. Current herpetology. Reptiles; Herpetology. 8 Current Herpetol. 23(1) 2004 The genus contains four species. The relatively most common species, A. lepido- gaster, occurs in northern Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and southern China (Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Hainan). A. capra is known from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. A. armata is distributed in southern Thailand north to the Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, western Malaysia as well Palau Pinang and Pulau Tioman, and Indonesia (Sumatra). Finally, A. crucigera was recorded from Myanmar, Thailand, Central Vietnam (Annam), We
. Current herpetology. Reptiles; Herpetology. 8 Current Herpetol. 23(1) 2004 The genus contains four species. The relatively most common species, A. lepido- gaster, occurs in northern Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and southern China (Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Hainan). A. capra is known from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. A. armata is distributed in southern Thailand north to the Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, western Malaysia as well Palau Pinang and Pulau Tioman, and Indonesia (Sumatra). Finally, A. crucigera was recorded from Myanmar, Thailand, Central Vietnam (Annam), West Malayasia, and Cambodia (Boulenger, 1885; Smith, 1935; Taylor, 1963; Manthey and Grossmann, 1997). The genus has not undergone any recent taxonomic re-evaluation. The phylogenetic relationships of the species have never been evaluated. The taxonomic status of the genus Acantho- saura is unclear. Some authors have treated it as a junior synonym of Gonocephalus (Smith, 1935); and others have referred some species to the genus Japalura (Boulenger, 1890). Several described species have been synony- mized with Acanthosaura lepidogaster (Wer- muth, 1967). Recently, most herpetologists have recognized Acanthosaura as containing the four species armata, capra, crucigera, and lepidogaster (Manthey and Schuster, 1992; Ananjeva, 1997). Although this association was partly supported by recent molecular data (Macey et al., 2000), the taxonomy of the genus and relationships among its species remain obscure. The problem derives from the great anatomical similarity of the taxa. Variability in the diagnostic characters, such as length of the nuchal and postorbital spines, and length of the diastema between nuchal and dorsal crests, causes much taxonomic confusion. The only species easily diagnosed is A. capra. It differs from the other species of Acanthosaura by having only one pair of postorbital spines and no nuchal spines. Relatively few specimens of Acanthosaura (except A. lepidogaster)
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