Hemidactylus yajurvedi, Murthy, B. H. C. K., Bauer, Aaron, Lajmi, Aparna, Agarwal, Ishan & Giri, Varad B., 2015

Murthy, B. H. C. K., Bauer, Aaron, Lajmi, Aparna, Agarwal, Ishan & Giri, Varad B., 2015, A new rock dwelling Hemidactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Chhattisgarh, India, Zootaxa 4021 (2), pp. 334-350 : 335-348

Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov.

Figs. 1–8

Holotype. Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) ZSI 25924, adult female; collected from near Saranpal village, 5 km. East of Kanker city, District Kanker, Chhattisgarh, India (20.17572° N, 81.31343° E, 416 m asl) on 29 May 2011. Collected by B.H.Channakeshava Murthy, Avrajjal Ghosh and Vishwajeet Deshbhratar.

Paratypes. ZSI 25923, ZSI 25926 adult females, ZSI 25925 adult male; NCBS-AQ040, NCBS-AQ041, NCBS-AQ042 adult females, NCBS-AQ043 adult male; BNHS 2308 adult female. Collection data same as holotype.

Additional Specimens (with new registration numbers). ZSI 25931, adult female collected from 4 km West of PWDIB, Kanker, Kanker district, Chhattisgarh, on 06.03.1979; ZSI 25932, ZSI 25934, adult males and ZSI 25933, ZSI 25935, adult females collected from 3 km East of PWDIB, Kanker, Kanker district, Chhattisgarh on 08.03.1979; ZSI 25938, adult male and ZSI 25936, ZSI 25937, ZSI 25939, ZSI 25940, adult females collected from Kondagaon, 86 km South of Kanker, Chhattisgarh on 07.03.1979; ZSI 25942 and ZSI 25943, adult females collected from Charama, 39 km North of Kanker, Kanker district, Chhattisgarh on 05.03.1979; ZSI 25844, adult female collected from East of PWDIB, Jagadalpur, Bastar district, Chhattisgarh on 17.02.1979; ZSI 25941, adult female from unknown locality and collected on 0 7.03.1979. All these specimens were collected by R.C. Sharma and D.P Sanyal.

Diagnosis. A large sized Hemidactylus , snout-vent averaging 81.33± 13.40 mm. and maximum to at least 98.0 mm. Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous, with 10–12 irregularly arranged longitudinal rows of enlarged, rounded tubercles at midbody. First supralabial in contact with nasal. Two well-developed pairs of postmentals, the inner pair slightly larger than the outer pair and in contact behind the mental. Ventrolateral folds indistinct, about 35–39 scale rows across venter. 13–14 (manus) and 14–15 (pes) enlarged, divided scansors beneath fourth digit and 11–12 (manus) and 10–11 (pes) beneath first digit; 10–12 femoral pores on each side separated by five to eight poreless scales in males. Original tail depressed, oval in transverse section without a median dorsal furrow; scales on the tail slightly larger than dorsals of body, weakly imbricate, with a longitudinal series of six slightly enlarged, smooth, flattened tubercles of which single ventro-lateral series is largest, these tubercles are distinguishable on anterior six to seven whorls of tail and on posterior they are indistinguishable. Dorsal coloration of transversely arranged, pale grey to ashy markings on a pale, mustard-brown background.

The large size (to 98.0 mm SVL) of Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov. easily distinguishes it from most other Indian and Sri Lankan Hemidactylus , including H. garnotii Duméril & Bibron , H. platyurus (Schneider) , H. aquilonius McMahan & Zug , H. scabriceps (Annandale) , H. imbricatus Bauer, Giri, Greenbaum, Jackman, Dharne & Shouche , H. gracilis Blanford , H. reticulatus Beddome , H. albofasciatus Grandison & Soman , H. sataraensis Giri & Bauer , H. brookii Gray , H. gujaratensis Giri, Bauer, Vyas & Patil , H. frenatus Schlegel , H. persicus Anderson , H. robustus Heyden , H. parvimaculatus Deraniyagala , and H. treutleri Mahony , all of which reach maximum sizes of approximately 70 mm SVL or less. Several recently resurrected species known from just outside the borders of India in Pakistan ( Hemidactylus gleadowi Murray , H. kushmorensis Murray ) and Myanmar ( H. subtrieroides Annandale [regarded by Mahony 2011 as a synonym of H. tenkatei Lidth de Jeude]), are closely related to H. brookii and are likewise of small size. Hemidactylus triedrus (Daudin) , H. subtriedrus Jerdon , H. lankae Deraniyagala , H. depressus Gray , H. pieresii Kelaart , H. leschenaultii Duméril & Bibron , and H. flaviviridis Rüppel are also significantly smaller, with maximum snout-vent lengths of approximately 75–90 mm. In addition, the first five of these differ from H. yajurvedi sp. nov. in having 13 or more rows of regularly arranged, subtrihedral to trihedral tubercles at midbody (versus 11–12 irregularly arranged longitudinal rows of rounded tubercles), whereas H. leschenaultii and H. flaviviridis have few or no dorsal tubercles. In comparison to all of these smaller species H. yajurvedi sp. nov. also has a greater number of scansors beneath the fourth toe of the pes (some overlap of range with H. persicus , from which it also differs in having femoral pores versus precloacal pores only, and H. flaviviridis , from which it differs in having 10–12 femoral pores on each thigh versus 5–7).

