Discovery of Female Laudakia papenfussi Zhao, 1998, with Insights into its Phylogenetic Relationships

The sole voucher of Papenfuss' Rock Agama, Laudakia papenfussi (CIB 775001), an adult male, was collected from Zanda, Tibet, China on July 1, 1976 and described in 1998. No information on this species appeared since its description. In September 2014, we collected one female and six males at the type locality. Based on the original description and these newly collected specimens, we re-describe this species. Principal components analysis based on 33 morphological characteristics clearly diagnose L. papenfussi from closely related species. One way ANOVA test shows significant differences among four Tibetan rock agamas for 9 characters at 95% significant level, and 8 characters at 99% significant level. Molecular analyses recover three main clades in Laudakia. The four Tibetan rock agamas place into two geographical groups: Yarlung Zangbo group (L. sacra and L. wui) and the Himalayan group (L. tuberculata and L. papenfussi).