Lygodactylus leopardinus Lobón-Rovira, Bauer, Pinto, Trape, Conradie, Kusamba, Júlio, Cael, Stanley, Hughes, Behangana, Masudi, Pauwels & Greenbaum, 2024, SP.NOV.
Creators: name: Lobón-Rovira, Javier
name: Bauer, Aaron M.
name: Pinto, Pedro Vaz
name: Trape, Jean-Francois
name: Conradie, Werner
name: Kusamba, Chifundera
name: Júlio, Timóteo
name: Cael, Garin
name: Stanley, Edward L.
name: Hughes, Daniel F.
name: Behangana, Mathias
name: Masudi, Franck M.
name: Pauwels, Olivier S. G.
name: Greenbaum, Eli
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Squamata
Gekkonidae
Lygodactylus
Lygodactylus leopardinus

description: LYGODACTYLUS LEOPARDINUS SP.NOV.   
(Figs 22–23, Table 3; Supporting Information, Table S9)  
 Zoobank registration: https://zoobank.org/ 9010CCA9-953F-4091-9D1E-40BBFD0B9FF8   
  Lygodactylus leopardinus sp. nov.  is the rainforest member within subgroup C, and the most morphologically distinguishable species within the L. gutturalis subgroup. It also differs by a minimum of c. 10.10% for 16S uncorrected p-distance (Table 2) from related taxa, and it lacks nuclear haplotype sharing in RAG1 (Fig. 2B–C).   
 Holotype: UTEP 22577 (ELI 2330), male with broken tail and ventral incision, collected at Balolombo Village, Busira River, Équateur Province, DRC, S00.25939, E19.63575, 305 m a.s.l. on 18 July 2013 by Chifundera Kusamba, Wandege M. Muninga, Mwenebatu M. Aristote, and Eli Greenbaum.   
 Paratype: UTEP 22596 (ELI 3584), female, collected from Katopa, ICCN Camp, Maniema Province, DRC, S02.74769, E25.10323, 450 m a.s.l. on 2 July 2015 by Eli Greenbaum.   
 Additional material: RMCA 1981.065. R.0004, male with original tail, collected at River Lotende (canopy), Mabali, Équateur Province, DRC, between 17 and 18 August 1955 by Raymond Laurent; RMCA R.2947, female, collected at Basongo, Kasai Province, DRC, on 27 July 1921 by Henri Schouteden; RMCA R.16752, male, collected at Yokamba (Boende), Tshuapa Province, DRC, in 1953 by J. Stevenart.   
 Diagnosis: This species represents a moderately sized Lygodactylus [maximum SVL 34.7 mm (mean 33.6 ± 1.3 mm)], with males having the most distinctive gular patterning of the L. gutturalis group (described below, Fig. 3). Females without gular pattern. Eight supralabials and 6–7 infralabials. Males with seven precloacal pores.   
 This species can be differentiated from all taxa of the angularis group taxa by the same osteological differences described above (e.g. postorbitofrontal reduced almost vestigial vs. well developed in the angularis group) and a unique leopard-like pattern on the dorsum. Also, it can be easily differentiated from L. angularis and L. baptistai based on the gular patterning (broken pattern vs. V-shaped pattern in L. angularis and the unique pattern of L. baptistai described above; see Fig. 5). The species can be confused with L. heeneni and L. paurospilus based on the broken gular ornamentation; however, it can be differentiated from them as follows: unique leopard-like dorsal pattern in  L. leopardinus sp. nov.  (vs. light brown dorsal background with a light cream vertebral line of blotches in L. heeneni (Fig. 7), similar to L. paurospilus (based on preserved specimens; Fig. 8; Supporting Information, Fig. S4); broken pattern that converges anteriorly (vs. a broken pattern that converges posteriorly (V -shaped) in L. heeneni and L. paurospilus); fewer precloacal pores than L. heeneni (7 vs. 9–10); and osteological features described above.   
  Lygodactylus leopardinus sp. nov.  is the most distinctive species within the gutturalis subgroup and the only species within the picturatus group with a broken gular pattern. It can be easily distinguished from other closely related species based on its unique gular pattern and the leopard-like dorsal pattern, which is not present in related taxa. Females lack gular patterning (vs. weakly present in other members of the gutturalis subgroup). It can also be differentiated based on minor meristic differences as follows: greater number of scales between the eyes (30–36 vs. 17–24 in L. gutturalis, 25 in L. dysmicus, 19–28 in  L. kibera sp. nov. , 19–22 in  L. karamoja sp. nov.,  and 19 in  L. mirabundus sp. nov. ); and lower number of ventral scales at midbody (14–15 vs. 15–20 in L. gutturalis, 21 in L. dysmicus, 16–19 in L. depressus, 16–18 in  L. kibera sp. nov. , 16–18 in  L. karamoja sp. nov. , and 21 in  L. mirabundus sp. nov. ).   
