Comptus Schools & Hedges 2021, gen. nov.
Creators: name: Schools, Molly
name: Hedges, S. Blair
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Squamata
Diploglossidae
Comptus

description: Genus Comptus gen. nov.
Caribbean Rough-scaled Forest Lizards
Figs. 15–16
Type species. Diploglossus stenurus, Cope, 1862:188. Diagnosis. Species of Comptus gen. nov. have (1) claw sheath, absent, (2) contact between the nasal and rostral scales, absent, (3) scales in contact with the nasal scale, four, (4) postnasal scales, one, (5) position of the nostril in the nasal scale, central, (6) keels on dorsal body scales, present, (7) digits per limb, five, (8) longest toe lamellae, 13–23, (9) dorsal scale rows, 88–107, (10) relative head width, 11.9–15.0, (11) relative rostral height, 53.2–65.5, (12) relative frontonasal length, 2.95–3.65, (13) relative interparietal distance, 0–0.435, (14) relative axilla-groin distance, 51.9–60.0.
From Advenus gen. nov., Comptus gen. nov. is distinguished by the claw sheath (absent versus its presence in Advenus gen. nov.), keels on dorsal scales (present versus their absence in Advenus gen. nov.), relative rostral height (53.2–65.5 versus 50.1), relative frontonasal length (2.95–3.65 versus 2.46), and the distance between the parietal scales (0–0.435 versus 0.632). From Caribicus gen. nov., we distinguish Comptus gen. nov. by the relative interparietal distance, (0–0.435 versus 0.468–1.42) and the relative axilla-groin distance (51.9–60.0 versus 67.1– 69.1). From Celestus, we distinguish Comptus gen. nov. by the relative axilla-groin distance (51.9–60.0 versus 60.9–66.4). From Panolopus, we distinguish Comptus gen. nov. by keels on the dorsal scales (present versus their absence in Panolopus), relative rostral height (53.2–65.5 versus 37.6–51.9), and the relative frontonasal length (2.95–3.65 versus 1.93–2.94). From Sauresia, we distinguish Comptus gen. nov. by the claw sheath (absent versus its presence in Sauresia), keels on the dorsal body scales (present versus their absence in Sauresia), digits per limb (five versus four), the longest toe lamellae (13–23 versus 8–12), the relative frontonasal length (2.95–3.65 versus 1.70–2.56), and the relative axilla-groin distance (51.9–60.0 versus 63.9–69.9). From Wetmorena, we distinguish Comptus gen. nov. by the claw sheath (absent versus its presence in Wetmorena), keels on the dorsal body scales (present versus their absence in Wetmorena), digits per limb (five versus four), longest toe lamellae (13–23 versus 8–12), the relative frontonasal length (2.95–3.65 versus 1.47–2.69), and the distance between the parietal scales (0–0.435 versus 0.447–1.03).
Content. Three species (Table 3): Comptus badius, C. maculatus, and C. stenurus.
Distribution. Comptus gen. nov. occurs in the Cayman Islands, Navassa Island, and throughout most of Hispaniola, including the associated islets of Ile-a-Vache, Île à Cabrit, and Ile Grande Cayemite (Fig. 16).
Etymology. The generic name (Comptus) is a Latin masculine noun meaning adornment, referring to the keeling of the dorsal scales in this genus.
Remarks. Comptus gen. nov. is a monophyletic clade that has a support value of 100% in Bayesian and ML analyses (Fig. 2). Our phylogenetic tree includes all three species of Comptus gen. nov. and three of the four subspecies of Comptus stenurus (C. stenurus rugosus, C. stenurus stenurus, and C. stenurus weinlandi), missing only Comptus stenurus alloeides.
Surprisingly, Comptus maculatus from the Cayman Islands, previously considered a subspecies of Celestus crusculus (Schwartz & Henderson 1991), a Jamaican species in a different genus, is nested within Comptus stenurus in the molecular phylogeny (Fig. 2). The character completely separating Celestus from Comptus gen. nov., relative axilla-groin distance, supports that finding. The Navassa species, Comptus badius, also is nested within Comptus stenurus. Comptus stenurus is not monophyletic and includes populations with deep divergences (3.1 Mya; Fig. 3). These results, together with other molecular and morphological data, indicate that the genus Comptus includes at least three additional species (Schools & Hedges, unpubl.).
description: Published as part of Schools, Molly & Hedges, S. Blair, 2021, Phylogenetics, classification, and biogeography of the Neotropical forest lizards (Squamata, Diploglossidae), pp. 201-257 in Zootaxa 4974 (2) on pages 226-228, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4974.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4775440