-1 (adult male), molecularly sampled and sequenced (genes and GenBank accession numbers – 12 S: PZ 348441; 16 S: PZ 348454; cyt b: PZ 334424; ND 2: PZ 338262; MC 1 R: PZ 661696; RAG 1: PZ 661709), same locality, collected 18 September 2019 by Muhammad Idrees, R. Masroor, and D. Jablonski. • ZFMK 9064 (adult male; erroneously listed as female in the original catalogue of ZFMK), Dar-e-Nur, vic. Shewa, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan (34.5558°N, 70.6073°E; 1,200 m a. s. l.), collected on 7 April 1972 by Clas M. Naumann. Additional material. • PMNH 3474 (adult female), PMNH 3476 (adult male), PMNH 3477 (adult female), PMNH 3478 (adult female), PMNH 3520 (adult female), PMNH 3521 (adult male), PMNH 3524 (subadult female). All from Shah Alam Baba, Tehsil Adinzai, Lower Dir District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Diagnosis. Heremites afghanicus sp. nov. (southern foothills of the Hindu Kush; currently known from NW Pakistan and E Afghanistan) can be distinguished from the western Palearctic congeners compared here (H. auratus, H. septemtaeniatus complex, H. vittatus complex) by a unique combination of molecular divergence and external morphology. It represents a deeply divergent lineage in mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, differing from the compared western congeners by uncorrected p-distances of 15.2–15.8 % in cyt b (505 bp) and 17.0–21.0 % in ND 2 (943 bp), while showing lower but still remarkable and consistent divergence in the nuclear markers (MC 1 R = 1.17–2.59 %; RAG 1 = 2.5–3.3 %). Morphologically, it is diagnosable by the following combination of characters (type series and additional material, n = 14, Table 1; unless stated otherwise): (1) parietal shields in contact (PSC present in 14 / 14); (2) contact between the third supraocular and the frontal (SOF present in 14 / 14); (3) prefrontals usually in contact (PFC present in 10 / 14); (4) supralabials six or seven (mode 7), infralabials 6–8 (mode 7); (5) 34–38 scales around midbody (SAB), 52–60 dorsal scales from the first nuchal to the level above the vent (DSNV), and 60–69 ventral scales in a longitudinal series from chin shields to cloaca (VT); (6) subcaudals 78–98 (SC); (7) ear opening with 3–5 projecting scales (ear pectination, EP; mode 4); (8) dorsal scales consistently with three keels (KDS = 3); (9) comparatively short eye – nostril distance (END 2.7–5.1 mm), especially relative to H. auratus and the H. septemtaeniatus complex. Furthermore, H. afghanicus sp. nov. differs from the specimens assigned to the H. septemtaeniatus complex in exhibiting higher HL / HW ratios. In multivariate space based on combined metric, meristic, and categorical characters, individuals of H. afghanicus sp. nov. form a discrete cluster relative to H. auratus and the H. septemtaeniatus complex (MFA: Dim 1 = 48.3 %, Dim 2 = 24.9 % of total variance; PCA on metric data: PC 1 = 39.1 %, PC 2 = 17.6 %). Description of holotype. Specimen preserved in formaldehyde and stored in ethanol. Body elongated and moderately robust, with well-developed pentadactyl limbs and a distinct but weakly constricted neck (Fig. 4 A, B). Snout – vent length 80.0 mm; tail complete, long (TL 110 mm) and evenly tapering; trunk length 43.4 mm. Head slightly longer than wide (HL 18.0 mm, HW 10.7 mm) and moderately high (HH 8.4 mm); orbit relatively large (OD 2.9 mm); ear opening distinct (EL 2.1 mm) with moderate ear pectination (EP = 4; Fig. 4 C, D). Distances across the head: DN 2.0 mm, END 4.4 mm, EED 5.2 mm. Dorsal head shields well developed; frontal longer than wide (FrL 5.0 mm, FrW 2.8 mm) and frontonasal wider than long (FnW 3.7 mm, FnL 2.3 mm). Loreal region with anterior (LorWa 1.2 mm) and posterior loreals (LorWp 1.5 mm) present. Interparietal length 2.9 mm; mental width 3.2 mm and length 1.6 mm. Forelimb length 23.4 mm; hindlimb length 33.5 mm. Scalation of the head and trunk typical for the genus: supralabials 7; infralabials 7; four scales between the last supralabial and the ear opening (SSLE = 4); one pair of nuchals (PN = 1). Contact between the third supraocular and frontal present (SOF: yes); prefrontals in contact (PFC: yes); parietal shields in contact (PSC: yes). Midbody scale rows (SAB) 36; 56 dorsal scales from the first nuchal to the level above the vent (DSNV = 56); 69 ventral scales in a longitudinal series from chin shields to cloaca (VT = 69). Subcaudals 87 (SC = 87). Dorsal scales with three keels (KDS = 3). Dorsal part dark brown to olive-brown with a well-defined longitudinal pattern, consisting of darker stripes and paler interspaces that produce a distinctly striped appearance (Fig. 4 A). Head dorsum mottled brown with paler longitudinal elements; a pale stripe extends from the snout through the orbital region towards the temporal area, contrasting with darker pigmentation on the upper temporal region (Fig. 4 C – E). Labial scales pale beige to light brown. Flanks darker than venter, with subtle speckling. Ventral surfaces (throat, belly, underside of tail) uniform pale greyish beige with minimal patterning (Fig. 4 B, F). Presence of white spots was not recorded for this specimen. Description of paratypes. The paratypes of Heremites afghanicus sp. nov. correspond to the holotype (Fig. 4) in overall morphology, body proportions, and colour pattern (Fig. 5), with the differences summarised in Table 2. All paratypes are adult males. Snout – vent length (SVL) ranges from 51.7 to 92.3 mm. Tail length (TL) ranges from 68.0 to 111.7 mm; tail regeneration is recorded in PMNH 3519 and PMNH 3475. Meristic variation among paratypes is limited. Supralabials vary between 6 and 7 (SL = 6 in ZFMK 9064 and PMNH 3475; SL = 7 in the remaining paratypes). Infralabials range from 6 to 8 (typically 7; IL = 8 in ZFMK 9064; IL = 6 in NHMW -Zoo-HS-42309-1). The number of scales between the last supralabial and the ear opening ranges from 3 to 4 (SSLE = 3 in NHMW -Zoo-HS-42309-1 and PMNH 3475; SSLE = 4 in the remaining paratypes). One pair of nuchals is constant (PN = 1). Scales around midbody range from 35 to 38 (SAB = 38 in NHMW -Zoo-HS-42309-1; 35–36 in the remaining paratypes). Dorsal scale counts from the first nuchal to the level above the vent range from 52 to 60 (DSNV = 52–60), and ventral scales range from 62 to 68 (VT = 62–68). Subcaudals range from 78 to 98 (SC = 78–98). Ear pectination varies between four and five (EP = 4–5). The contact between the third supraocular and the frontal is present in all paratypes (SOF present), and parietal shields are consistently in contact (PSC present). In contrast, prefrontals vary, being in contact in most paratypes but separated in ZFMK 9064 and PMNH 3522. All paratypes have dorsal scales with three keels (KDS = 3). White spots were recorded in the paratype NHMW -Zoo-HS-42309-1 but were not observed or not recorded in the remaining paratypes. Variation. Variation in the series of H. afghanicus sp. nov. (NHMW -Zoo-HS-42309-1, PMNH 3474 -3478, 3518-3524, ZFMK 9064; n = 14) is primarily expressed in body and tail