Corresponding author: Ishan Agarwal (
Academic editor Uwe Fritz
We describe three new small-bodied, cryptic species of south Asian
South Asian
During surveys of an ongoing project on the systematics and taxonomy of peninsular Indian geckos, we collected small-bodied
Specimen sampling, processing and tissue collections of the new species were done following
Map showing our sampling for members of the
Morphological data were collected from a total of 13 specimens of the new species. Comparative morphological data of all other members of the
Total genomic DNA was extracted from tail or liver samples stored in 100 % ethanol using the Qiagen DNeasy Blood & Tissue kit. PCR and sequencing were outsourced to Medauxin (Bangalore, India) and used the
List of
Species | Voucher | Locality | GeneBank Accession number |
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India, Karnataka, Ballari District, Hampi |
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India, Tamil Nadu, Salem District, Sankari |
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India, Maharashtra, Sindhudurg District, Amboli |
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India, Maharashtra, Sindhudurg District, Amboli |
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India, Meghalaya, Ri Bhoi District, Saiden | MW3674 | |
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India, Andhra Pradesh, Nellore District, Penchalakona |
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India, Karnataka, Kolar District, Paparajanahalli |
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India, Maharashtra, Sindhudurg District, Amboli |
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Sri Lanka, Nuwara Eliya District, Hakgala |
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India, Karnataka, Uttara Kannada District, Gund |
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India, Karnataka, Uttara Kannada District, Ganeshgudi |
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India, Maharashtra, Sangli District, KWC Campus |
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India, Goa, South Goa District, Canacona |
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India, Kerala, Palakkad District, near Chittur River |
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India, Andhra Pradesh, Chittoor District, Horsley hills |
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Sri Lanka, Matale District, Rattota, Gammaduwa |
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unvouchered | India, Maharashtra, Kolhapur District, Dajipur |
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India, Maharashtra, Satara District, Humbarli |
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unvouchered | India, Karnataka, Hassan District, Sakleshpur |
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NRC- |
India, Kerala, Wayanad District, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation |
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NRC- |
India, Kerala, Wayanad District, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation |
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NRC- |
India, Kerala, Wayanad District, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation |
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India, Kerala, Wayanad District, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation |
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unvouchered | India, Karnataka, Bangalore Urban District, IISc Campus |
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India, Karnataka, Bangalore Urban District, NCBS Campus |
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India, Karnataka, Mysore District, Hunsur |
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India, Karnataka, Kolar District, Kolar |
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India, Karnataka, Kolar District, Kolar |
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India, Karnataka, Bangalore Rural District, near Thathaguni |
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AK668 | India, Tamil Nadu, Vellore district, Vellore Fort |
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AK823 | India, Tamil Nadu, Vellore district, Jawadhu Hills |
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AK935 | India, Tamil Nadu, Vellore district, Jawadhu Hills |
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Sri Lanka, Matale District, Rattota, Gammaduwa |
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India, Maharashtra, Kolhapur, Rangana Fort |
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India, Andhra Pradesh, Chittoor district, Rishi Valley School |
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India, Andhra Pradesh, Chittoor district, Rishi Valley School |
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India, Karnataka, Hassan District, Sakleshpur |
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India, Karnataka, Hassan District, Sakleshpur |
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India, Karnataka, Hassan District, Mookanana resort |
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NRC- |
India, Karnataka, Hassan District, Mookanana resort |
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India, Karnataka, Kodagu District, Kumarahalli |
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India, Karnataka, Kodagu District, Honey Valley Estate |
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India, Karnataka, Kodagu District, Honey Valley Estate |
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India, Karnataka, Kodagu District, Honey Valley Estate |
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India, Karnataka, Kodagu District, Honey Valley Estate |
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India, Karnataka, Kodagu District, Honey Valley Estate |
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India, Karnataka, Kodagu District, Honey Valley Estate |
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India, Karnataka, Kodagu District, Honey Valley Estate |
