[Herpetology • 2017] Cnemaspis leucura • A New Species of Rock Gecko Genus Cnemaspis (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Western Sarawak, Malaysia

Cnemaspis leucura 

Kurita, Nishikawa, Matsui & Hikida, 2017 

Curse Rock Gecko | DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4258.6.2

Abstract

A new species of Asian rock gecko, genus Cnemaspis, is described from Padawan, western Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. The new species forms a clade with C. paripari and C. nigridia of the C. nigridia group in a mitochondrial DNA phylogeny and is similar to them morphologically in some characters such as caudal scalation. It differs from the other Asian Cnemaspis species in its unique combination of snout–vent length (up to 62.7 mm), 4–9 precloacal pores in males, keeled subcaudals with an enlarged, smooth, median row, presence of ventrolateral caudal tubercles, and coloration (head and upper flanks dark-yellow; anterior portion of tail black; posterior portion of tail white with black, paravertebral blob). Phylogenetic relationships within the C. nigridia group and the distributional ranges of species within the group suggest allopatric speciation by geographic isolation.

Keywords: Borneo, Gunung Penrissen, sandstone, Cnemaspis nigridia group, Reptilia, Malaysia

 Cnemaspis leucura sp. nov., coloration in life of the holotype (SRC 00022)  

Etymology. The specific epithet leucura is from the Greek leukos and oura, meaning white-tailed, referring to white subcaudal color on the posterior part of tail in the male holotype. The generic name is feminine in gender.

Distribution. Cnemaspis leucura is known from the montane area of Gunung Penrissen, Kuching District, Sarawak, East Malaysia.


 Takaki Kurita, Kanto Nishikawa, Masafumi Matsui and Tsutomu Hikida. 2017. A New Species of Rock Gecko Genus Cnemaspis (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Western Sarawak, Malaysia. Zootaxa. 4258(6); 525–538.  DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4258.6.2