A new species of Mountain Dragon (Reptilia: Agamidae: Diploderma) from the D. dymondi complex in southern Sichuan Province, China

Despite continuous studies on the cryptic diversity of the Diploderma flaviceps complex in Southwest China for the pastdecade, little attention has been given to other widespreadcongeners in China. Combining both morphological and phylogenetic data, we describe a new species of Diplodermafrom populations identified previously as D. dymondi in thelower Yalong River Basin in southern Sichuan Province. Thenew species is morphologically most similar to D. dymondiand D. varcoae, but it can be differentiated by a considerablegenetic divergence and a suite of morphological characters,including having taller nuchal crest scales, smaller tympana,and a distinct oral coloration. Additionally, we discuss otherputative species complexes within the genus Diploderma inChina.