Timor kite
| Timor kite | ||||||||||||
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Timor kite in Wailakurini , East Timor |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Draco timoriensis | ||||||||||||
| Kuhl , 1820 |
The Timor kite ( Draco timoriensis ) is an agame native to the forests of several of the eastern Lesser Sunda Islands .
features
The head and torso of the Timor kite reach a length of 90 mm, the tail an additional 150 mm. The top of the agame is gray-brown with a metallic sheen and irregular black spots. The skin on the extended ribs, which allows the animal to cover greater distances in gliding flight, is brown on the upper side, it is darkest on the edge. It also has some lighter vertical stripes and a few black points. The underside of the animal is olive or gray, the throat and sides of the nape are mottled brown. The yellow wattles with radial gray bands are unfolded by the males to indicate their territorial claim. Females from Timor, Roti, and Semau have black or dark brown wattles with white, horizontal grooves. The lobes of the females of Alor and Wetar lack any pigmentation or show several dark spots. The size of the keel-shaped head varies greatly. The snout is longer than the diameter of the eye levels. The nostrils are open to the outside. The front legs reach up to the muzzle, the rear legs can touch the elbows. Eggs are 12 × 7.5 mm in size.
habitat
Timor kites live on the islands of Timor , Roti , Alor , Semau and Wetar . They occur regularly in regions just above sea level, but specimens have already been found on Timor's inland plateaus. The specimen, which was previously documented at the highest location in Timor, was found at an altitude of 1177 m . Wherever there are Timor kites, they are found in abundance. Usually the kites can be found on trunks and branches at a height of over five meters. You can usually see them walking along the trunks of coconut palms or eucalyptus trees with soft bark and gliding gracefully from tree to tree when threatened.
Systematics
Based on molecular analyzes, it is assumed that, contrary to earlier reports, only Timor kites live on Timor. It was also proven that Draco timoriensis is clearly a separate species, alongside Draco boschmai , Draco volans and Draco sumatranus . Nevertheless, some changes in the system within the genre are probably necessary.
Surname
The Latin name is given in the literature as both Draco timoriensis and Draco timorensis . Kuhl's original description calls the species Draco Timoriensis Péron . Although Péron's expedition brought a specimen to the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris , he never described the species. Draco Timoriensis is also mentioned by Duméril and Bibron (1837), who name Péron as the first to describe it and Kuhl as the second. The unwanted shortening is likely to have caused Gray (1845) when he called the species Draco timorensis and referred to Schlegel's name (1837-1844) Draco viridis Timorensis . Various authors took over the mistake, such as Günther (1864) and Boulenger (1885), even if Gray later corrected himself and called the species Draco viridis var. Timoriensis after Schlegel. Draco timoriensis is still correct .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Jimmy A. McGuire, Kiew Bong Heang: Phylogenetic systematics of Southeast Asian flying lizards (Iguania: Agamidae: Draco) as inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequence data. In: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. Vol. 72, No. 2, 2001, pp. 203-229, doi : 10.1006 / bijl.2000.0487 , digitized version (PDF; 414.99 KB) .
- ↑ a b c d Hinrich Kaiser, Venancio Lopes Carvalho, Jester Ceballos, Paul Freed, Scott Heacox, Barbara Lester, Stephen J. Richards, Colin R. Trainor, Caitlin Sanchez, Mark O'Shea: The herpetofauna of Timor-Leste: a first report. In: ZooKeys. No. 109, 2011, pp. 19-86, doi : 10.3897 / zookeys.109.1439 .
- ^ Nelly de Rooij: The Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Volume 1: Lacertilia, Chelonia, Emydosauria. Brill, Leiden 1915, pp. 74/75 .
- ^ Draco timorensis in The Reptile Database
- ↑ Mark O'Shea et al .: Herpetological Diversity of Timor-Leste Updates and a Review of species distributions In: Asian Herpetological Research. 2015, 6 (2): 73-131., Accessed July 17, 2015.