Cyrtopodion baturense ( Khan & Baig 1992 )

Auffenberg, Kurt, Krysko, Kenneth L. & Rehman, Hafizur, 2010, Studies on Pakistan Lizards: Cyrtopodion baturense (Khan and Baig 1992) and Cyrtopodion walli (Ingoldby 1922) (Sauria: Gekkonidae), Zootaxa 2636, pp. 1-20 : 4-7

Cyrtopodion baturense ( Khan & Baig 1992)

Figures 1–3

Tenuidactylus baturensis Khan & Baig 1992 , Pakistan Journal of Zoology 24:273. Type locality: Pasu, Gilgit Agency Pakistan, 3620’N, 7450’E, 2,446 m.

Cyrtodactylus baturensis (lapsus calami) Khan 1999, Pakistan Journal of Zoology 31:278.

Mesodactylus baturensis Khan 1999 , Pakistan Journal of Zoology 31:278.

Altigekko baturensis Khan 2003 , Journal of Natural History and Wildlife 2:2.

Specimens examined. Gilgit Agency, Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA), Pakistan: Pasu (often spelled Passu), BMNH 1990.3 (holotype; Fig. 1 ), paratypes CAS 170529 and USNM 284136 ( Fig. 2 ) from holotype locality; Dih, Hunza District, UF 79147 ( Fig. 3 ).

Description of holotype. Female. Snout-vent length (SVL) = 50.9 mm; tail regenerated; head length [HL]/SVL = 0.265; head width [HW]/HL = 0.637; head height [HH]/HW = 0.616; eye diameter [EYD]/eye– nostril [EYN] = 0.697; ear diameter [EAD]/EYD = 0.233; three post-nasals; one medial scale between postnasals; nine supralabials; seven infralabials; 14 interorbitals; nine scales surrounding roundish dorsal tubercles; 141 scales between post-mentals and cloaca; 26 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; three pairs of post-mentals; four large, lateral tubercles on each tail whorl; dark color bands: one on head, one on nape, and five on body; 15 scales between eye and ear; 10 longitudinal rows of tubercles; 27 transverse rows of ventrals at mid-body; 12–13 subdigital lamellae on first toe; two cloacal spines; 20 subdigital lamellae on fourth finger; first pair of post-mentals in contact; head scales homogenous in size; mental triangular; tail whorls distinct; pre-cloacal pores absent; dark color bar from nostril through eye; femoral spines and pores absent; enlarged tubercles on limbs ( Fig. 1 ).

Variation. Medium-sized geckos (SVL of largest adult = 58.5 mm), tail longer than body; limbs moderate, hind limb extends to just beyond axilla, forelimb to nostril; body and head moderately dorsoventrally compressed. Head moderate (HL/SVL, mean = 0.268 + 0.008, HW/HL, mean = 0.630 + 0.010, HH/ HW, mean = 0.591 + 0.026), snout slightly longer than distance between eye and ear. Eye large (EYD/EYN, mean = 0.735 + 0.057; ear opening ovate to roundish, prominent, EAD/EYD, mean = 0.253 + 0.027. Nostril bordered by rostral, first supralabial, and three postnasals, medial postnasal largest, others subequal in size; one medial scale between postnasals. Dorsal head scales homogeneous in shape, slightly larger on snout; scattered flattened tubercles in occipital region; 14–19 interorbital scales; loreals with small projections on posterior half of eye; 15–16 scales between eye and ear opening; rostral partially cleft; nine to 10 supralabials, seven to eight infralabials. Mental triangular, longer than broad. Three pairs of postmentals, decreasing in size posteriorly, first pair in contact, with a broad suture. Dorsum of body and limbs with small roundish, beaded to flat scales intermixed with larger, roundish tubercles; tubercles surrounded by rosettes of eight - nine small scales; tubercles two–three times larger than granular scales, smooth, flat to rounded, often conical laterally; arranged in ten longitudinal rows at midbody, lateral rows indistinct; limbs with scattered enlarged dorsal tubercles. Lateral fold indistinct, often absent. Venter with roundish, slightly imbricate scales, 27–30 across middle of belly; 141–150 from postmentals to cloaca; gulars small. Pre-cloacal pores absent. Femoral pores and spines absent. Subfemoral scales large, in five series, imbricate, slightly larger than ventrals. Cloacal spines present, two per side. Digits moderate, subdigital lamellae well-developed, smooth, nearly as broad as digit, 20–21 on fourth finger, 20–22 on first toe, 24–26 on fourth toe. Tail dorso-ventrally compressed in anterior two-thirds, round posterior one-third; anterior half with dorsal medial groove; anterior half distinctly segmented, tapering to point; seven to nine whorls in anterior third of tail; each segment in anterior half with two enlarged dorso-lateral tubercles (medial tubercle smallest, keeled, other bluntly acuminate) and two much larger, acuminate, lateral tubercles per side; tubercles reduced in size and number distally, indistinct or absent on posterior one-third; eight–ten rows of scales per whorl, terminal row not enlarged, comprised of a series of small squarish scales ( Fig. 2 ); base of tail with numerous small scales below, transverse series of five to six larger scales, slightly larger than adjacent scales at third whorl; regenerated tail of holotype swollen and lobed, whereas paratype (USNM 284136) (broken at third whorl), not swollen nor lobed; dorsum of regenerated tail uniformly covered with small, flat to bluntly conical scales; regenerated subcaudals much larger than dorsal scales with transverse series of three or four scales largest.

Dorsal ground color light to medium gray with seven to eight irregular transverse darker brown bands, with even darker posterior margins, one in occipital area, one at nape, and five to six on body; nine to 15 dark bars on tail, regenerated tail with elongated brown speckles; limbs with short brown bars; grayish-brown bar from nostril through eye; top of head irregularly mottled; labials with dark blotches and specks; venter whitish.

Distribution. Known only from the holotype locality and nearby village of Dih, Hunza District ( Fig. 4 ). Habitat. Found on side of stone wall and under stones on hillsides from 2,438–3,078 m elevation.

Reproduction. All previously known specimens are female. UF 79147 collected 12 July 1990 is also a female, with one vitellogenic follicle in each ovary. Khan & Baig (1992:276) do not mention if their specimens were gravid. Khan & Baig (1992) speculate that males of high altitude gecko species are rare or absent based on the small number of males encountered by Gruber (1981) (~ 14%, 2 males out of 14 specimens) and by the absence of males in the few specimens of C. baturense so far collected.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Holotype (BMNH 1990.3) of Cyrtopodion baturense (Khan & Baig 1992). A. dorsal and B. ventral views.

FIGURE 2. Paratype (USNM 284136) of Cyrtopodion baturense (Khan & Baig 1992) illustrating three non-generated whorls at tail base.

FIGURE 3. Cyrtopodion baturense (Khan & Baig 1992) from Dih, Hunza District, UF 79147. A. dorsal and B. ventral views.

FIGURE 4. Distribution of Cyrtopodion baturense (squares), C. walli (circles), and C. stoliczkai (triangle). Star within symbol indicates holotype locality for respective taxon. Note that additional records for C. stoliczkai, including the type locality, occur in northern Kashmir, about 300 km southeast of locality above (see Auffenberg et al., 2004).