 Etymology: The name ‘ leopardinus ’ is an adjective referring to the leopard-like dorsal pattern present in males of this species.   
 Description of the holotype (Fig. 22): Measurements and meristic characters of the holotype are presented in Supporting Information, Table S9. Table 3. Adult male, with a snout–vent length (SVL) of 32.4 mm and a broken tail. Body slender and nape slightly distinct. Head as broad as body, and moderate head length (HW/HL 0.63). Canthus rostralis not prominent. Eye diameter 2.0 mm with circular pupil. Ear to eye distance almost twice the orbit diameter (3.4 mm). Snout rounded and moderately pointed. Frontal granular scales larger than occipital scales, with 36 small granular scales between the eyes. Dorsal scales granular from rostral to tail. Rostral undivided, in slight contact with nostril. Three small symmetrical internasals. Eight supralabials and seven infralabials. Prenasal not in contact with the 1st supralabial. Nostril circular, in narrow contact with the rostral and bordered by 1st supralabial, prenasal, one supranasal, and one postnasal. Four rows of scales between supralabials and the orbit. Mental large, triangular, and in contact posteriorly with two rounded and symmetrical postmental scales. Five smaller post-postmental scales. Gular scales granular and smaller than ventral scales. Ventrals imbricate, rounded, and larger than dorsal scales, in 14 scale rows across the venter. Body relatively robust and slightly elongated (TRL/SVL 0.41). Seven precloacal pores. Fore- and hind limbs moderately short and stout; forearm intermediate (FL/SVL 0.15); tibia short (CL/SVL 0.17). Digits elongated, unwebbed, with 5–6 terminal scansors. Thumb rudimentary with a small terminal claw. Relative length of digits: I <II = V <III <IV (manus); I <II <V <III <IV (pes).   
 Coloration: In life (holotype; Fig. 23A–B), dorsal background colour light grey to brown, with a black reticulate dorsal pattern from snout to anterior insertion of the hind limbs; light cream blotches surrounded by black dots from eye to anterior insertion of the hind limb on each side of dorsum; tail brownish dorsally with light cream ocelli; throat white with two ∩ - shaped broken dark chevrons; venter uniformly white. In preservative (holotype; Fig. 22), dorsum uniformly dark grey from snout to tail. Venter with silvery appearance, becoming brownish on tail and fore- and hind limbs; black reticulated dorsal pattern visible, with two white paravertebral lines (one on each side) from eyes to midbody; digits dark brown ventrally.   
 Variation: In contrast to the holotype, the female paratype has a dorsal coloration in life that is entirely black with an orangish tail and dorsolateral dots in paravertebral lines that dissipate posteriorly, without a gular pattern (Fig. 23C–D). The lack of gular pattern is corroborated in preservative, in the paratype, and in another female specimen (RMCA R.2947) from Basongo, DRC.   
 Habitat and distribution (Figs 6, 23):  Lygodactylus leopardinus sp. nov.  is known from Congo Basin primary rainforest at Balolombo, Katopa (Lomani River, Congo River affluent), and Basongo. This pattern suggests a large distribution in the Congo Basin like its sister taxon, L. depressus, which is found in sympatry at Lake Tumba and Katopa. However, it seems to be less abundant.   
 Natural history: A diurnal and arboreal rainforest species. The holotype was collected early in the morning on a tree about 1 m above the ground.
description: Published as part of Lobón-Rovira, Javier, Bauer, Aaron M., Pinto, Pedro Vaz, Trape, Jean-Francois, Conradie, Werner, Kusamba, Chifundera, Júlio, Timóteo, Cael, Garin, Stanley, Edward L., Hughes, Daniel F., Behangana, Mathias, Masudi, Franck M., Pauwels, Olivier S. G. & Greenbaum, Eli, 2024, Integrative revision of the Lygodactylus gutturalis (Bocage, 1873) complex unveils extensive cryptic diversity and traces its evolutionary history, pp. 447-492 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society (Zool. J. Linn. Soc.) (Zool. J. Linn. Soc.) 201 (2) on pages 481-483, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad123, http://zenodo.org/record/13302833