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| Hemiphyllodactylus venkatadri Bhupathi, Ray, Narayana, Karuthapandi, Jaiswal, Kar & Mohapatra, 2025 |
Abstract
A new species of the genus Hemiphyllodactylus (slender geckos) is described from the Tirumala Hill ranges in the Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve of the southern Eastern Ghats, Andhra Pradesh, southern India. This novel species exhibits 9.7–12.9% divergence in uncorrected pairwise distances of NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) sequence data from its closely related congeners in peninsular India, namely H. jnana (9.5–12.6%), H. nilgiriensis (10.9–12.9%), and H. peninsularis (10.5–11.2%), and had previously been suggested as an undescribed species by earlier researchers based on molecular phylogenetic analyses. The new species, represented by five individuals, reached a maximum observed snout–vent length (SVL) of 33.7 mm and differs from its peninsular Indian congeners by the following combination of characters: 12–16 chin scales; 16–17 dorsal scales; 9–11 ventral scales at midbody; males with 6–8 precloacal pores and 5–7 femoral pores on each thigh, separated by 7–10 poreless scales; and lamellar formula of manus 2-2-2-2 and pes 2-2-2-2. This is the second species of the genus Hemiphyllodactylus to be reported from Andhra Pradesh, after H. arakuensis.
Key Words: cryptic diversity, Hemiphyllodactylus venkatadri sp. nov., molecular phylogeny, slender geckos, taxonomy
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| Holotype (FBRC-ZSI-17) of Hemiphyllodactylus venkatadri sp. nov. in life. |
Hemiphyllodactylus venkatadri sp. nov.
Diagnosis. Hemiphyllodactylus venkatadri sp. nov. is characterized by a small adult body size (SVL 22.3–33.7 mm; n = 5), consistent with the generally slender habitus typical of the genus Hemiphyllodactylus. Diagnostic differentiation from congeners is instead based on the combination of morphological characters such as 12–16 chin scales; postmentals not enlarged; supralabials 9–12, infralabials 9–12; 16–18 dorsal scales, 9–16 ventral scales at mid-body are contained within one longitudinal eye diameter, 6–8 precloacal pores separated by 7–10 poreless scales from a series of 5–7 femoral pores on each ...
Etymology. The specific epithet Venkatadri is a toponym for the type locality in the Tirumala Hill ranges in the Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve in Andhra Pradesh, India. The name Venkatadri is derived from two Sanskrit words: Venkata, meaning ‘one who removes sins’—one of the names of Lord Vishnu in the Hindu religion associated with the sacred Tirumala—and Adri, meaning mountain.
Suggested common English name. Venkatadri slender gecko.
Bharath Bhupathi, Sumidh Ray, B. Laxmi Narayana, M. Karuthapandi, Deepa Jaiswal, Niladri B. Kar and Pratyush P. Mohapatra. 2025. A New Species of Hemiphyllodactylus Bleeker, 1860 (Squamata, Gekkonidae) from Eastern Ghats, Andhra Pradesh, India. Herpetozoa. 38: 333-343. DOI: doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.38.e167113
