Cnemaspis otai Ganesh et al. (2018); Karthik et al. (2018)

NRC-AA-1280 (AK-R 124), adult male (SVL = 29.0 mm), from Pakkamalai Reserve Forest (12.17224°N, 79.31907°E; elevation ca. 400 m asl.), Gingee Hills, Viluppuram district, Tamil Nadu state, India, collected by Akshay Khandekar, Swapnil Pawar and team, on 3^rd April 2021.

NRC-AA-1281 (AK-R 123) and NRC-­AA-1282 (AK-R 126), adult males, same collection data as holotype; NRC-AA-1283 (AK-R 131) and NRC-AA-­1284 (AK-R 2344), adult males, and NRC-AA-1285 (AK-R 122), adult female, from another side of Pakkamalai Reserve Forest (12.16936°N, 79.30614°E; elevation ca. 400 m asl.), Gingee Hills, Viluppuram district, Tamil Nadu state, India, collected by Akshay Khandekar, Ishan Agarwal, Swapnil Pawar and team, on 19^th September 2022.

AK-R 121, juvenile specimen, from Pakkamalai Reserve Forest (12.17343°N, 79.31772°E; elevation ca. 400 m asl.), same collection data as holotype.

The specific epithet is a toponym for Pakkamalai, Gingee Hills in Viluppuram district of Tamil Nadu state, the type and only known locality for this species.

Pakkamalai dwarf gecko.

A small-sized Cnemaspis, snout to vent length less than 29 mm (n = 6). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granular scales intermixed with a few scattered enlarged keeled tubercles on vertebral and paravertebral region and about three irregularly arranged rows of large, weakly keeled, tubercles on each side of flank, tubercles in lowest row largest, spine-like; six rows of dorsal tubercles; ventral scales smooth, subcircular, subimbricate, 25–27 scales across belly, 100–112 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca; subdigital scansors smooth, entire, unnotched; 8–11 total lamellae under digit I of manus and pes, 14–16 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 17–21 lamellae under digit IV of pes; males (n = 5) with two femoral pores on each thigh separated on either side by 8–11 poreless scales from two continuous precloacal pores; tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; a median row of subcaudals smooth, slightly enlarged. Dorsal colouration straw brown with a broad, light mid-dorsal streak formed by five or six fused elongate chain-links from occiput to tail base, single medial dark spot on nape, dark paired spots on either side of mid-dorsal streak, four pairs between forelimb insertions and tail base, tail with nine alternating light and dark markings.

Cnemaspis pakkamalaiensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from all eight members of the mysoriensis + adii clade on the basis of the following differing or non-overlapping characters: males with two femoral pores on each thigh separated on either side by 8–11 poreless scales from two continuous precloacal pores (versus femoral pores absent, continuous series of 2–5 precloacal pores in C. avasabinae; three femoral pores on each thigh separated on either side by nine or 10 poreless scales from continuous series of four precloacal pores in C. otai; a single femoral pore on each thigh, separated on either side by 10 poreless scales from continuous series of three precloacal pores in C. rishivalleyensis; three femoral pores on each thigh, separated by five or six poreless scales from two continuous precloacal pores in C. yercaudensis); six rows of dorsal tubercles at mid-body (versus dorsal pholidosis homogeneous in C. adii, dorsal tubercles irregularly arranged at mid-body in C. avasabinae, 7–10 rows of dorsal tubercles at mid-body in C. stellapulvis); 25–27 ventral scales across belly at mid-body (versus 17–20 ventral scales across belly at mid-body in C. avasabinae, 18 ventral scales across belly at mid-body in C. otai, 20 or 21 ventral scales across belly at mid-body in C. mysoriensis, 20–22 ventral scales across belly at mid-body in stellapulvis, 18–20 ventral scales across belly at mid-body in C. yercaudensis); spine-like tubercles present on flank (versus spine-like tubercles absent on flank in C. adii, and C. avasabinae); a single distinct black dorsal ocellus on mid-dorsal streak just anterior to forelimb insertions (versus distinct black dorsal ocellus just anterior to forelimb insertions absent in C. mysoriensis and C. yercaudensis); a light mid-dorsal streak formed by five or six fused, elongate chain-links that run from occiput to tail base (versus mid-dorsal streak absent in C. adii, a continuous light mid-dorsal streak runs from occiput onto tail base in C. mysoriensis, C. stellapulvis, C. tigris, and C. yercaudensis). Cnemaspis pakkamalaiensis sp. nov. is diagnosed against the second new species as part of its description below.

