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| Cnemaspis cavernicola Khandekar, Thackeray, Kalaimani & Agarwal, 2023 Photos by Akshay Khandekar. |
Abstract
We describe two new small-bodied, sympatric species of south Asian Cnemaspis belonging to the mysoriensis + adii clade from the Gingee Hills in Tamil Nadu, peninsular India. The two new species can be easily distinguished from the other eight described members of the mysoriensis + adii clade by their dorsal pholidosis, the configuration of femoral and precloacal pores in males, a number of meristic characters and subtle differences in colouration, beside 6.7–20.8 % uncorrected pairwise ND2 sequence divergence. The two species represent different ecomorphs, one a stouter, microhabitat generalist and the other a more slender, elongate rock specialist. The discovery of two new species from granite boulder habitats and Tropical Dry Evergreen Forests is indicative of the importance of these areas for biodiversity. It is likely that similar rocky habitats across southern peninsular India will harbour many more undescribed species.
Keywords: Endemic species, granite boulders, integrative taxonomy, micro-endemism, southern India
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| Cnemaspis pakkamalaiensis sp. nov., in life: A adult male (holotype, NRC-AA-1280), B adult female (paratype, NRC-AA-1285). Photos by Akshay Khandekar. |
Cnemaspis pakkamalaiensis sp. nov.
Chresonymy: Cnemaspis otai Ganesh et al. (2018);
Karthik et al. (2018)
Diagnosis: A small-sized Cnemaspis, snout to vent length less than 29 mm (n = 6). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granular scales intermixed with a few scattered enlarged keeled tubercles on vertebral and paravertebral region and about three irregularly arranged rows of large, weakly keeled, tubercles on each side of flank, tubercles in lowest row largest, spine-like; six rows of dorsal tubercles; ventral scales smooth, subcircular, subimbricate, 25–27 scales across belly, 100–112 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca; subdigital scansors smooth, entire, unnotched; 8–11 total lamellae under digit I of manus and pes, 14–16 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 17–21 lamellae under digit IV of pes; males (n = 5) with two femoral pores on each thigh separated on either side by 8–11 poreless scales from two continuous precloacal pores; tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; a median row of subcaudals smooth, slightly enlarged. Dorsal colouration straw brown with a broad, light mid-dorsal streak formed by five or six fused elongate chain-links from occiput to tail base, single medial dark spot on nape, dark paired spots on either side of mid-dorsal streak, four pairs between forelimb insertions and tail base, tail with nine alternating light and dark markings.
Etymology: The specific epithet is a toponym for Pakkamalai, Gingee Hills in Viluppuram district of Tamil Nadu state, the type and only known locality for this species.
Suggested Common Name: Pakkamalai dwarf gecko.
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| Cnemaspis cavernicola sp. nov. in life: A adult male (holotype, NRC-AA-1286), B adult female (paratype, NRC-AA-1290). Photos by Akshay Khandekar. |
Cnemaspis cavernicola sp. nov.
Diagnosis: A small-sized Cnemaspis, snout to vent length less than 34 mm (n = 5). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granular scales in vertebral and paravertebral region, intermixed with about two or three regularly arranged rows of large, weakly keeled tubercles on each side of flank, tubercles in lowest row largest and spine-like; 4–6 rows of dorsal tubercles; ventral scales smooth, subcircular, subimbricate, 28–32 scales across belly, 116–125 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca; subdigital scansors smooth, entire, unnotched; 10–12 total lamellae under digit I of manus and pes, 15–19 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 18–21 lamellae under digit IV of pes; males (n = 3) with one or two femoral pores on each thigh separated on either side by 8–10 poreless scales from a continuous series of three precloacal pores; tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; a median row of subcaudals smooth, distinctly enlarged. Dorsal colouration grey-brown with a single medial dark spot on nape followed by four light blotches from forelimb insertions to tail base, tail with 12–14 alternating light and dark bars.
Etymology: The specific epithet is an adjective formed from the Latin “caverna’ for cave and “cola” meaning inhabitant or dweller, as the species is only known to occur in caves and crevices below large granite boulders.
Suggested Common Name: Cave-dwelling dwarf gecko.
Akshay Khandekar, Tejas Thackeray, Ayuthavel Kalaimani and Ishan Agarwal. 2023. Two New Species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Gingee Hills, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 73: 887-913. DOI: 10.3897/vz.73.e110512