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India, Karnataka, Mandya District, Yadiyur |
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India, Karnataka, Mandya District, Yadiyur |
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Myanmar, Tanintharyi Region, Myeik Archipelago, southeast side of Linn Lune Kyun |
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India, Karnataka, Chickballapur, Kaiwara |
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India, Karnataka, Chickballapur, Kaiwara |
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India, Karnataka, Kodagu District, Honey Valley Estate |
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India, Karnataka, Kodagu District, Honey Valley Estate |
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India, Karnataka, Kodagu District, Honey Valley Estate |
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India, Tamil Nadu, Namakkal District, Kollimalai massif |
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India, Tamil Nadu, Salem District, Yercaud massif |
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India, Kerala, Thrissur District, Athirappilly Falls |
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Pairwise uncorrected ND2 sequence divergence within the
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1 |
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– | |||||||||||
2 |
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19.9 |
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3 |
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8.3 | 19.7 |
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4 |
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5.6 | 21.3 | 8.3 |
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5 |
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15.9 | 21.3 | 15.2 | 15.8 |
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6 |
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15.6 | 23.4 | 16.5 | 17.2 | 12.1 |
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7 |
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17.9 | 22.7 | 18.3 | 18.4 | 13.4 | 14.5 |
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8 |
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21.1 | 23.0 | 20.1 | 21.4 | 20.4 | 23.2 | 21.6 | 0.6 | ||||
9 |
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21.0 | 23.6 | 21.4 | 21.6 | 21.8 | 22.9 | 22.6 | 12.5 |
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10 |
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23.4 | 24.0 | 21.8 | 23.9 | 25.7 | 25.0 | 25.3 | 13.2 | 8.8 | – | ||
11 |
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22.1 | 24.1 | 21.6 | 23.0 | 22.8 | 24.0 | 23.2 | 13.7 | 5.2 | 9.3 |
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12 |
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21.0 | 24.8 | 20.9 | 23.1 | 22.8 | 23.4 | 23.1 | 13.8 | 13.6 | 14.8 | 14.6 |
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ND2 sequences of the new species varied from 472–1047 aligned nucleotides, with a nine base pair insertion in
Maximum likelihood phylogeny of South Asian
The specific epithet is the Latin
Tiger dwarf gecko or Kaiwara dwarf gecko.
A small-sized
Adult male in good state of preservation except head slightly bent towards right, a small portion of the regenerated tail taken for DNA extraction, and digit IV and V of manus of the right side are incomplete (Fig.
Body relatively slender (
Scales on dorsal aspect of manus heterogenous, upper arm with scales much larger than dorsal granules, weakly keeled, imbricate; those near forelimb insertion much smaller than scales on upper arm; dorsal aspect of lower arm and elbow with scales much smaller than those on upper arm, weakly keeled, flat, roughly rounded; dorsal aspect of hand predominantly bearing large, flattened, weakly keeled, imbricate scales. Ventral aspect of upper arm with smooth, roughly rounded, subimbricate scales; scales on lower arm and wrist large, smooth, imbricate; scales on palm and sole smooth, flat and roughly circular. Scales on dorsal aspect of thigh much larger than those on dorsal granules, weakly keeled, imbricate except those near hindlimb insertion which are granular, much smaller than dorsal granules, conical. Scales on dorsal aspect of knee and shank fairly smaller than those on dorsum of thigh, subimbricate, weakly keeled; dorsal aspect of foot predominantly bearing small, flattened, strongly keeled, imbricate scales; scales on ventral aspect of thigh and shank larger than those on mid-body ventrals, smooth, subimbricate on thigh and imbricate on shank (Fig.
Fore-limbs and hind-limbs slightly long, slender (LAL/
Tail regenerated, sub-cylindrical, relatively slender, flattened beneath, not entire, less than half of the snout-vent length (
Dorsal ground colouration of head, body and limbs brown-grey; head heavily mottled with small grey and brown blotches. A dark preorbital streak runs from nostril to orbit, two fine dark postorbital streaks extend till temporal region; supraciliaries and labials with alternating light and dark bars radiating out of the orbital region, snout reticulated. A straw-coloured mid-dorsal streak runs from occiput to regenerated part of the tail; dark medial ocellus outlined by a few orange scales anterior to forelimb insertions, flanked on either side by brown blotch with fine black speckles; followed by five or six yellow-orange elongate blotches alternating with patches of brown scales interspersed with fewer dark scales. Flank with smaller dark and larger yellow blotches, enlarged spine-like tubercles yellow. Tail colouration of regenerated tail grey without bands. Dorsum of forelimbs with few light and dark blotches, hindlimbs with alternating dark and light bands and two strong dark horizontal streaks on the posterior of each femur, digits with distinct alternating dark and light bands. Ventral surfaces dull-white, underside of head and neck, throat yellow, fine black spots under forelimbs, minor markings on the throat and no dark markings on belly; underside of regenerated tail dull-white without any dark markings. Pupil black, iris bronze outlined by silver.
