Cnemaspis shevaroyensis, Khandekar & Gaitonde & Agarwal, 2019
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4609.1.3 |
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publication LSID |
lsid:zoobank.org:pub:FF36B5CC-0ECE-4F16-9002-CA04F9352A05 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/270A8969-2C5C-FFFC-FF65-F806FDFDECC3 |
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treatment provided by |
Plazi |
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scientific name |
Cnemaspis shevaroyensis |
| status |
sp. nov. |
Cnemaspis shevaroyensis sp. nov.
Figs. 6 E&F View FIGURE 6 , 7 C&D View FIGURE 7 , 8 View FIGURE 8 , 9 View FIGURE 9 , 10 View FIGURE 10 ; Table 5 View TABLE 5 .
Holotype. NCBS-BH674 , adult male, from near Kottachedu Kari Raman Temple, Yercaud, in the Shevaroys (11.819° N 78.270° E; ca. 811 m asl.), Salem district , Tamil Nadu state, India, collected by A. Khandekar, I. Agarwal and N. Gaitonde on 13 September 2018. GoogleMaps
Paratypes. BNHS 2530 View Materials , BNHS 2531 View Materials , adult males, NCBS-BH675 , NCBS-BH674 , BNHS 2529 View Materials , adult females, same data as holotype GoogleMaps .
Etymology. The specific epithet shevaroyensis is a toponym for the Shevaroy massif in Salem district of Tamil Nadu, the type and only known locality for this species.
Suggested Common Name. Shevaroy dwarf gecko
Diagnosis and comparison with Indian congeners: A medium-sized Cnemaspis , snout to vent length less than 35 mm. Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous, weakly keeled, granular scales intermixed with large, strongly keeled, conical scales, 10–14 rows of dorsal scales, 13–17 scales in paravertebral rows; spine-like scales absent on flanks. Ventral scales smooth, subimbricate, 21–24 scales across belly, 111–118 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca. Subdigital scansors smooth, entire, unnotched; lamellae under IV digit of pes 16–20. Males with four femoral pores on each thigh, separated on either side by 7–9 poreless scales from 2–4 precloacal pores; precloacal pores separated medially by two or three poreless scales. Tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles forming whorls; a median row of sub-caudals smooth, enlarged. Dorsum with 6–8 light grey vertebral blotches between neck to tail base; two single dorsal ocelli on occiput and between forelimb insertions, two pairs on either side just anterior and posterior to forelimb insertions; throat off-white, strongly suffused yellow on lateral margins with three black longitudinal streaks running parallel to each other; original tail in males with alternating black and whitish-grey bands, regenerated tail orange.
Cnemaspis shevaroyensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other Indian congeners on the basis of the following differing or non-overlapping characters: spine-like tubercles absent on flanks (versus spine-like tubercles present on flanks in C. amboliensis , C. assamensis , C. flaviventralis , C. goaensis , C. jerdonii , C. littoralis , C. monticola , C. mysoriensis and C. nilagirica ); scales on dorsal aspect of trunk heterogeneous (versus scales on dorsal aspect of trunk homogeneous in C. adii , C. assamensis , C. australis , C. boiei , C. indica , C. jerdonii , C. kolhapurensis , C. littoralis , C. nilagirica and C. sisparensis ); tail with median row of sub-caudal scales smooth and enlarged (versus median row of sub-caudal scales smooth and not enlarged in C. ajijae , C. flaviventralis , C. girii , C. limayei ; and C. monticola ; C. australis with keeled sub-caudals), absence of keeled scales on the venter or gular regions (versus keeled scales on the venter or gular region in C. beddomei and C. goaensis ), males with four femoral pores on each thigh, separated on either side by 7–9 poreless scales from 2–4 precloacal pores; precloacal pores separated medially by two or three poreless scales (versus precloacal pores absent, femoral pores present in C. ajijae , C. anaikattiensis , C. flaviventralis , C. girii , C. indica , C. jerdonii , C. kottiyoorensis , C. limayei , C. littoralis , C. mahabali , C. sisparensis , C. heteropholis , C. wynadensis ; only precloacal pores present in C. anamudiensis , C. beddomei , C. maculicollis , C. nairi , C. ornata ; both femoral and precloacal pores absent in C. boiei , C. assamensis ; three femoral and four precloacal pores present in C. otai ; two femoral and two precloacal pores on each thigh in C. adii ; four or five femoral and three precloacal pores in C. australis ; 2–4 femoral and three precloacal pores in C. goaensis ; 4–6 femoral pores on each thigh, separated on either side by eight poreless scales from four precloacal pores; precloacal pores separated medially by a single poreless scale in C. agarwali ; 5–9 femoral pores on each thigh, separated on either side by 1–6 poreless scales from five or six precloacal pores; precloacal pores separated medially by one or two poreless scales in C. thackerayi sp. nov.; two femoral and two precloacal pores in C. mysoriensis ; three femoral and two precloacal pores in C. yercaudensis ; a continuous series of 26–28 precloacal-femoral pores in C. kolhapurensis ).
