Cutting the Gordian Knot: Phylogenetic and ecological diversification of the Mesalina brevirostris species complex (Squamata, Lacertidae) Author Jiří Šmíd Author Jiří Moravec Author Václav Gvoždík Author Jan Štundl Author Daniel Frynta Author Petros Lymberakis Author Paschalia Kapli Author Thomas Wilms Author Andreas Schmitz Author Mohammed Shobrak Author Saeed Hosseinian Yousefkhani Author Eskandar Rastegar-Pouyani Author Aurora M. Castilla Author Johannes Els Author Werner Mayer text Zoologica Scripta 2017 2017-10-31 46 6 1 30 journal article 10.1111/zsc.12254 44b12099-59c0-4c00-b34c-c4f14d37ec56 1037920 Mesalina saudiarabica Moravec , Šmíd , Schmitz , Shobrak , Wilms – sp. n. ZooBank registration: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8B1926 DF-E92A-41FC-B7E6- E15743 A0D31C Holotype ( Figure 4). ZFMK 91912 , subadult male, Mahazat as-Sayd, Makkah Province , Saudi Arabia , 22.237N , 41.843E , 1,000 m a.s.l. , collected in October 2006 by T. Wilms. MorphoBank pictures: M407306–M407312. Paratype . ZFMK 86583 , subadult male, Mahazat as-Sayd, near Al Muwayh , Makkah Province , Saudi Arabia , 22.395N 41.753E , 960 m a.s.l. , collected in October 2006 by T. Wilms. MorphoBank picture: M410851. Diagnosis A species of Mesalina and a member of the M. brevirostris species complex as revealed by the genetic analyses and characterised by the following combination of characters: (i) genetic (uncorrected) distance of 2.0% from M. brevirostris , 2.7% from M. bernoullii and 2.8% from M. microlepis for the 12S (after Gblocks); 2.9% from M. brevirostris , 3.3% from M. bernoullii and 4.0% from M. microlepis for the 16S (after Gblocks); 9.5% from M. brevirostris , 7.5% from M. bernoullii and 10.8% from M. microlepis for the cytb ; (ii) low number of dorsal scales (41–42); (iii) low number of collar plates (6–8); (iv) low number of preanal scales (2–3); (v) low number of femoral pores in males (12–13); (vi) having 1–2 large semitransparent scales in the lower eyelid window; (vii) in life, dorsum light cinnamon–brown with a pattern of small whitish and larger dark cinnamon spots arranged in more or less regular longitudinal rows. Most of the whitish spots are not edged with dark brown colour. The dark cinnamon–brown spots predominate on flanks where they form a characteristic longitudinal lateral row that continues onto the tail. Ventral side is bright white, sharply contrasting with the colouration of the dorsum. F I G U R E 4 Holotype of Mesalina saudiarabica sp. n. (ZFMK 91912). (a) General body habitus; (b) lateral and (c) dorsal view of the head. More photographs of the specimen are available in high resolution at MorphoBank, project 2355, pictures M407306–M407312 Detailed description of M. saudiarabica sp. n. is given in the Supplementary Materials.