Takydromus ultapaniensis is brown in coloration with three stripes that run down the back to the tail. its ventral side is a yellowish in coloration, and its scales are keeled
Researchers with Sikkim University, Tadong, Gangtok, East Sikkim, India, Newcastle University and the Natural History Museum of London have described a new species of Asian grass lizard of the genus Takydromus.
The lizard, Takydromus ultapaniensis, hails from the Ultapani, Kokrajhar District in Assam, India. It has distinctive morphological features and genetic variations that are different from its relatives in the Takydromus genus, specifically its mitochondrial 12S rRNA and COI genes.
The Takydromus genus is comprised of grass lizards endemic to large regions of Asia. The word Takydromus is greek for fast running, or swift. The lizards are also called oriental racers due to their swift speeds. These lizards are very slender and have tails that are often two to five times the length of their snout to vent length. They are usually brown in coloration with lateral stripes and dark spots. The scales are keeled and continuous in longitudinal rows. They are found from Japan to the Amur region of Russia and throughout eastern Asia and into Indonesia. Currently 25 species, including Takydromus ultapaniensis, have been described.
From the abstract: Takydromus ultapaniensis sp. nov. in life (A) female paratype—ZSI-R-28646, (B) male holotype—ZSI-R-28647, (C) lateral head scales, (D) ventral head scales, (E) dorsal head scales, (F) flanks and lateral body scales of female paratype— ZSI-R-28646, (G) flanks and lateral body scales of male holotype—ZSI-R-28647 and (H) cloacal region, ventral tail base, and subdigital lamellae. Scale bar = 10 mm.
Takydromus ultapaniensis is brown in coloration with three stripes that run down the back to the tail. its ventral side is a yellowish in coloration, and its scales are keeled. A black stripe is seen from the nostril past the bottom of the eye and to the back, separating the brown coloration from the yellow of the belly.
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An abstract of the paper, “A new species of Takydromus (Squamata: Lacertidae) from northeast India” can be read on the Mapress.com website. Chettri, B., Mothey, R., Ghatani, S., Deepak, V. & Rai, A. (2026) A new species of Takydromus (Squamata: Lacertidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa, 5763 (2), 205–224. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5763.2.2