Cnemaspis shevaroyensis sp. nov. closely resembles C. gracilis , C. agarwali , and C. thackerayi sp. nov. However, it can be distinguished from all three by presence of four femoral pores on each thigh and 2–4 precloacal pores separated medially by two or three poreless scales (versus 4–6 femoral pores on each thigh and four precloacal pores separated medially by a single poreless scale in C. agarwali ; 5–9 femoral pores on each thigh and five or six precloacal pores separated medially by one or two poreless scales in C. thackerayi sp. nov.); lamellae under digit IV of pes 16–20 (versus lamellae under digit IV of pes 22 in C. gracilis ; 21–24 in C. thackerayi sp. nov.); maximum snout to vent length 34 mm (versus maximum SVL 41 mm in C. thackerayi sp. nov.); by having 10–14 rows of dorsal scales (versus 9–11 rows of dorsal scales in C. agarwali ); presence of two single dorsal ocelli on occiput and between forelimb insertions, two pairs on either side just anterior and posterior to forelimb insertions (versus presence of two single dorsal ocelli on occiput and between forelimb insertions in C. gracilis ; presence of single dorsal ocellus between forelimb insertions in C. thackerayi sp. nov.). Additionally, Cnemaspis shevaroyensis sp. nov. is 10.3 % divergent from C. gracilis ; 13.3 % divergent from C. cf. gracilis 7.9 % divergent from C. agarwali and 13.6 % divergent from C. thackerayi sp. nov. ( Table 2 View TABLE 2 ).
Description of the holotype. Adult male in good state of preservation except body fixed in slightly sigmoid manner and a 3.3 mm long incision in the sternal region for tissue collection as artefacts of preservation ( Fig. 8 A, B View FIGURE 8 ). SVL 30.4 mm, head short (HL/SVL ratio 0.25), wide (HW/HL ratio 0.68), not strongly depressed (HD/HL ratio 0.41), distinct from neck. Loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent. Snout just less than half head length (ES/HL ratio 0.49), 2.5 X eye diameter (ED/ES ratio 0.41); scales on snout and canthus rostralis large, weakly keeled, juxtaposed; larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; occipital and temporal region with much smaller granules, intermixed with larger, roughly rounded, tubercles ( Fig. 9 A View FIGURE 9 ). Eye small (ED/HL ratio 0.20); with round pupil; orbit with extra-brillar fringe scales that are largest anteriorly; supraciliaries not elongate. Earopening deep, vertical, small (EL/HL ratio 0.05); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE/ED ratio 1.62) ( Fig. 9 C View FIGURE 9 ). Rostral much wider (1.5 mm) than long (0.8 mm), incompletely divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove for more than half of its length; single enlarged supranasal on each side, roughly similar in size to postnasals, separated from each other by smaller single internasal and a single smaller scale on the snout; rostral in contact with supralabial I, nasal, supranasal and internasal; nostrils oval, each surrounded by postnasal, supranasal, rostral and supralabial I; a single row of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials ( Fig. 9 C View FIGURE 9 ). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, slightly wider (1.6 mm) than long (1.2 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair large, roughly rectangular, strongly in contact with each other, bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmentals and two enlarged chin shields; outer postmentals slightly smaller than inner postmentals, bordered by infralabials I, II, inner postmentals and four enlarged chin shields; two enlarged gular scales prevent contact of left and right outer postmentals; chin shields bordering postmentals flat, smooth, smaller than outermost postmentals, rest granular, much smaller, smooth. Infralabials bordered below by a row of slightly enlarged scales, decreasing in size posteriorly ( Fig. 9 B View FIGURE 9 ). Supralabials to angle of jaw seven (L) — eight (R) and six on either side at midorbit; supralabial I largest, decreasing in size posteriorly; seven infralabials on either side up to angle of jaw and six(L) — five(R) at midorbit position; infralabial I largest, decreasing in size posteriorly ( Fig. 9 C View FIGURE 9 ). Extra-brillar fringe scales 16 or 17 on each side, interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal six or seven; 27 or 28 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at midorbit ( Fig 9 A View FIGURE 9 ).