Mensural, meristic and additional character states evaluation data for the type series is given in Tables
Paratype series of the new species:
Mensural (mm) data for the type series of the new species. Abbreviations are listed in Materials and Methods; * = tail incomplete.
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Species |
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Type | Holotype | Paratypes | Holotype | Paratypes | ||||
Specimen number | ||||||||
Sex | Male | Male | Male | Male | Female | Male | Female | Female |
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30.9 | 31.2 | 28.5 | 27 | 24.7 | 31.8 | 23.7 | 32.0 |
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14.1* | 14.0 * | 2.6* | 30.7 | 28.7 | 42.2 | 7.9* | 3.4* |
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2.5 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 2.0 | 3.2 | 1.9 | 2.4 |
LAL | 4.0 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 4.9 | 2.9 | 5.1 |
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5.2 | 5.6 | 5.5 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 5.7 | 3.6 | 5.9 |
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12.6 | 13.8 | 11.9 | 10 | 10.5 | 12.5 | 9.7 | 14.1 |
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3.3 | 3.4 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 2.1 |
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5.8 | 6.6 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 5.3 | 4.3 | 5.2 |
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7.5 | 8.0 | 7.3 | 7.1 | 6.3 | 7.6 | 5.8 | 7.7 |
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5.5 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 4.9 | 3.8 | 4.8 |
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2.9 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 2.1 | 3.0 |
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1.6 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 1.4 |
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2.7 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 2.5 |
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3.8 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 2.3 | 3.8 | 2.8 | 4.2 |
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3.0 | 3.0 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 2.3 | 3.3 |
IN | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.0 |
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1.3 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.3 |
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0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
Meristic data for the type series of the new species. Abbreviations are listed in Materials and Methods except for: L&R = Left & Right; irr.arr. = irregularly arranged; * = lamellae missing or incomplete; abs. = absent.
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Species |
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Type | Holotype | Paratypes | Holotype | Paratypes | ||||
Specimen number | ||||||||
Sex | Male | Male | Male | Male | Female | Male | Female | Female |
8&8 | 10&10 | 9&9 | 9&9 | 9&9 | 8&8 | 9&9 | 7&8 | |
8&8 | 8&8 | 8&7 | 8&8 | 8&8 | 7&7 | 8&8 | 8&8 | |
6&6 | 8&7 | 6&7 | 6&6 | 8&7 | 6&7 | 7&7 | 6&6 | |
5&6 | 6&6 | 5&6 | 5&5 | 7&5 | 5&6 | 5&5 | 6&6 | |
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irr.arr. | irr.arr. | irr.arr. | irr.arr. | irr.arr. | irr.arr. | irr.arr. | irr.arr. |
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6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
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24 | 25 | 23 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 26 | 23 |
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101 | 107 | 92 | 91 | 96 | 118 | 124 | 127 |
10&9 | 9&10 | 9&9 | 9&9 | 9&9 | 11&11 | 11&11 | 10&9 | |
16&10* | 15&16 | 17&17 | 15&15 | 15&15 | 16&16 | 16&16 | 16&14 | |
9&10 | 9&10 | 9&11 | 9&9 | 9&9 | 11&11 | 11&11 | 11&11 | |
19&19 | 21&20 | 19&19 | 17&18 | 19&18 | 20&20 | 19&16 | 20&17 | |
17&17 | 18&17 | 16&16 | 15&16 | 17&16 | 17&18 | 17&18 | 16&17 | |
2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | abs. | 2 | abs. | abs. | |
SBPP | abs. | abs. | abs. | abs. | abs. | abs. | abs. | abs. |
2&2 | 3&2 | 2&2 | 2&2 | abs. | 3&4 | abs. | abs. | |
8&7 | 7&8 | 9&8 | 6&6 | abs. | 11&10 | abs. | abs. | |
1&1 | 1&1 | 1&1 | 1&1 | 1&1 | 1&1 | 1&1 | 1&1 |
Additional morphological character states evaluation for the type series of the new species
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Species |
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Type | Holotype | Paratypes | Holotype | Paratypes | ||||
Specimen number | ||||||||
Sex | Male | Male | Male | Male | Female | Male | Female | Female |
