Unexpected diversity of pricklenape agamas in Vietnam: Another new cryptic species of Acanthosaura Gray 1831 (Reptilia: Agamidae) from the Central Highlands.

Based on integrative taxonomic analyses, we describe a new species of Acanthosaura from Krong Bong forest, Dak Lak Province, the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Acanthosaura grismeri sp. nov. differs morphologically from its congeners by a combination of the following characteristics: size moderate (SVL 77.20-91.98 mm in males, 102.70-113.09 mm in females); the absence of diastema between short nuchal and dorsal crest spines; vertebral crest includes a single row of enlarged, keeled, pointed scales; color of dorsal surface green in males and light brown and green-yellow with scattered black spots in females; the absence of black eye patch; black or brown lines from canthus rostralis-supraciliary line downward to upper eye margin, and a white band from lower eye margin downward to lip edge. Phylogenetic analyses using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference methods for the COI gene support the monophyly of Acanthosaura grismeri sp. nov. The uncorrected pairwise distance between the new species and its congeners ranges from 7.82% to 25.36%. With the description of this species, 22 species of Acanthosaura are recognized, half of them occurring in Vietnam.