Body relatively slender, trunk less than half of SVL (AGL/SVL ratio 0.41) without ventrolateral folds or spinelike tubercles on flanks. Dorsal scales on trunk heterogeneous, weakly keeled, granular scales intermixed with much larger, strongly keeled, conical tubercles; tubercles in approximately 14 longitudinal rows at mid-body; 13 tubercles in paravertebral row from above forelimb insertion to the hind limb insertion ( Fig. 7 C View FIGURE 7 ). Scales on nape slightly smaller than those on paravertebral rows, smaller still on occiput ( Fig. 9 A View FIGURE 9 ). Ventral scales slightly larger than dorsals, those on belly smooth, subimbricate, slightly rounded, subequal from chest to vent; midbody scale rows across belly 24; 117 scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca ( Fig. 7 D View FIGURE 7 ). Scales on throat and pectoral region slightly smaller than those on belly, flat and imbricate; gular region with much smaller, flattened granules with those on chin bordering postmentals, enlarged, juxtaposed and flattened ( Fig. 9 B View FIGURE 9 ). Four femoral pores on each thigh and two precloacal pores separated medially by two poreless scales ( Fig. 9 D View FIGURE 9 ).
Scales on palm and sole smooth, flat and roughly circular; scales on dorsal aspect of manus and pes heterogenous, upper arm with scales slightly larger than dorsal granules, weakly keeled, subimbricate; those near forelimb insertion much smaller, granular; dorsal aspect of forearm with scales smaller than those on upper arm, weakly keeled, flat, roughly rounded; scales on elbow weakly keeled, subimbricate and similar in size to those on upper arm; dorsal aspect of hand predominantly bearing small, flattened weakly keeled, imbricate scales. Ventral aspect of upper arm with smooth, roughly rounded, weakly conical granules; scales on forearm and wrist with larger, smooth, weakly imbricate scales. Scales on dorsal aspect of thigh larger than those dorsal granules, weakly keeled, imbricate except those near hindlimb insertion which are much smaller, roughly rounded, conical granules. Scales on dorsal aspect of knee and shank slightly smaller than those on dorsum of thigh, subimbricate, weakly keeled; dorsal aspect of foot predominantly bearing small, flattened, weakly keeled, imbricate scales. Scales on ventral aspect of thigh similar to those on midbody ventrals; those on ventral surface of shank roughly larger than those on thigh, smooth, imbricate ( Fig. 8 B View FIGURE 8 ). Fore and hind limbs moderately long, slender (LAL/SVL ratio 0.16); CL/SVL ratio 0.19; digits long, with a strong, recurved claw, distinctly inflected, distal portions laterally conspicuously compressed. Series of unpaired lamellae on basal portion of digits, separated from narrower distal lamellae by a single large scale at the inflection; proximal lamellae series: 1–3–3–3–3 (right manus; Fig. 9 E View FIGURE 9 ), 1–3– 5–5–5 (right pes; Fig. 9 F View FIGURE 9 ), 1–3–3–4–4 (left manus), 1–4–4–4–5 (left pes); distal lamellae series: 8–9–11–12–10 (right manus; Fig. 9 E View FIGURE 9 ), 8–10–12–12–11 (right pes; Fig. 9 F View FIGURE 9 ), 8–9–12–11–10 (left manus), 7–10–12–12–12 (left pes). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (2.79)> III (2.65)> V (2.55)> II (2.29)> I (1.80) (right manus); IV (3.98)> V (3.69)> III (3.33)> II (2.53)> I (1.71) (right pes).
Tail entire, cylindrical, relatively slender, flattened beneath, longer than snout-vent length (TL/SVL ratio 1.31) ( Fig. 8 C, D View FIGURE 8 ). Dorsal scales at tail base granular, similar in size and shape to those on midbody dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flatter, pointed, subimbricate posteriorly, intermixed with slightly enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles forming whorls; 6–8 tubercles on first 2–5 whorls. Scales on ventral aspect of original tail much larger than those on dorsal, imbricate, smooth, with a series of three enlarged subcaudal scales of which the median series is almost twice the size of adjunct two rows, roughly hexagonal; those on tail base much smaller, imbricate and smooth, a single enlarged postcloacal spur on each side ( Fig. 8 D View FIGURE 8 ).
Colouration in life. ( Fig. 6 E View FIGURE 6 ) Dorsum of head and body brown, limbs suffused with yellow; tail base similar to body dorsum, rest of tail with eight alternating black and light grey/white bands. Head with numerous greyish blotches, brille yellow. Radiating lines from orbit forming an indistinct preorbital streak on snout; yellow and dark grey and light bands on labials; two postorbital streaks, the lower black and fine and the upper thicker and red with some black terminating anterior to forelimb insertion in a small black streak. Small dark spot on occiput flanked by larger light grey blotches; spot and blotches with orange-red markings. A single large central black ocellus at anterior of forelimb insertion, two pairs of smaller spots on each side just anterior and posterior to forelimb insertions that are larger than occipital spot; all ocelli outlined by some orange-red scales. Dorsum with seven light grey vertebral blotches between limb insertions and one on tail base; smaller light grey spots on rest of dorsum and flanks; three indistinct, small orange blotches on flanks forming a discontinuous line as a continuation of dorsal ocelli, first anterior to midbody, one anterior to hindlimb insertions and the last at tail base. Dorsum of limbs with lighter spots, more prominent on hindlimbs, digits with alternating dark and light bands. Ventral surfaces off-white, suffused with yellow under limbs and tail base, less so on belly and most strongly on lateral margins of gular region; a dark broken longitudinal streak outlines yellow of throat, followed by two more prominent streaks within yellow; no dark markings on underside of tail.
