After over 150 years, Persian Long-Tailed Desert Lizard gets official nomenclature

Kolkata: Scientists at the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have recently given an official nomenclature to the Persian Long-Tailed Desert Lizard (Mesalina watsonana), clearing a confusion that persisted for 153 years since its discovery due to the presence of different specimens in museums around the globe.

The lizard was discovered by scientist Ferdinand Stoliczka in 1872 but several syntypes, or different specimens, collected by him were scattered in museums in Kolkata, London and Vienna.

This created confusion as to which specific specimen should be officially denoted as lectotype or the sole specimen representing all the specimens.

ZSI scientists Sumidh Ray and Dr Pratyush P Mohapatra carefully examined the old records and followed the rules of naming the species, choosing the specimen in Kolkata as the "definitive example of the Mesalina watsonana", a ZSI spokesperson said.

ZSI Director Dhriti Banerjee said this new official designation will make future research on similar types of desert lizards much easier.

Stoliczka's collections, gathered during expeditions during the colonial era, are some of the earliest scientific records of reptiles in South Asia.

"Stoliczka's work is very important. Many of the original examples he collected are still key to understanding reptile names in this part of the world," Banerjee said.

The scientists' findings have been published in the science journal 'Zootaxa'.