Cnemaspis niyomwanae Grismer, Sumontha, Cota, Grismer, Wood, Pauwels & Kunya, 2010a

Niyomwan’s Rock Gecko

Fig. 13

Holotype. THNHM 15910. Type locality: “ Thum Khao Ting, Palean District, Trang Province, Thailand (07°09.943N, 99°48.142E) at 28 m in elevation.”

Diagnosis. Maximum SVL 56.8 mm; 8–11 supralabials; 6–8 infralabials; ventral scales smooth; three usually contiguous, pore-bearing precloacal scales with round pores; 26–31 paravertebral tubercles; body tubercles randomly arranged, absent from flanks and from lateral caudal furrows; no ventrolateral caudal tubercles; no lateral row of caudal tubercles; caudal tubercles not encircling tail; subcaudals smooth bearing a median row of enlarged scales; one or two postcloacal tubercles on each side of tail base; no enlarged femoral, subtibial or submetatarsal scales; subtibials smooth; 31–34 subdigital fourth toe lamellae; and reddish bands on limbs in males (Tables 6,7).

Color pattern in life (Fig. 13). Dorsal ground color of head, body, and tail faded green; dorsal ground color of limbs faded brown; yellow stripe on each canthus rostralis; diffuse, light, paired, occipital blotches present; faint, light mottling on sides of head; whitish, medial blotch on nape followed posteriorly by five, lightly colored, paravertebral, butterfly-shaped markings between forelimb insertions and base of tail; markings continue onto tail to form lightly colored bands; enlarged, white tubercles on sides of neck, shoulders and flanks; other tubercles on body dark or lightly colored; faint, reddish dorsal blotches on body; upper regions of limbs bearing diffuse light mottling; alternating red and yellow bands on forelimbs and forelegs; digits white bearing broad, brown bands; all ventral surfaces except subcaudal region of uniform beige with fine, dark stippling in some scales; and subcaudal region grayish.

Distribution. Cnemaspis niyomwanae is known only from the border regions of Trang and Satun Provinces, Thailand (Fig. 4).

Natural history. Very little is known about the life history of Cnemaspis niyomwanae . Grismer et al. (2010a) reported that it occurs in lowland karst areas in the vicinity of small streams (Fig. 13) and that it is abroad at night. During the day, lizards retreat into limestone crevices and caves.

Relationships. Cnemaspis niyomwanae is a member of the Pattani clade and the sister species of C. kumpoli Taylor (Fig. 2).

Material examined. Thailand: Trang Province, Palean District, Thum Khao THNHM 15910. La-ngu District, Baan Man Pud CUMZ R-2009, 6,24-10, KZM 008, PSUZC-RT 2010.56, ZMKU Re-000315. These specimens represent the type series .