Occipital ocellus/ ocellus just behind occiput present (1) or not (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Dorsal ocellus between forelimb insertions present (1) or not (0) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Anterior extra-brillar fringe scales enlarged (1) or not (0) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Ventral scales keeled (1) or smooth (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Gular scales keeled (1) or smooth (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Pectoral scales keeled (1) or smooth (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Precloacal pores continuous (1) or separated (0) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | abs. | 1 | abs. | abs. |
Precloacal pores elongate (1) or round (0) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | abs. | 0 | abs. | abs. |
femoral pores elongate (1) or round (0) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | abs. | 0 | abs. | abs. |
Dorsal pholidosis homogeneous (1) or heterogeneous (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Dorsal tubercles keeled (1) or not keeled (0) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Tubercles linearly arranged (1) or more random (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Spine-like tubercles on flank present (1) or absent (0) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Lateral caudal furrows present (1) or absent (0) | / | 1 | / | 1 | 1 | 1 | / | / |
Sub-caudals keeled (1) or smooth (0) | / | 0 | / | 0 | 0 | abs. | abs. | abs. |
Single median row of sub-caudals keeled (1) or smooth (0) | / | 0 | / | 0 | 0 | 1 | / | / |
Caudal tubercles encircle tail (1) or not (0) | / | 1 | / | 1 | 1 | 1 | / | 1 |
Slightly enlarged median sub-caudal scale row (1) or not (0) | / | 1 | / | 1 | 1 | 1 | / | 1 |
Enlarged femoral scales present (1) or absent (0) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Subtibial scales keeled (1) or smooth (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Like most of the other South Asian
1 | Paravertebral tubercles absent |
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– | Paravertebral tubercles present |
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2 | Femoral pores present in males |
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– | Femoral pores absent in males |
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3 | Continuous mid-dorsal streak |
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– | Mid-dorsal streak made up of fused blotches |
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4 | Medial dark ocellus anterior to forelimb insertions present |
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– | Medial dark ocellus anterior to forelimb insertions absent |
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5 | Six rows of dorsal tubercles, 23–25 mid ventral scale rows |
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– | 7–10 rows of dorsal tubercles, 20–22 mid ventral scale rows |
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6 | Two femoral pores, seven or eight scales between femoral and precloacal pores |
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– | Three femoral pores, five or six scales between femoral and precloacal pores |
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The specific epithet is a toponym for Sakleshpur in Hassan district of Karnataka, the place where the species is currently known from.
Sakleshpur dwarf gecko.
A small-sized
Adult male in good state of preservation except body slightly bent towards left and tail tip towards left, and a 3.7 mm long incision in the sternal region for liver tissue collection (Fig.
Body slender (
Scales on dorsal aspect of manus heterogenous, upper arm with scales much larger than dorsal granules, strongly keeled, imbricate; those near forelimb insertion small and granular; dorsal aspect of lower arm and elbow with scales slightly smaller than those on upper arm, strongly keeled, flat, subimbricate; dorsal aspect of hand predominantly bearing large, flattened, weakly keeled, imbricate scales. Ventral aspect of upper arm with smooth, roughly subcircular, subimbricate scales; scales on lower arm and wrist large, smooth, subimbricate; scales on palm and sole smooth, flat and subcircular, subimbricate. Scales on dorsal and anterio-lateral aspect of thigh much larger than those on dorsal granules, strongly keeled, subimbricate except those near hindlimb insertion which are granular, much smaller than dorsal granules and somewhat conical; scales on posterior-lateral aspect of thigh with scales similar in shape to granular scales on mid-body dorsum, marginally larger, becoming smaller, circular and smooth posteriorly. Scales on dorsal aspect of knee slightly smaller than those on dorsal aspect of thigh, weakly keeled; scales on shank still smaller, strongly keeled, subimbricate; dorsal aspect of foot predominantly bearing large flattened, weakly keeled, imbricate scales. Scales on ventral aspect of thigh and shank more or less similar in size to those on mid-body ventrals, smooth, imbricate (Fig.
