Harpesaurus

MANTHEY, U. & W. GROSSMANN (1997): Genus Harpesaurus - In: Amphibien und Reptilien Südostasiens. - Natur und Tier – Verlag, Münster: 191-193.

Harpesaurus beccarii DORIA, 1888

Sumatra Nose-horned Lizard

BÖHME, W. (1989): Rediscovery of the Sumatran agamid lizard Harpesaurus beccarii Doria 1888, with the first notes on a live specimen. - Tropical Zoology, 2 (1): 31-35.

A fourth specimen of Harpesaurus beccarii Doria 1888 to become known after about 80 years is described and compared with the available literature data. The first information on colouration in life is documented, and first behavioural data (feeding and drinking behaviour, escape tactics) are given. It is suggested that the conspicuous rostral appendage in this species and in related forms has social significance for species recognition which lowers its systematic value.

DORIA, G. (1888): Note Erpetologiche - Alcuni nuovi Sauri raccolti in Sumatra dal Dr. O. Beccari. - Ann. Mus. civ. stor. nat. Genova (2) 6: 646-652.

MANTHEY, U. (1990): Das Portrait. Harpesaurus beccarii DORIA. – Sauria, Berlin, 12 (3): 1-2.

Harpesaurus borneensis MERTENS, 1924

DAS, I., WEN, W.J. & V. MARTIN (2019): Harpesaurus borneensis (MERTENS, 1924) Borne-Hornagame. – Sauria, Berlin, 41 (2): 1-3.

KING, FW (1978): A new Bornean lizard of the genus Harpesaurus. - Sarawak Museum Journal, 26 (47): 205-209.

LARDNER, B., CHIN, S.Y. & U. MANTHEY (2010): Notes on Harpesaurus borneensis (MERTENS 1924), a live bearing agamid lizard from the lowlands of Borneo. - Russian Journal of Herpetology, 17 (3): 231–235.

Harpesaurus brooksi (PARKER, 1924)

PARKER, H.W. (1924): Description of a new agamid lizard from Sumatra. - Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (9) 14: 624-625.

Harpesaurus ensicauda WERNER,1913

Nias Nose-horned Lizard

WERNER, F. (1913): Neue oder seltene Reptilien und Frösche des Naturhistorischen Museums in Hamburg. Reptilien der Ostafrika-Expedition der Hamburger Geographischen Gesellschaft 1911/12. Leiter: Dr. E. Obst. Reptilien und Amphibien von Formosa. - Jb. Hamb. wiss. Anst., 30 [1912], 2. Beiheft: 1-39, 40-45, 45-51.

Harpesaurus modiglianii VINCIGUERRA,1933

Modigliani´s Nose-horned Lizard

PUTRA, C.A., AMARASINGHE, A.A.T., HIKMATULLAH, D., SCALI, S., BRINKMAN, J.J., MANTHEY, U. & I. INEICH (2020): Rediscovery of Modigliani’s Nose-horned Lizard, Harpesaurus modiglianii VINCIGUERRA, 1933 (REPTILIA: AGAMIDAE) after 129 years without any observation. – Taprobanica, 9 (1): 3-11.

The Modigliani’s nose-horned lizard, Harpesaurus modiglianii Vinciguerra, 1933, is one of the rarest lizards in the world, known only from its single type specimen collected in 1891, from North Sumatra, Indonesia. During explorations of the forests surrounding Lake Toba and its caldera, we discovered a population of H. modiglianii at an elevation of 1,675 m a.s.l., and provide the first data on its habitat. We here re-describe the species based on an examination of its type and new material, and provide an English translation of the complete original description which was originally written in Italian.

VINCIGUERRA, D. (1933): Descrizione di una nuova specie di Harpesaurus di Sumatra. - Ann. Mus. civ. stor. nat. Genova, 56: 355-356.

Harpesaurus tricinctus DUMÉRIL & DUMÉRIL, 1851

Java Nose-horned Lizard

DUMÉRIL, A.M.C. & A. H. A. DUMÉRIL (1851): Catalogue méthodique de la collection des reptiles du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris. Gide et Baudry/Roret, Paris, 224 pp.

INEICH, I., KOPPETSCH, T. & W. BÖHME (2022): Pinocchio lizards and other lizards bearing rostral appendages − the peculiar habitus of the draconine agamid Harpesaurus tricinctus with highlights on its ecological implications and convergence with its New World equivalent, the dactyloid Anolis proboscis. Salamandra, 58 (2): 123-138.

Harpesaurus tricinctus is an Asian agamid lizard described in 1851 from Java, Indonesia, and since then known only from its holotype located at the Paris Natural History Museum (MNHN-RA), supposedly a male, characterized by a long sickle-shaped rostral appendage. Ecological data are virtually lacking since no other specimen have ever been found. Here we review its morphology as compared with its congeners. We also review the morphology of other lizards and some snakes with rostral appendages and discuss their possible functional implications. We identified a South American dactyloid lizard, Anolis proboscis, the males of which show by their general habitus and a long, sword-shaped rostral appendage a striking convergence with the possibly extinct H. tricinctus. Anolis proboscis was also for long considered a rare and little-known lizard but recent field work allowing new observations provided additional data on its ecology. We suggest to use these new data on its habitat requirements which might be comparable to those of the externally so similar but allegedly extinct Indonesian agamid which might have survived in the canopy of tropical humid forests in one of the Greater Sunda Islands of Indonesia.

zurück / back