Kolkata: A scientific thriller courting again to the nineteenth century has lastly been solved by researchers on the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).ZSI scientists Sumidh Ray and Pratyush P Mohapatra have resolved long-standing confusion surrounding the identification of a desert lizard first described over 150 years in the past by famend Austro-Hungarian naturalist Ferdinand Stoliczka. The Persian long-tailed desert lizard (Mesalina watsonana), was initially described in 1872 from the Sindh area—now in modern-day Pakistan.Through the years, scientists have been confounded by conflicting information and scattered kind specimens, or syntypes, held in museums in Kolkata, London and Vienna. And not using a single designated “name-bearing” specimen, the species’ identification remained shrouded in ambiguity.Ray and Mohapatra designated a single specimen—ZSI-R-5050, housed within the ZSI’s Kolkata assortment—because the official lectotype. This designation offers a transparent and everlasting reference level for the species’ identification. “This clarification is important not only for taxonomy, however for ongoing analysis into desert lizard diversity throughout South and Central Asia,” stated Dhriti Banerjee, director of the ZSI.“Stoliczka’s collections are foundational to our understanding of regional herpetofauna, and this designation honours his enduring legacy.” The findings, printed within the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa, are anticipated to help future analysis on species complexes inside Mesalina and spotlight the function of preserving and reassessing museum collections.