Fore-limbs and hind-limbs slightly long, slender (LAL/
Tail original, entire, subcylindrical, slender, longer than snout-vent length (
Dorsal ground colouration of head, body, limbs and tail grey-brown; head mottled with smaller dark speckles. An indistinct fine darker vertical streak runs between the orbits; indistinct slightly darker preorbital streak runs from orbit to supranasal, two darker postorbital streaks extending onto neck; labials light yellow with indistinct darker bars; supraciliaries dirty yellow. A dark medial ocellus on occiput and another slightly smaller just anterior to forelimb insertions. A discontinuous, poorly defined light brown mid-dorsal streak extends from occiput to tail base, with yellow diffuse blotches and a few small black spots forming eight indistinct bars on dorsum. Lower flank much lighter with straw coloured enlarged spine-like tubercles on each side; tail colouration light brown with 13 alternating darker bands, post cloacal tubercles and pointed tubercles on lateral rows in alternating whorls dull-white. Dorsum of limbs with few indistinct light and dark bands, digits with distinct alternating dark and light bands, a strong dark streak on the posterior of femur. Ventral surfaces dull-white, underside of head and neck throat dirty white with light yellow on lateral sides, fine black spots under forelimbs, belly, hindlimbs and tail white with fine black speckles. Pupil black, outlined by bronze iris.
Colouration in life of male holotypes:
Mensural and meristic data and additional character states evaluation data for both female paratypes are given in Tables
The specific epithet is a Latinized eponym in honour of India’s first women herpetologist, Late Jagannathan Vijaya (1959–1987) for her inspiring contribution towards ecology of rare Indian turtles.
Vijaya’s Coorg dwarf gecko.
A small-sized
Adult male in a fairly good state of preservation except a 3.2 mm long incision in the sternal region for liver tissue collection, tail tip slightly bent towards left, and digit III of left manus incomplete (Fig.
Body slender (
Scales on dorsal aspect of manus much larger than dorsal granular scales, tricarinate, and imbricate; those near forelimb insertion small and granular; dorsal aspect of hand predominantly bearing large, flattened, 1–3 carinate, and imbricate scales. Ventral aspect of manus with smooth, roughly subcircular, subimbricate scales; scales on palm and sole smooth, flat and subcircular, subimbricate. Scales on dorsal and anterio-lateral aspect of thigh much larger than those on dorsal granules, strongly keeled, imbricate except those near hindlimb insertion which are granular, much smaller than dorsal granules, weakly keeled and somewhat conical; scales on posterior-lateral aspect of thigh similar in shape to granular scales on mid-body dorsum, marginally larger, becoming smaller, and smooth posteriorly. Scales on dorsal aspect of knee slightly smaller than those on thigh dorsal, weakly keeled, those around knee large, tricarinate, imbricate; scales on shank still smaller, strongly keeled, subimbricate; dorsal aspect of foot predominantly bearing large flattened, tricarinate, imbricate scales. Scales on ventral aspect of thigh slightly larger than mid-body ventrals, smooth and imbricate; scales on shank more or less similar in size to those on mid-body ventrals, smooth, imbricate (Fig.
Fore-limbs and hind-limbs slightly long, slender (LAL/
Tail entire, original, subcylindrical and slender (Fig.
Dorsal ground colour of head, body, limbs and tail brown; head speckled with black, fine dark vertical streak between left and right orbit; fine dark pre-orbital streak from nostril to orbit, two fine dark postorbital streaks just extending onto neck; labials yellow with lighter and darker bars. A discontinuous straw-coloured mid-dorsal stripe runs from occiput to tail; a small, dark ocellus is present just anterior to forelimb insertions; enlarged, spine-like tubercles on flank yellow. Tail lighter than body; dorsum of forelimbs mottled, hindlimbs with light and dark markings, digits with alternating indistinct dark and light bands. Ventral surfaces dull-white, underside of head and neck throat dirty yellow with fine back spots fading out between hindlimb insertions, fine black spots under forelimbs and sides of the belly; underside of the tail off white, without any dark markings. Pupil black, iris bronze, outlined by fine silver ring.
