McLean et al .: A new dragon lizard from New South Wales 
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Fig. 3. Male throat coloration of Ctenophorus mirrityana sp. nov. (A), southern C. decresii (B), and the four colour morphs of northern 
C. decresii. grey (C), orange (D), orange and yellow (E), and yellow (F) (photo C. McLean). 
Diagnosis 
A member of the Ctenophorus decresii species complex 
(Houston & Hutchinson, 1998), C. mirrityana sp. nov. is a 
moderately sized, sexually dimorphic, rock-dwelling dragon 
lizard with a strongly compressed head and body (Fig. 
7). Within the species complex, C. mirrityana sp. nov. is 
distinguishable by the following combination of characters: 
head relatively small for body size; snout scales keeled or 
weakly wrinkled; vertebral scales flat and pale in colour; 
black lateral stripe from tympanum to groin; thinner, non- 
continuous orange stripe within black lateral stripe; flanks 
lack tubercular scales; male throat coloration pale cream 
with parallel grey stripes and black central stripe sometimes 
overlain with orange flushes. 
Description 
A moderately sized dragon lizard reaching a maximum 
SVL of approximately 91 mm and total length of 266 mm. 
Head strongly compressed and small for body size (relative 
to other members of the species complex; Appendix 2); 
nostril located beneath a sharp canthus rostralis. Body and 
base of tail dorsoventrally flattened, allowing the species 
to squeeze into narrow rock crevices. Tail long and evenly 
tapered to a fine tip; forelimbs moderately long reaching or 
almost reaching groin when adpressed; hindlimbs long and 
reaching or almost reaching snout when adpressed, digits 
are long and slender; finger lengths: 4>3>5>2>l;toe 
lengths: 4>3>5>2>1. 
Characteristic of the genus Ctenophorus , a row of 
