Three additional lizard ( Squamata : Sauria ) records for Mizoram , India

Acknowledgements: Lalmalsawma Khawlhring thanks the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), New Delhi for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and Dr. Kalidas Upadhyaya, Principal Investigator, Department of Forestry, Mizoram University for support. We also thank Abhijit Das, Division of Herpetology, Aaranyak, Guwahati, Assam for help in identification. We thank Prof. G.C. Jagetia, HOD of Zoology, Mizoram University for laboratory facilities.

area of Lengteng Wildlife Sanctuary (80km 2 ), Champhai District, about 150km to the northeast of Aizawl.While surveying the floral diversity of Lengteng Wildlife Sanctuary, the specimen was found on the roadside resting on the branch of Glochidion khasicum (Euphorbiaceae), at a height of 2m from the ground.Photograph of this individual at the microhabitat is presented (Image 2).The forest type is subtropical semi-evergreen, corresponding to the sub-tropical hill forest (Champion & Seth 1968) of Mizoram.The floral community of the collection site is dominated by the herb Ageratum adenophorum and patches of Maesa indica, and Eurya cerasifolia are also found.Trees of Quercus leucotrichophora, Lithocarpus dealbata, Schima wallichii, Lyonia ovalifolia and Vaccinium sprengelii also occur.
The specimen was kept in captivity alive for four days for behavioural studies.In the absence of sunlight, ventral side and flanks became light brown with the green colour persisting on the dorsum.In sunlight the whole body colour restored to bright green.In captivity, the individual preferred crickets though offered house-flies, moths and grasshoppers.The specimen was euthanized, preserved and catalogued as MZU/ ZOO/R-034 in the Museum of the Zoology Department, Mizoram University.
This record extends the range by ca.240km, southeast from the Khasi Hills in Meghalaya, with the possibility of occurrence in the contiguous hill ranges.

Calotes mystaceus Duméril & Bibron, 1837 (Image 3) Family: Agamidae
An individual Calotes mystaceus was observed perching on the branch of Pinus kesiya, about 3m above the ground at the secondary forest area of Zotlang (23 0 28'23.5''N& 93 0 19'59.2"E,1,500m), Champhai Town, Champhai District on 26 May 2008 around 1600hr.It was collected and kept for observation in captivity for two weeks in the departmental terrarium.The lizard remained greyish-brown colour inside the shaded terrarium, the head and anterior portion of the trunk turned to bright blue colour within five minutes after exposure to the sun.The animal was later preserved and catalogued as MZU/ZOO/R-038.Three more specimens, MZU/ZOO/R-039, MZU/ZOO/R-040 and MZU/ZOO/R-041 were collected from the same area during the month of February in 2009.Other agamids found in sympatry are Calotes jerdoni and Calotes versicolor.

Discussion
These records are of interest for extending their distribution southwards in northeastern India.It is noteworthy that none of these species are common lizards.Local sources informed that Calotes mystaceus is common in Champhai Town area, while Ophisaurus gracilis was seen occasionally and Calotes maria was rare.

Species
While surveying the herpetofauna of Aizawl City, around 0730hr on 19 May 2008, a limbless lizard (MZU/ZOO/R-035) was seen basking in the sun inside the mixed plantation area of Brassica campestris, Acacia pennata, Trevesia palmata and Curcuma longa at Mualpui (23 0 43.081'N & 92 0 43.668'E; 802m), Aizawl where the atmospheric air temperature and relative humidity were 25 0 C and 74%, respectively.We were informed that another specimen was killed the previous day by the local people the remains were salvaged from the leaf litter 10m away from the spot of occurrence of the first sample.It was preserved and catalogued as MZU/ZOO/R-036.On 22 May 2008 another specimen (MZU/ZOO/R-037) was collected from the same locality.All of them were identified as Ophisaurus gracilis.The dorsal and ventral scale rows for each specimen were 16 and 10, respectively.The specimen MZU/ZOO/R-035 Three additional lizard for Mizoram H.T. Lalremsanga et al.Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org| February 2010 | 2(2): 718-720 was kept in captivity for 64 days (19 May to 22 July 2008) to study behaviour and feeding habits.The saurian fauna of this area include Calotes versicolor, Cosymbotus platyurus, Eutropis macularia, Eutropis multifasciata, Gekko gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus, Hemidactylus garnoti, Ptyctolaemus gularis and Sphenomorphus maculatus.