Mensural, meristic and additional character states evaluation data for the type series is given in Tables
Paratype series of
Mensural (mm) data for the type series of
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Specimen number | |||||
Sex | Male | Female | Male | Female | Male |
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35.6 | 32.1 | 32.4 | 34.1 | 33.0 |
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46.8 | 21.0* | 42.2 | 39 | 2.6* |
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4.2 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.3 |
LAL | 5.1 | 4.1 | 4.56 | 4.4 | 4.6 |
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6.1 | 5.1 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 5.5 |
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14.7 | 13.2 | 14 | 14.8 | 13.4 |
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3.8 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 4.6 | 2.8 |
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6.6 | 5.8 | 6.6 | 7.5 | 6.5 |
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8.6 | 7.7 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.2 |
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6.4 | 5.5 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 5.2 |
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3.8 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
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1.6 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.5 |
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2.6 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 2.7 |
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4.2 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 4.3 |
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3.4 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
IN | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.1 |
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2.6 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 1.4 |
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0.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
Meristic data for the type series of
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Specimen number | |||||
Sex | Male | Female | Male | Female | Male |
8&8 | 8&8 | 8&8 | 9&8 | 9&10 | |
7&7 | 8&7 | 8&8 | 7&7 | 7&7 | |
5&6 | 6&6 | 5&6 | 7&6 | 7&7 | |
4&5 | 5&5 | 5&5 | 5&5 | 5&6 | |
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irr.arr. | irr.arr. | irr.arr. | irr.arr. | irr.arr. |
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11 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 11 |
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26 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 30 |
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127 | 119 | 118 | 122 | 124 |
11&11 | 10&10 | 8*&10 | 10&11 | 10&10 | |
16&16 | 15&15 | 13*&16 | 15&16 | 15&16 | |
11&11 | 10&10 | 10&10 | 11&11 | 10&11 | |
17&17 | 12*&17 | 17&17 | 18&18 | 18&19 | |
17&17 | 16&16 | 16&15 | 16&17 | 17&17 | |
1&2 | abs. | 3 | abs. | 1&2 | |
SBPP | 2 | abs. | abs. | abs. | 1 |
4&4 | abs. | 3&3 | abs. | 4&3 | |
7&7 | abs. | 7&8 | abs. | 8&8 | |
1&1 | 1&1 | 1&1 | 1&1 | 1&1 |
Additional morphological character states evaluation for the type series of
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Specimen number | |||||
Sex | Male | Female | Male | Female | Male |
Occipital ocellus/ ocellus just behind occiput present (1) or not (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Dorsal ocellus between forelimb insertions present (1) or not (0) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Anterior extra-brillar fringe scales enlarged (1) or not (0) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Ventral scales keeled (1) or smooth (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Gular scales keeled (1) or smooth (0) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Pectoral scales keeled (1) or smooth (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Precloacal pores continuous (1) or separated (0) | 0 | abs. | 1 | abs. | 0 |
Precloacal pores elongate (1) or round (0) | 0 | abs. | 0 | abs. | 0 |
femoral pores elongate (1) or round (0) | 1 | abs. | 1 | abs. | 0 |
Dorsal pholidosis homogeneous (1) or heterogeneous (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Dorsal tubercles keeled (1) or not keeled (0) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Tubercles linearly arranged (1) or more random (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Spine-like tubercles on flank present (1) or absent (0) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Lateral caudal furrows present (1) or absent (0) | 1 | 1 | / | 1 | 1 |
Sub-caudals keeled only on posterior tail (1) or smooth entirely (0) | 1 | 1 | / | 1 | 1 |
Single median row of sub-caudals keeled (1) or smooth (0) | 1 | 1 | / | 1 | 1 |
Caudal tubercles encircle tail (1) or not (0) | 1 | 1 | / | 1 | 1 |
Slightly enlarged median sub-caudal scale row (1) or not (0) | 1 | 1 | / | 1 | 1 |
Enlarged femoral scales present (1) or absent (0) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Subtibial scales keeled (1) or smooth (0) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
The new species is currently known only from its montane type locality (1250 m elevation) in the Central Western Ghats, within a large property surrounded by coffee plantations with large trees and evergreen forest (Fig.
Habitats of the new species at their type localities:
1 | Scales on upper arm and thigh tricarinate |
|
– | Scales on upper arm and thigh unicarinate |
|
2 | 6–8 |
|
– | 9–11 |
|
3 | 93–101 ventral scales |
|
– | >110 ventral scales |
|
4 | Internasal scales absent, supranasals in strong contact with each other on snout; 23–26 |
|
– | One or two internasal scales separating supranasals on snout; 27–32 |
|
South Asian
The discovery of
The discoveries of
All specimens are non-scheduled under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and were collected from private property. Swapnil Pawar, Vaibhav Patil, Varad Giri, Vijay Sandge, Robin Bansode and Rajendra Gujar helped with the fieldwork. We are grateful to the Chengappa family, especially Suresh Chengappa at Honey Valley Homestay for their hospitality. Satpal Gangalmale assisted in morphological data collection and specimen photography. We are thankful to Uma Ramakrishnan for lab support at NCBS. Vivek Ramachandran and Rahul Khot provided the voucher numbers for the specimens at NCBS and