Adult male in good state of preservation except for tail tip slightly bent towards the right, partially everted hemipenis on the left, tail mar­gi­nally detached just posterior to tail base on the left (Fig. 3A–E)). SVL 29.0 mm, head short (HL/SVL 0.26), wide (HW/HL 0.70), not strongly depressed (HD/HL 0.42), distinct from neck. Loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent. Snout marginally less than half the head length (ES/HL 0.48), more than twice eye diameter (ES/ED 2.31); scales on snout and canthus rostralis large, subcircular, smooth to weakly keeled; much larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; occipital and temporal region with much smaller, weakly keeled granules (Fig. 4A). Eye small (ED/HL 0.20); with round pupil; orbit with extra-brillar fringe scales that are largest anteriorly; supraciliaries not elongate; six interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal; 25 or 26 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at mid-orbit (Fig. 4A, C). Ear-opening deep, oval, small (EL/HL 0.05); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE/ED 1.60; Fig. 4C). Rostral twice as wide (1.3 mm) than long (0.6 mm), incompletely divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove for more than half its length; a single enlarged supranasal on each side, marginally larger than postnasals, separated from each other by a single enlarged internasal; rostral in contact with nostril, supralabial I, supranasal and internasal; nostrils oval, each surrounded by postnasals, supranasal, rostral and supralabial I; two rows of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials (Fig. 4A, C). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, marginally wider (1.6 mm) than long (1.2 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair slightly larger than outer pair, roughly rectangular, in median contact with each other below mental; inner pair bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmental and three enlarged chin shields on either side; outer postmentals roughly square, bordered by inner postmentals, infralabial I and II, and three enlarged chin shields on either side; three enlarged gular scales prevent contact of left and right outer postmentals; chin shields bordering postmentals flat, smooth, smaller than outermost postmentals, rest flattened, smooth, even smaller (Fig. 4B). Infralabials bordered below by a row or two of slightly enlarged scales, decreasing in size posteriorly. Seven supralabials up to angle of jaw on either side, and six at midorbital position on each side; supralabial I largest, decreasing in size posteriorly; seven infralabials up to angle of jaw, five at midorbital position on left and six on right side; infralabial I largest, infralabials decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 4C).

Figure 3. 

Cnemaspis pakkamalaiensis sp. nov. (holotype, NRC-AA-1280): A dorsal view of body, B ventral view of body, C dorsal view of tail, D ventral view of tail, E lateral view of tail. Scale bars 10 mm; photos by Akshay Khandekar.

Figure 4. 

Cnemaspis pakkamalaiensis sp. nov. (holotype, NRC-AA-1280): A dorsal view of head, B ventral view of head, C lateral view of head on right, D view of cloacal region showing femoral and precloacal pores, E ventral view of left manus, F ventral view of left pes. Scale bars 5 mm; photos by Akshay Khandekar.

Body relatively slender (BW/AGL 0.52), trunk less than half of SVL (AGL/SVL 0.42) without ventrolateral folds; three spine-like scales on left flank and two on right flank. Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granular scales intermixed with a few scattered enlarged keeled tubercles on vertebral and paravertebral region and about three irregularly arranged rows of large, weakly keeled, tubercles on each side of flank (Fig. 5A–C). Scales on occiput and nape slightly smaller than those on paravertebral rows and weakly keeled; scales on flank slightly larger than those on dorsum, weakly keeled, conical or spine-like. Ventral scales much larger than granular scales on dorsum, those on belly smooth, subcircular subimbricate, equal from chest to vent except for those on precloacal region which slightly larger; mid-body scale rows across belly 25; 112 scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca (Fig. 5B). Scales on throat slightly smaller than those on belly, imbricate; gular region with much smaller, flattened scales with those on chin bordering postmentals, enlarged, juxtaposed and flattened (Fig. 4B). Two femoral pores on each thigh separated by 11 poreless scales on left and nine on right (count incomplete due to injury) from two continuous precloacal pores (Fig. 4D).

Figure 5. 

