Added 11 July 2022.
In India at least two of these species are high-altitude lizards, being found at altitudes of 1,800m and above. However, Manthey and Schuster claim they are also followers of civilisation, being found in home gardens. As they note, the fact is that very little information is yet available on these agamids.
Details of the genus are as follows (from Boulenger 1885 and Deepak et al: body slightly compressed, limbs long; fifth toe absent; scales all keeled, regular, smallest on the flanks; male with slight nuchal fold and large folding gular appendage extending backwards to the belly and covered with large scales; no gular fold; ear exposed; no preanal or femoral pores. Small to medium-sized lizards, male SVL 36.6-56.6 mm, females 36.4-52.1 mm; headscales unequal, strongly keeled; supraciliary edge sharp; fourth toe extending well beyond third, no prominent dorsal crest; presence of enlarged scales on the lateral side of the trunk and a single enlarged keeled scale on the thigh region. Scales on the dorsum within the dark brown line marking are relatively larger than the adjoining smaller scales on the lateral side of the body. Dewlap size varies from small to large depending on the species. Sitana can be differentiated from their closest living genus Otocryptis by the absence of fifth toe and an exposed tympanum. For many years only S. ponticheriana was known from the genus, until three further species from Nepal were described between 1998 and 2002, and more recently (2022) several more species are now known from India.
Manthey and Schuster give care instructions for S. ponticeriana.
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QUICK INDEX |
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S. ponticheriana, Fan-Throated Lizard |
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Species Name |
Common Name |
Distribution |
Size |
Notes |
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Sitana |
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India, Sri Lanka |
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India |
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E Nepal |
11cm SVL, 31cm TL |
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India |
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India |
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Broad-Headed Fan-Throated Lizard |
India |
SVL approx 4.5 cm |
Distinguished from S. ponticeriana and other members of clade by weakly serrated dewlap with a single blue median line, the dewlap being white or yellowish in colour, and proportionately smaller than that of S. spinaecephalus. |
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Attenborough's Fan-Throated Lizard |
India |
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Ponticherry Fan-Throated Lizard |
India, Nepal, Sri Lanka; Pakistan |
SVL 8 cm |
According to Daniel, found in all biotopes in India except perhaps forests of heavy rainfall and deserts, but not reported east of the Ganga in E India. Common in open sandy scrub country. Diet includes ants, termites, beetles and similar. It is a fast species that can run bipedally. Scalation details: canthus rostralis and supraciliary edge sharp, with strongly enlarged scales; dorsal head scales small, sharply keeled; dorsal scales larger than ventrals, with sharp keels forming straight longitudinal lines; lateral scales smallest, uniform or intermixed with scattered enlarged scales; upper surfaces of limbs with uniform strongly keeled scales; tail round, slender, covered with equal keeled scales. Coloration: olive-brown above; series of rhomboidal spots along vertebral line; more or less distinct light band along each side of back; gular appendage tricolored in blue, black and red; ventrally cream. Reproduction: commences in April-May, or about a month and a half before the monsoon season: the throat fan of the male turns blue and the male displays to the female hidden nearby; egg laying commences in July and may continue up to October; clutch size 11-14 eggs. [SOURCES: Boulenger, Daniel, Das, Deepak et al] |
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Nepal |
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S Nepal |
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Spiny-Headed Fan-Throated Lizard |
India |
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Deepak et al call this one of the most widely distributed lizards in India. Distinguished from S. ponticeriana and other members of clade by weakly serrated dewlap with a single blue line, the dewlap being white or yellowish in colour. |
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India |
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India |
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Palm Leaf Fan-Throated Lizard |
India |
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Distinguished by strongly serrated dewlap with extensive blue coloration and large orange spot: dewlap is proportionately larger than that of S. ponticeriana and S. devakai. |
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. Contains useful notes on the husbandry of captive Sitana ponticheriana.
“Systematics and phylogeny of Sitana (Reptilia: Agamidae) of Peninsular India, with the description of one new genus and five new species”, V. Deepak, Varad B. Giri, Mohammad Asif, Sushil Kumar Dutta, Raju Vyas, Amod M. Zambre Harshal Bhosale, K. Praveen Karanth, Contributions to Zoology 85(1), 2016. Gives details of three new Sitana species and also of the genus Sarada.
Gives details of the taxonomy and morphological characteristics of all Sri Lankan lizard species although the Scincidae are summarised as Taylor had produced a previous paper on them.