© The Authors, 2013. Journal compilation © Australian Museum, Sydney, 2013 
Records of the Australian Museum 65(3): 51-63 (2013). 
ISSN 0067-1975 (print), ISSN 2201-4349 (online) 
http://dx.doi.Org/10.3853/j.2201-4349.65.2013.1600 
Taxonomic Assessment of the 
Ctenophorus decresii Complex (Reptilia: Agamidae) 
Reveals a New Species of Dragon Lizard 
from Western New South Wales 
Claire A. McLean 12 *, Adnan Moussalli 2 , Steve Sass 3 4 , and Devi Stuart-Fox 1 
1 Department of Zoology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville VIC 3010, Australia 
2 Sciences Department, Museum Victoria, Carlton Gardens VIC 3053, Australia 
3 EnviroKey, PO Box 7231, Tathra NSW 2550, Australia 
4 Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Thurgoona NSW 2640, Australia 
mcleanca@unimelb.edu.au 
Abstract. We describe a new species of agamid lizard, Ctenophorus mirrityana sp.nov. currently 
known from two disjunct populations in western New South Wales. The species is a member of the C. 
decresii species complex, and was formerly recognized as an outlying population of C. decresii due to 
similarities in dorsal colour pattern and adjacent distributions. Previous work documented deep molecular 
divergence, across multiple loci, with no genetic admixture between the new species and proximal C. 
decresii populations. We find that the new species differs in morphology from all other members of the 
species complex and is characterized by distinct male throat and lateral coloration, a small head size relative 
to snout-vent length, a large number of labial scales, and a lack of tubercular scales. We also identify 
two geographically structured lineages ( northern and southern ) within C. decresii as requiring further 
taxonomic investigation, based on notable genetic and morphological (including colour) divergence. We 
find that divergence in coloration is associated with genetic and body form differentiation within the C. 
decresii species complex. 
McLean, Claire A., Adnan Moussalli, Steve Sass, and Devi Stuart-Lox. 2013. Taxonomic assessment of the 
Ctenophorus decresii complex (Reptilia: Agamidae) reveals a new species of Dragon Lizard from western New South 
Wales. Records of the Australian Museum 65(3): 51-63. 
Keywords: Agamidae; Barrier Range; colour variation; Ctenophorus mirrityana ; reptilian morphology 
Ctenophorus is the most diverse Australian genus of agamid 
lizards, comprising 28 small to moderate sized, dry to arid 
adapted species (Houston & Hutchinson, 1998; Wilson & 
Swan, 2010). Within South Australia (SA), the Ctenophorus 
decresii complex consists of four closely related, rock- 
inhabiting species: C. decresii (Dumeril & Bibron 1837), 
C.fionni (Procter 1923), C. tjantjalka Johnston 1992, and 
C. vadnappa (Houston 1974), with C. rufescens (Stirling & 
Zietz 1893) as a sister clade to the group (Melville et al, 
2001; Chen etal ., 2012). All species are sexually dimorphic 
with cryptically coloured females and larger, brightly 
coloured males which perform conspicuous courtship and 
* author for correspondence 