Cnemaspis pakkamalaiensis sp. nov. (holotype, NRC-1280): A dorsal view of mid-body, B ventral view of mid-body, C lateral view of mid-body. Scale bars 5 mm; photos by Akshay Khandekar.

Scales on dorsal aspect of manus heterogenous, upper arm scales much larger than dorsal granules, strongly 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 subcircular. Scales on anteriodorsal aspect of thigh much larger than enlarged scales on body dorsum, strongly keeled, and imbricate except those near hindlimb insertion which are granular, much smaller than dorsal granules and conical; scales on posteriodorsal aspect smaller, weekly keeled, granular. Scales on dorsal aspect of knee and shank 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. 3A, B).

Fore-limbs and hind-limbs long, slender (LAL/SVL 0.14); (CL/SVL 0.17); digits long, with a strong, recurved claw, distinctly inflected, distal portions laterally compressed conspicuously. Series of unpaired lamellae on basal portion of digits, separated from unpaired, narrower distal lamellae by a single large scale at the inflection; basal lamellae series: 1-3-3-4-4 (right manus), 3-4-4-7-4 (right pes), 1-3-3-4-4 (left manus; Fig. 4E), 3-4-4-6-4 (left pes; Fig. 4F); distal lamellae series: 8-9-12-11-9 (right manus), 8-10-12-12-12 (right pes), 8-9-12-11-9 (left manus; Fig. 4E), 8-10-12-11-12 (left pes; Fig. 4F). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (2.5) > III (2.4) > II (2.2) > V (2.1) > I (1.6) (left manus); IV (3.2) > V (3.1) > III (2.9) > II (2.7) > I (1.6) (left pes).

Tail entire and original except for extreme tip which is regenerated, subcylindrical, relatively slender, flattened beneath, slightly longer than snout-vent length (TL/SVL 1.18) (Fig. 3C–E). Dorsal scales at tail base granular, similar in size and shape to those on midbody dorsals, gradually becoming larger, flatter, subimbricate posteriorly, intermixed with much enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; six tubercles on first nine whorls. Scales on ventral aspect of original tail much larger than those on dorsal aspect, subimbricate, smooth, with a series of three enlarged subcaudal scales of which the median series is slightly larger than adjunct two rows, roughly pentagonal; those on tail base much smaller, imbricate and smooth, a single enlarged, smooth postcloacal spur on each side (Fig. 3D).

Dorsal ground colour of head, body, limbs and tail straw-brown; head mottled with fine dark speckles and larger dark blotches. Fine dark brown preorbital streak runs from snout to orbit, two fine dark brown postorbital streaks extend till neck; labials light grey/ cream with lighter and darker bars. A straw-coloured mid-dorsal streak that is formed by five fused elongate chain-links runs from occiput to tail base; a dark ocellus fringed by a few orange scales anterior to forelimb insertions forms the posterior boundary of the first chain-link, flanked on either side by a wishbone shaped marking opening on neck and near forelimb insertions; followed by four pairs of dark brown blotches, one pair at the posterior boundary of each chain link with a spot on either side. Flank with smaller dark spots and light-yellow markings. Tail with nine incomplete bands and no black tip. Dorsum of forelimbs and femur with few light and dark blotches, tibia with brown bands, two strong dark streaks on the posterior of femur, digits with alternating dark and light bands. Ventral surfaces dull white, limbs finely speckled with brown especially prominent under forelimbs, throat with a pair of broken up light grey longitudinal stripes on each side, no dark markings on belly, underside of tail lined by a fine dark border. Pupil black, iris silver with an orange streak toward the antero-posterior of the pupil.

Mensural, meristic and additional character state data for the paratype series is given in Tables 3–5 respectively. There are four males and a single female ranging in size from 26.9–28.9 mm (Fig. 7A, B). All paratypes resemble the holotype except as follows: inner postmental separated from each other below mental by an enlarged chin scale in NRC-AA-1285; outer postmental separated from each other by two enlarged chin scales in NRC-AA-1281, outer postmental bordered by four chin scales on left and three on right side in NRC-AA-1283. Three paratypes—NRC-AA-1285, NRC-AA-1281, and NRC-AA-1282 with original and complete tail, marginally or slightly longer than body (TL/SVL 1.04, 1.23, and 1.21 respectively); NRC-AA-1283 without tail; and NRC-AA-1284 with half of the tail missing (Fig. 7A, B). All paratypes agree with the holotype in overall colouration except dorsal tail colouration of female paratype (NRC-AA-1285) is overall duller than rest of the male types (Fig. 6B).

