Three more novel species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata, Gekkonidae) from Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India

Vertebrate Zoology

article

Akshay Khandekar¹  Tejas Thackeray¹  Ishan Agarwal¹ 

[1] Thackeray Wildlife Foundation;Shivaji University

关键词: Biodiversity hotspot;    dwarf geckos;    endemic species;    southern India;    taxonomy;    Western Ghats;   

DOI  :  10.3897/vz.72.e82343

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Pensoft

【 摘 要 】

We describe three distinct, small-bodied, scansorial species of south Asian Cnemaspis from Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu, India—Cnemaspis azhagu sp. nov. from Thirukurungudi forest range, Cnemaspis mundanthuraiensis sp. nov. from Mundanthurai forest range and Cnemaspis kalakadensis sp. nov. from Kalakad forest range. Phylogenetic analyses using a partial sequence of the mitochondrial ND2 gene and general morphology places each of the three new species in the beddomei, gracilis and littoralis clades, respectively. The three new species are diagnosed from all other described members of their respective clades by a suite of differing morphological characters including snout vent length, number of dorsal tubercle rows at mid-body, number of paravertebral tubercles, presence or absence of spine-like scales on flanks, number of ventral scales across belly at mid-body, number of ventral scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca, number of lamellae under digit IV of pes, number of femoral and/or precloacal pores and poreless scales separating these series, as well as subtle colouration differences. We also provide some novel characters of tail tuberculation of the three new species described herein. With the discovery of these three new species, eight species of geckos including five Cnemaspis are now known to be endemic to KMTR.

【 授权许可】

CC BY