NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Bahir’s Fan- throated Lizard [bahiri]
Sitana ponticeriana Cuvier, 1829
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Sitana ponticeriana, the Pondichéry fan-throated lizard, is a species of agamid lizard found in eastern peninsular India. It was earlier thought to be widespread but studies in 2016 resulted in the splitting of the group into several species placed in two genera. The genus Sitana has an enlarged projecting scale on the posterior side of the hind thigh which is absent in the sister genus Sarada.
The species is found mostly on the ground in open ground patches in thin forests. When disturbed this lizard sometimes runs with a bipedal gait.
Wikipedia contributors, Sitana ponticeriana; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:22:45.246327+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Sitana ponticeriana Cuvier, 1829
- Name authority
- Cuvier, 1829
- Common name
- Bahir’s Fan- throated Lizard [bahiri]
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Agamidae
- Genus
- Sitana
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderIguania
- familyAgamidae
- subfamilyDraconinae
- genusSitana
- speciesSitana ponticeriana Cuvier, 1829
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Sitana. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Devaka’s Fan-throated LizardSitana devakai Amarasinghe, Ineich & Karunarathna, 2015 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dark SitanaSitana fusca Schleich & Kästle, 1998 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Broad-headed fan-throated lizardSitana laticeps Deepak & Giri, 2016 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Attenborough’s fan-throated lizardSitana marudhamneydhal Deepak, Khandekar, Varma & Chaitanya, 2016 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Spiny-headed fan-throated lizardSitana spinaecephalus Deepak, Vyas & Giri, 2016 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Palm leaf fan-throated lizardSitana visiri Deepak, 2016 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Nagarjuna Sagar fan-throated lizardSitana thondalu Deepak, Khandekar, Chaitanya & Karanth, 2018 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gokak fan-throated lizardSitana gokakensis Deepak, Khandekar, Chaitanya & Karanth, 2018 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Suklaphantah sitanaSitana schleichi Anders & Kästle, 2002 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Sitana minor Günther, 1864 Günther, 1864 | synonym |
| Sitana ponticeriana mucronata Deraniyagala, 1958 Deraniyagala, 1958 | synonym |
| Sitana deccanensis Jerdon, 1870 Jerdon, 1870 | ambiguous synonym |
| Sitana bahiri Amarasinghe et al. ex Amarasinghe et al., 2015 Amarasinghe et al. ex Amarasinghe et al., 2015 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Sitana&species=ponticeriana Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4XT57. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.