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| Goniurosaurus chengzheng Zhu, Li & He in Zhu, Liu, ... et He, 2021. Chengzheng Cave Gecko | 诚正睑虎 || |
Abstract
Six species of geckos in the genus Goniurosaurus have been recorded from Guangxi, China. Here we describe a new species, Goniurosaurus chengzheng sp. nov. The new species is similar to allied species from Guangxi, but unique in a combination of the following characters: (1) four body bands with three between limb insertions; (2) precloacal pores 20; (3) body color reddish- brown; (4) snout to eye distance: eye to ear distance < 1. We used the mitochondrial genes 16S and cytb to confirm the distinctiveness of the species and place it within a molecular phylogeny of Goniurosaurus. The type specimens are deposited in the Museum of Biology, East China Normal University (ECNU).
Key words: gecko, taxonomy, molecular phylogeny, karst, Guangxi, China
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| Goniurosaurus chengzheng sp. nov. from Guangxi, China. A. Adult female (photographed in 2017, but not collected); B. Scalation and coloration characters of the head of the holotype; C. Adult male, holotype. (photos by Zhu Xiao-Yu) |
Goniurosaurus chengzheng Zhu, Li & He sp. nov.
Diagnosis. Goniurosaurus chengzheng sp. nov. differs from other congeners by a combination of the following characters: SE shorter than EE (Table 3); one nuchal loop, four body bands; number of precloacal pores 20; body color reddish brown in life (Table 4).
Distribution and Life History. Goniurosaurus chengzheng sp. nov. is only known from central Guangxi, China at 100-250 m elevation. The known distributions of G. chengzheng sp. nov. and G. gezhi are not overlapping and are separated by the Zuo River. Specimens of the new species were found on limestone and soil slopes near a swallet at night. Goniurosaurus chengzheng sp. nov. was found to co-occur with Moellendorf’s Rat Snake (Elaphe moellendorffi Boettger) and a terrestrial crab (Tiwaripotamon sp.) in the limestone area.
Etymology. The specific epithet chengzheng is from the Chinese phonetic alphabet 诚正, which was noted in the ancient work of Chinese literature Daxue around 2000 years ago. It means having true ideas to put one’s mind in a proper and well-ordered condition. The word chengzheng is often used in parallel with gezhi. Given this new species is sister to G. gezhi in our molecular phylogeny, we use chengzheng for the specific epithet. For the common name, we suggest “Chengzheng Cave Gecko, 诚正睑虎”.
Xiao-Yu Zhu, Yi-Jiao Liu, Yun Bai, Cristian Román-Palacios, Zheng Li and Zhu-Qing He. 2021. Goniurosaurus chengzheng sp. nov., A New Species of Leopard Gecko from Guangxi, China (Squamata: Eublepharidae). Zootaxa. 4996(3); 540-554. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4996.3.8
Xiao-Yu Zhu, Guang-Yu Chen, Cristian Román-Palacios, Zheng Li and Zhu-Qing He. 2020. Goniurosaurus gezhi sp. nov., A New Gecko Species from Guangxi, China (Squamata: Eublepharidae). Zootaxa. 4852(2); 211–222. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4852.2.6