Variation and additional information from type series. Mensural data for the type series is given in Table 5 View TABLE 5 . There are two male and three female specimens ranging in SVL from 28.6–34.1 mm. All paratypes resemble the holotype except as follows: the number of lamellae on digit I of the manus ranges from 8–10 and on digit IV from 15 or 16; on digit IV of the pes ranges from 17–20 and on digit V from 15–18; 5–7 supralabials to angle of jaw; 5– 7 infralabials; 15–17 tubercles in paravertebral rows; 10–13 dorsal tubercle rows; ventral scale counts in longitudinal and transverse series vary from 111–118 and 21–23, respectively. Males with one or two precloacal pores on either side separated by two or three poreless scales; seven or eight poreless scales between precloacal and femoral pores. Complete tail slightly longer than body (TL/SVL ratio 1.22–1.24). Two male paratypes match the holotype in overall colouration; the three female paratypes are duller in appearance without oranges blotches on dorsum, tail light yellow with light brown bands and lacking ashy-grey colouration.
Distribution and Natural history. Cnemaspis shevaroyensis sp. nov. is so far known only from the type locality (Kottachedu Kari Raman Temple, Yercaud, in the Shevaroys), at an elevation of ca. 900 m asl. ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE ). The species was encountered during a few hours of fieldwork in perennial stream during the day (1230h) on rocky boulders situated in a teak plantation. The forest type was dry deciduous with partial canopy cover ( Fig. 11 C View FIGURE 11 ). The active male holotype (NCBS-BH674; Fig. 6 E View FIGURE 6 ) and paratypes were collected from a dry culvert inside a large cement pipe. The culvert was also a communal oviposition site and contained a few hatched and unhatched eggs along with the gravid female paratype (BNHS 2529; Fig. 6 F View FIGURE 6 ). The species seems to prefer shaded areas as all collected specimens were from dark and cool spots during the day. Sympatric lizards at the type locality include Hemidactylus frenatus , Hemidactylus parvimaculatus , Eutropis carinata , Eutropis macularia , Lygosoma albopunctata , and Calotes versicolor .
TABLE 5. Measurements (mm) and meristic data for the type series of Cnemaspis shevaroyensis sp. nov. Abbreviations are listed in Materials and Methods. * = tail/ digit incomplete or missing, /= data not available.
| Holotype | Paratypes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specimen No. | NCBS-BH674 | NCBS- BH675 | NCBS- BH676 | BNHS 2529 | BNHS 2530 | BNHS 2531 |
| Sex | M | F | F | F | M | M |
| SVL | 30.4 | 33.2 | 28.6 | 34.1 | 31.3 | 29.7 |
| TL | 40 | 19* | 35.1 | 42.6 | 4.2* | 14.1* |
| TW | 3.4 | 2.6 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.3 |
| LAL | 4.9 | 5 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 4.9 | 4.7 |
| CL | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.3 | 6.1 | 5.6 | 5.6 |
| AGL | 12.7 | 15 | 11.4 | 14.9 | 12.6 | 11.6 |
| BH | 3.1 | 5.2 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 3 | 3 |
| BW | 6.3 | 8 | 5.2 | 8 | 6.2 | 6.1 |
| HL | 7.9 | 8.6 | 7.1 | 8.5 | 8.2 | 7.5 |
| HW | 5.4 | 5.7 | 4.9 | 5.8 | 5.4 | 5.7 |
| HD | 3.3 | 3.8 | 3 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| ED | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.5 |
| EE | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.4 |
| ES | 3.9 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 3.8 |
| EN | 3.1 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
| IN | 0.9 | 1 | 0.9 | 1 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| IO | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| EL | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| SL L/R | 7/8 | 7/7 | 7/8 | 7/7 | 7/7 | 6/6 |
| IL L/R | 7/7 | 6/7 | 7/7 | 7/7 | 7/5 | 6/6 |
| SL M L/R | 6/6 | 6/6 | 6/6 | 6/6 | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| IL M L/R | 6/5 | 5/5 | 6/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 4/4 |
| PVT | 13 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 15 |
| RBS | 14 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 13 |
| RVS | 24 | 22 | 21 | 24 | 24 | 23 |
| VS | 117 | 114 | 111 | 118 | 118 | 113 |
| LamF1 L/R | 9/9 | 10/10 | 10/9 | 10/10 | 10/10 | 8/9 |
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