Sitana

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Cladus: Unidentata Episquamata Toxicofera
Subordo: Iguania
Infraordo: Acrodonta

Familia: Agamidae
Subfamilia: Draconinae
Genus: Sitana
Species (14): S. devakai – S. dharwarensis – S. fusca – S. gokakensis – S. kalesari – S. laticeps – S. marudhamneydhal – S. ponticeriana – S. schleichi – S. sivalensis – S. spinaecephalus – S. sushili – S. thondalu – S. visiri
Name

Sitana Cuvier, 1829: 43

Type species: Sitana ponticeriana Cuvier, 1829, by monotypy.

References
Primary references

Cuvier, G.L. 1829. Le règne animal distribué d'après son organisation, pour servir de base a l'histoire naturelle des animaux et d'introduction a l'anatomie comparée. Avec figures dessinées d'après nature. Nouvelle édition, revue et augmentée. Tome II. Déterville: Paris. i–xv + 406 pp. DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.49223 BHL Reference page.

Additional references

Amarasinghe, A.A.T., Ineich, I., Karunarathna, D.M.S.S., Botejue, W.M.S. & Campbell, P.D. 2015. Two new species of the genus Sitana Cuvier, 1829 (Reptilia: Agamidae) from Sri Lanka, including a taxonomic revision of the Indian Sitana species. Zootaxa 3915(1): 67–98. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3915.1.3 Reference page.
Bahuguna, A. 2015. New Species of Genus Sitana (Sauria: Agamidae) from Kalesar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, Haryana, North Western India. International Journal of Advanced Research 3(1): 526–535. Full article (PDF). Reference page.
Deepak, V., Khandekar, A., Varma, S. & Chaitanya, R. 2016. Description of a new species of Sitana Cuvier, 1829 from southern India. Zootaxa 4139(2): 167–182. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4139.2.2. Reference page.
Deepak, V., Giri, V.B., Asif, M., Dutta, S.K., Vyas, R., Zambre, A.M., Bhosale, H. & Karanth, K.P. 2016. Systematics and phylogeny of Sitana (Reptilia: Agamidae) of Peninsular India, with the description of one new genus and five new species. Contributions to Zoology 85(1): 67–111. Full article (PDF). Reference page.
Deepak, V., Khandekar, A., Chaitanya, R. & Karanth, P. 2018. Descriptions of two new endemic and cryptic species of Sitana Cuvier, 1829 from peninsular India. Zootaxa 4434(2): 327–365. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4434.2.5. Reference page.
Sadasivan, K., Ramesh, M.B., Palot, M.J., Ambekar, M. & Mirza, Z.A. 2018. A new species of fan-throated lizard of the genus Sitana Cuvier, 1829 from coastal Kerala, southern India. Zootaxa 4374(4): 545–564. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4374.4.5 Reference page.
Ambekar, M., Murthy, A. & Mirza, Z.A. 2020. A new species of fan-throated lizard of the genus Sitana Cuvier, 1829 (Squamata: Agamidae) from northern Karnataka, India. Bonn zoological Bulletin 69(2): 157–164. DOI: 10.20363/BZB-2020.69.2.157 Open access Reference page.
Deepak, V., Tillack, F., Kar, N.B., Sarkar, S. & Mohapatra, P.R. 2021. A new species of Sitana (Squamata: Agamidae) from the Deccan Peninsula Biogeographic Zone of India. Zootaxa 4948(2): 261–274. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4948.2.6 Paywall Reference page.
Balan, A., Jude, D., Narayanan, S., Varma, S. & Deepak, V. 2021. Morphological and genetic variation in populations of Sitana marudhamneydhal and the validity of Sitana attenboroughii. Zootaxa 4964(3): 523–540. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4964.3.5 Paywall Reference page.

Links

Uetz, P. & Hallermann, J. 2022. Sitana . The Reptile Database. Accessed on 11 February 2019.

Vernacular names
English: Fan-throated Lizards

Sitana is a genus of lizards, collectively known as the fan-throated lizards, from the family Agamidae. They are found in Nepal, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.[1] The genus comprises fourteen species, including several recently discovered species,[2] such as two new species from Sri Lanka.[3] In 2016, a new genus named Sarada was erected, consisting of one former Sitana species and two newly described ones. Sarada is the sister genus of Sitana. Together they form a clade which sister group is Otocryptis.[1]
Description

Sitana are small to medium-sized lizards. They are ground dwellers, primarily eating insects but also mollusks and plant seeds.[1]

Males measure 37–47 mm (1.5–1.9 in) and females 36–52 mm (1.4–2.0 in) in snout–vent length. In an example of convergent evolution, males have prominent dewlaps, similar to anoles, which are used in communication during the breeding season. The dewlap may be small to large, depending on the species. Females lack the dewlap.[1]
Species

There are fourteen species that are listed here alphabetically:[2]

Sitana devakai Amarasinghe, Ineich & Karunaratna, 2014 – Devaka's fan-throated lizard
Sitana dharwarensis Ambekar, Murthy, & Mirza 2020
Sitana fusca Schleich & Kästle, 1998[4] – dark sitana
Sitana gokakensis Deepak, Khandekar, Chaitanya, & Karanth, 2018 – Gokak fan-throated lizard
Sitana kalesari Bahuguna, 2015
Sitana laticeps Deepak and Giri, 2016[1] – broad-headed fan-throated lizard
Sitana marudhamneydhal Deepak, Khandekar, Varma & Chaitanya, 2016
Sitana ponticeriana Cuvier, 1829 – Pondichéry fan-throated lizard
Sitana schleichi Anders & Kästle, 2002 – Suklaphantah sitana
Sitana sivalensis Schleich, Kästle & Shah, 1998; endemic to Nepal[5][6] – Siwalik sitana
Sitana spinaecephalus Deepak, Vyas and Giri, 2016[1] – spiny-headed fan-throated lizard
Sitana sushili Deepak, Tillack, Kar, Sarkar, & Mohapatra, 2021 – Sushil's fan-throated lizard
Sitana thondalu Deepak, Khandekar, Chaitanya, & Karanth, 2018 – Nagarjuna Sagar fan-throated lizard
Sitana visiri Deepak, 2016[1] – palm leaf fan-throated lizard

References

Deepak, V.; Giri, Varad B.; Asif, M.; Dutta, S.K.; Vyas, R.; Zambre, Amod M.; Bhosale, Harshal; Karanth, K. Praveen (2016). "Systematics and phylogeny of Sitana (Reptilia: Agamidae) of Peninsular India, with the description of one new genus and five new species". Contributions to Zoology. 85 (1): 67–111. doi:10.1163/18759866-08501004.
Sitana at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 17 September 2016.
Anole annals
H. H. Schleich; W. Kästle (1998). "Sitana fusca spec. nov., a further species from the Sitana sivalensis- complex". In H. H. Schleich; W. Kästle (eds.). Contributions to the Herpetology of South Asia (Nepal, India). Wuppertal: Fuhlrott Museum. pp. 207–226. ISBN 978-3-87429-404-1.
Sitana sivalensis at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
H. H. Schleich; W. Kästle; K. B. Shah (1998). "Description of Sitana sivalensis spec. nov., (Sauria: Agamidae) from south Nepal". In H. H. Schleich; W. Kästle (eds.). Contributions to the Herpetology of South Asia (Nepal, India). Wuppertal: Fuhlrott Museum. pp. 87–100. ISBN 978-3-87429-404-1.