Figure 6. 

Cnemaspis pakkamalaiensis sp. nov., in life: A adult male (holotype, NRC-AA-1280), B adult female (paratype, NRC-AA-1285). Photos by Akshay Khandekar.

Figure 7. 

Paratype series of Cnemaspis pakkamalaiensis sp. nov., from left to right, NRC-AA-1285, NRC-AA-1281–1284: A dorsal view, B ventral view. Scale bar 10 mm; photos by Akshay Khandekar.

Cnemaspis pakkamalaiensis sp. nov. is known only from its type locality (Pakkamalai Reserve Forest, Gingee Hills in ­Viluppuram district, Tamil Nadu), at elevations of ca. 200–400 m asl., though all specimens were collected at ~ 400 m asl. (Fig. 1). Cnemaspis pakkamalaiensis sp. nov. was encountered during a single day of fieldwork each on two different fieldtrips in Pakkamalai. Individuals were observed active in large numbers (>50 in 2 hrs) in the morning (0730–0930 hrs) and late evening (1700–1930 hrs), in shaded and relatively cooler areas among large granite boulders (< 2m high) in tropical dry evergreen forest (Fig. 8A, B). A few individuals (<10) were also observed moving in the leaflitter on the ground just after dark. Sympatric lizards recorded by us at the type locality include Calodactylodes aureus (Beddome, 1870), Hemidactylus frenatus Duméril and Bibron, 1836; H. pakkamalaiensis Narayanan et al., 2023, H. whitakeri Mirza et al., 2018, Eutropis carinata (Schneider, 1801), Psammophilus dorsalis (Gray, 1831), and a second new species of Cnemaspis, described below.

Figure 8. 

Habitat of Cnemaspis pakkamalaiensis sp. nov., and C. cavernicola sp. nov. at the type locality: A general view showing granite boulders surrounded by tropical dry evergreen forests, B granite boulder cave from where individuals of the new species were collected. Photos by Akshay Khandekar

NRC-AA-1286 (AK-R 2339), adult male (SVL 32.2 mm), from Pakkamalai Reserve Forest (12.17224°N, 79.31907°E; elevation ca. 400 m asl.), Gingee Hills, Viluppuram district, Tamil Nadu state, India, collected by Akshay Khandekar, Ishan Agarwal, Swapnil Pawar and team, on 19^th September 2022.

NRC-AA-1287 (AK-R 135) and NRC-­AA-1288 (AK-R 2341), adult males, same collection data as holotype except for NRC-AA-1287 which was collected by Akshay Khandekar, Swapnil Pawar and team on 3^rd April 2021; NRC-AA-1289 (AK-R 2340) and NRC-AA-1290 (AK-R 2342), adult females, from near Sri Vanadurgai Amman Temple, Pakkamalai Reserve Forest (12.16991°N, 79.30865°E; elevation ca. 480 m asl.), Gingee Hills, Viluppuram district, Tamil Nadu state, India, same collection data as holotype.

AK-R 134, AK-R 2343, juveniles, from Pakkamalai Reserve Forest (12.16825°N, 79.31971°E; elevation ca. 400 m asl.), same collection data as holotype.

The specific epithet is an adjective formed from the Latin “caverna’ for cave and “cola” meaning inhabitant or dweller, as the species is only known to occur in caves and crevices below large granite boulders.

Cave-dwelling dwarf gecko.

A small-sized Cnemaspis, snout to vent length less than 34 mm (n = 5). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granular scales in vertebral and paravertebral region, intermixed with about two or three regularly arranged rows of large, weakly keeled tubercles on each side of flank, tubercles in lowest row largest and spine-like; 4–6 rows of dorsal tubercles; ventral scales smooth, subcircular, subimbricate, 28–32 scales across belly, 116–125 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca; subdigital scansors smooth, entire, unnotched; 10–12 total lamellae under digit I of manus and pes, 15–19 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 18–21 lamellae under digit IV of pes; males (n = 3) with one or two femoral pores on each thigh separated on either side by 8–10 poreless scales from a continuous series of three precloacal pores; tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; a median row of subcaudals smooth, distinctly enlarged. Dorsal colouration grey-brown with a single medial dark spot on nape followed by four light blotches from forelimb insertions to tail base, tail with 12–14 alternating light and dark bars.

Cnemaspis cavernicola sp. nov. can be distinguished from all eight members of the mysoriensis + adii clade on the basis of the following differing or non-overlapping characters: 28–32 scales across belly at mid-body (versus 22–26 ventral scales across belly at mid-body in C. adii, 17–20 ventral scales across belly at mid-body in C. avasabinae, 20 or 21 ventral scales across belly at mid-body in C. mysoriensis, 18 ventral scales across belly at mid-body in C. otai, 25–27 ventral scales across belly at mid-body in C. pakkamalaiensis sp. nov., 23–25 ventral scales across belly at mid-body in C. rishivalleyensis, 20–22 ventral scales across belly at mid-body in C. stellapulvis, 23–25 scales across belly in C. tigris, and 18–20 ventral scales across belly at mid-body in C. yercaudensis); 116–125 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca (versus 102–114 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca in C. avasabinae, 93–98 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca in C. otai, 100–112 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca in C. pakkamalaiensis sp. nov., 102–112 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca in C. rishivalleyensis, 90–107 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca in C. stellapulvis, 91–107 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca in C. tigris, and 90–105 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca in C. yercaudensis); a median row of subcaudals distinctly enlarged (versus a median row of subcaudals slightly enlarged in C. avasabinae, C. mysoriensis, C. otai, C. pakkamalaiensis sp. nov., C. rishivalleyensis, C. stellapulvis, C. tigris, and C. yercaudensis); enlarged tubercles in vertebral and paravertebral region absent, about two or three regularly arranged rows of large, weakly keeled tubercles on each side of flank (versus dorsal pholidosis homogeneous in C. adii, granular scales in the vertebral and paravertebral region with a few scattered enlarged keeled tubercles in C. mysoriensis, C. otai, C. pakkamalaiensis sp. nov., C. stellapulvis, C. tigris, and C. yercaudensis); a mid-dorsal streak absent (versus a continuous light mid-dorsal streak runs from occiput onto tail base in C. mysoriensis, C. stellapulvis, C. tigris, and C. yercaudensis; a light mid-dorsal streak formed by seven fused, elongate chain-links that runs from occiput to tail base in C. avasabinae, C. otai, C. pakkamalaiensis sp. nov., and C. rishivalleyensis).

Adult male in good state of preservation except extreme tail tip missing, partially everted hemipenis on left side, and a 4.0 mm long incision in sternal region for tissue collection (Fig. 9A–E). SVL 32.2 mm, head short (HL/SVL 0.25), wide (HW/HL 0.61), not strongly depressed (HD/HL 0.33), distinct from neck. Loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent. Snout marginally less than half the head length (ES/HL 0.45), more than twice eye diameter (ES/ED 2.37); scales on snout and canthus rostralis large, subcircular, smooth; much larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; occipital and temporal region with much smaller, weakly keeled granules (Fig. 10A, C). Eye small (ED/HL 0.19); with round pupil; orbit with extra-brillar fringe scales that are largest anteriorly; supraciliaries not elongate; interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal nine; 28 or 29 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at mid-orbit (Fig. 10C). Ear-opening deep, oval, small (EL/HL 0.04); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE/ED 1.62; Fig. 10C). Rostral twice wider (1.3 mm) than long (0.6 mm), incompletely divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove for more than half of its length; a single enlarged supranasal on each side, marginally larger than postnasals, separated from each other by a single enlarged internasal and a smaller scale on snout; rostral in contact with nostril, supralabial I, supranasal and internasal; nostrils oval, each surrounded by postnasals, supranasal, rostral and supralabial I; two rows of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials (Fig. 10C). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, marginally wider (1.5 mm) than long (1.2 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair slightly larger than outer pair, roughly square, separated from each other below mental by an enlarged chin scale; inner pair bordered by mental, infralabial I and II, outer postmental and three enlarged chin shields on either side; outer postmentals roughly square, bordered by inner postmentals, infralabial II, and four enlarged chin shields on either side; three enlarged gular scales prevent contact of left and right outer postmentals; chin shields bordering postmentals flat, smooth, smaller than outermost postmentals, rest flattened, smooth, even smaller (Fig. 10B). Infralabials bordered below by a row or two of slightly enlarged scales, decreasing in size posteriorly. Seven supralabials up to angle of jaw on left and eight on right, six at midorbital position; supralabial I largest, decreasing in size posteriorly; seven infralabials up to angle of jaw, six at midorbital position on left and five on right; infralabial I largest, infralabials decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 10C).

Figure 9. 

Cnemaspis cavernicola sp. nov. (holotype, NRC-AA-1286): A dorsal view of body, B ventral view of body, C dorsal view of tail, D ventral view of tail, E lateral view of tail. Scale bars 10 mm; photos by Ishan Agarwal (A), and Akshay Khandekar (B).

Figure 10. 

Cnemaspis cavernicola sp. nov. (holotype, NRC-AA-1286): A dorsal view of head, B ventral view of head, C right side lateral view of head, D view of cloacal region showing femoral and precloacal pores, E ventral view of left manus, F ventral view of left pes. Scale bars 5 mm; photos by Akshay Khandekar.

Body relatively slender (BW/AGL 0.52), trunk less than half of SVL (AGL/SVL 0.41) without ventrolateral folds; three spine-like scales on either side of flank. Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granular scales on the vertebral and paravertebral region, intermixed with about three irregularly arranged rows of large, weakly keeled, tubercles on each side of flank (Fig. 11A–C). Scales on occiput and nape much smaller and weakly keeled than those on paravertebral rows; scales on flank slightly larger than those on dorsum, weakly keeled, conical or spine-like. Ventral scales much larger than granular scales on dorsum, those on belly smooth, subcircular subimbricate, equal from chest to vent except for those on precloacal region which slightly larger; mid-body scale rows across belly 29; 123 scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca (Fig. 11B). Scales on throat slightly smaller than those on belly, imbricate; gular region with much smaller, flattened scales with those on chin bordering postmentals, enlarged, juxtaposed and flattened (Fig. 10B). A single femoral pore on left thigh and two on right separated by eight poreless scales on left and 10 on right from a continuous series of three precloacal pores (Fig. 10D).

Figure 11. 

Cnemaspis cavernicola sp. nov. (holotype, NRC-AA-1286): A dorsal view of mid-body, B ventral view of mid-body, C lateral view of mid-body. Scale bars 5 mm; photos by Akshay Khandekar.

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, smooth to 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 subcircular. Scales on anterodorsal 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 posterodorsal aspect smaller, smooth to weekly keeled, granular. 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, smooth to weakly keeled, imbricate scales; scales on ventral aspect of thigh and shank more or less equal to those on mid-body ventrals, smooth, subcircular, subimbricate on thigh and imbricate on shank (Fig. 9A, B).

Fore-limbs and hind-limbs moderately long, slender (LAL/SVL 0.14); (CL/SVL 0.17); digits long, with a strong, recurved claw, distinctly inflected, distal portions laterally compressed conspicuously. Series of unpaired lamellae on basal portion of digits, separated from unpaired, narrower distal lamellae by a single large scale at the inflection; basal lamellae series: 2-3-3-5-4 (right manus), 2-4-6-6-6 (right pes), 2-3-4-5-4 (left manus; Fig. 10E), 2-5-6-6-5 (left pes; Fig. 10F); distal lamellae series: 9-10-13-12-11 (right manus), 9-11-13-14-13 (right pes), 9-10-13-12-11 (left manus; Fig. 10E), 9-11-13-14-13 (left pes; Fig. 10F). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (2.7) > III (2.5) > II (2.3) = V (2.3) > I (1.7) (left manus); IV (3.7) > III (3.6) > V (3.2) > II (2.8) > I (1.8) (left pes).

Tail entire except for extreme tip which is missing, original, subcylindrical, relatively slender, flattened beneath, marginally shorter than snout-vent length (TL/SVL 0.96) (Fig. 9C–E). Dorsal scales at tail base granular, similar in size and shape to those on midbody dorsals, gradually becoming larger, flatter, subimbricate posteriorly, intermixed with much enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; six tubercles on first eight whorls. Scales on ventral aspect of original tail much larger than those on dorsal aspect, subimbricate, smooth, with a series of three enlarged subcaudal scales of which the median series is distinctly larger than adjunct two rows, covering almost entire portion of the tail; those on tail base much smaller, imbricate and smooth, a single enlarged, smooth postcloacal spur on each side (Fig. 9D).

Dorsal ground colour of head, body, limbs and tail grey-brown; head mottled, with a few dark blotches; anterior of brille yellow. Fine dark brown preorbital streak runs from nasal to orbit, two fine dark brown postorbital streaks extend till neck; labials yellow with darker bars. Dorsal markings consist of a dark ocellus outlined by brown just anterior to forelimb insertions followed by four off-white blotches from forelimb insertions to tail base; rest of dorsum strongly mottled with light grey blotches and fine black spots. Flank with smaller dark spots and light grey markings. Tail more grey than body, with 14 alternating light and dark bands, tail tip black. Dorsum of limbs with scattered light grey, brown and black markings; two strong dark streaks on the posterior of femur, digits with alternating dark and light bands. Ventral surfaces dull white, fine speckling under forelimbs, throat with a grey longitudinal stripe on each side with some dark markings below eye and angle of jaw, no dark markings on belly, underside of tail lined by a fine dark border. Pupil black, iris silver with an orange streak toward the posterior of the pupil.

Mensural, meristic and additional character states evaluation data for the paratype series is given in Tables 3–5 respectively. There are two males and two females ranging in size from 28.2–34.0 mm (Fig. 13A, B). All paratypes resemble the holotype except as follows: two internasals separating the supranasals behind rostral in NRC-AA-1288. Inner postmental bordered by infralabial I on either side in NRC-AA-1287, NRC-AA-1289, NRC-AA-1288; inner postmentals bordered by infralabial I and II on left and infralabial I on right side in NRC-AA-1290. Outer postmentals bordered by infralabial I & II in NRC-AA-1287, NRC-AA-1289, NRC-AA-1288; outer postmentals bordered by infralabial II on left and infralabials I & II on right side in NRC-AA-1290; outer postmental bordered by four gular scales on left and three on right side in NRC-AA-1289; and by five gular scales on left and three on right side in NRC-AA-1290. Two paratypes—NRC-AA-1287 and NRC-AA-1290 with original and complete tail, marginally and slightly longer than body (TL/SVL 1.10 and 1.21 respectively); NRC-AA-1289 with half original half regenerated tail; NRC-AA-1288 with half of the tail missing (Fig. 13A, B). All paratypes agree with the holotype in overall colouration except for unvouchered hatchling and a juvenile which are overall duller than adults and have orange tail tips. (Fig. 12B–D).

Figure 12. 

Cnemaspis cavernicola sp. nov. in life: A adult male (holotype, NRC-AA-1286), B adult female (paratype, NRC-AA-1290), C juvenile (AK-R 134), D juvenile (AK-R 2343). Photos by Akshay Khandekar.

Figure 13. 

Paratype series of Cnemaspis cavernicola sp. nov., from left to right, NRC-AA-1287, NRC-AA-1289, NRC-AA-1288, and NRC-AA-1290: A dorsal view, B ventral view. Scale bar 10 mm; photos by Akshay Khandekar.

Cnemaspis cavernicola sp. nov. is known only from its type locality (Pak­kamalai Reserve Forest, Gingee Hills in Viluppuram district, Tamil Nadu), at elevations of ca. 400–480 m asl. (Fig. 1). Cnemaspis cavernicola sp. nov. was encountered during a single day of fieldwork each on two different fieldtrips in Pakkamalai. Individuals were observed in small numbers (>10 in 2 hrs) and only in the higher reaches of Pakkamalai in shaded and relatively cooler areas among very large granite boulders. A few individuals were seen moving around in the morning (0930–1130 hrs) on granite rocks ≥ 2 m above the ground and NRC-AA-1287 and a juvenile specimen were seen inactive in a small rock crevice located inside a granite cave in the evening (Fig. 8A, B). Sympatric lizards recorded by us at the type locality include Cnemaspis pakkamalaiensis sp. nov. Calodactylodes aureus, Hemidactylus frenatus, H. pakkamalaiensis, H. whitakeri, Eutropis carinata, and Psammophilus dorsalis.