Among Hemidactylus from India and Sri Lanka, H. yajurvedi sp. nov. shares large adult size (adult SVL to at least 98.0 mm) only with H. giganteus Stoliczka , H. prashadi Smith , H. maculatus Duméril & Bibron , H. hunae Deraniyagala , H. graniticolus Agarwal, Giri & Bauer , H. acanthopholis Mirza & Sanap and H. aaronbaueri Giri. The first of these differs from the new species in the complete absence of dorsal tubercles. The remainder differ from H. yajurvedi sp. nov. in both the shape of the dorsal tubercles and the number of longitudinal rows of tubercles (differing character states indicated parenthetically): H. maculatus (20 fairly regular longitudinal rows of large trihedral tubercles), H. graniticolus (16–18 longitudinal rows of fairly regularly arranged, subtrihedral, weakly keeled, striated tubercles), H. prashadi (14 to 16 rows of enlarged subtrihedral tubercles), H. hunae (16–20 relatively regular rows of keeled, subtrihedral tubercles).

Based on dorsal pholidosis and general colouration, the new species is most similar to Hemidactylus aaronbaueri , but differs with respect to ( H. aaronbaueri versus H. yajurvedi sp. nov.): size (snout-vent length at least 128 mm. versus 98 mm); dorsal pholidosis (back with small granular scales and intermixed with 18 to 20 rows of enlarged, rounded tubercles versus 11 to 12 rows of irregularly arranged, rounded tubercles); dorsal pholidosis of tail (tail covered above with small, posteriorly-pointed, subimbricate to imbricate scales and a series of 8 enlarged tubercles versus scales on the tail slightly larger than dorsals of body, weakly imbricate, with a longitudinal series of six slightly enlarged, smooth, flattened tubercles on anterior portion of the tail); femoral pores in males (15–19 femoral pores on each side with a gap of 5 to 6 poreless scales versus 10–12 femoral pores on each side separated by 5–8 poreless scales); head (not markedly distinct from neck versus markedly distinct from neck).

Description. The holotype is generally in good condition with some minor exceptions ( Fig. 1 ). The body shape is somewhat dorsoventrally flattened, tail is curved in a sigmoid manner, 4th and 5th fingers of left hand are slightly upturned, eyes are slightly sunken; all artefacts of preservation. Head short (HL/SVL ratio 0.29), slightly elongate (HW/HL ratio 0.70), not strongly depressed (HH/HL ratio 0.39), relatively broad (HW/BW ratio 0.86), distinct from neck ( Fig. 2 A). Loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent. Snout short (SE/HL ratio 0.46); slightly shorter than eye diameter (OD/SE ratio 0.40); scales on snout, canthus rostralis, forehead and interorbital region granular, homogeneous; scales on snout, canthus rostralis twice the size of those on the occipital, frontal and interorbital region ( Fig. 2 B). Eye small (OD/HL ratio 0.18); pupil vertical with crenate margins; superciliaries large, mucronate, pointed, those at the anterior end of orbit slightly larger. Ear opening oval (greatest diameter 1.9 mm); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE/OD ratio 1.81). Rostral wider (3.6 mm) than deep (2.2 mm), incompletely divided dorsally by weakly developed rostral groove; two enlarged internasals separated by 3 smaller scales, one supranasal on each side which is slightly smaller than internasal, a single similar sized postnasal on either side; rostral in contact with nostril, supralabial I, internasal and one small scale between the internasal; nostrils large, slightly oval, each surrounded by supranasal, internasal, rostral, supralabial I and postnasal. Mental slightly longer (4.2) than wide (3.4), triangular, two well developed postmentals, the inner pair shorter (3.2 mm) than mental and narrowly in contact with each other (1.0 mm) behind mental, outer pair little more than half the size of the inner pair, separated from each other by inner pair ( Fig. 2 C). Inner postmentals bordered by mental, infralabial I and II, outer postmental and three gular scales; outer postmental bordered by inner postmental, infralabial II, and 6 left 7 right gular scales. Infralabials bordered by a two to three rows of enlarged scales, which are longer than broad. Supralabials (to midorbital position) 10 (right) – 9 (left); supralabials (to angle of jaw) 12 (right) – 12 (left); infralabials (to angle of jaw) 10 (right) – 10 (left).

Body stout, trunk not elongate (TRL/SVL ratio 0.40), with indistinct ventrolateral folds without denticulate scales. Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous, composed of conical, granular scales intermixed with enlarged, irregularly arranged, longitudinal rows of 11–12 slightly larger, rounded, weakly keeled tubercles at midbody, extending from nape to tail, each enlarged tubercle roughly two to three times longer than adjacent granules, surrounded by rosette of 8–9 small granules, 4–7 granules between two adjacent enlarged tubercles; enlarged tubercles are more or less the same size on back, few scattered tubercles on flanks ( Fig. 3 ). Ventral scales much larger than dorsal, smooth, imbricate, largest on precloacal and femoral region; midbody scale rows across belly 30–31; gular region with still smaller, granular scales, posterior gular scales slightly larger than the rest ( Fig. 2 C).

Femoral and precloacal pores absent. Scales on the palm and sole smooth, granular, rounded; scales on dorsal aspect of upper arm larger than granules on dorsum and subimbricate, posterior portion of forearm with much smaller, conical and granular scales, anterior portion with much larger, smooth, imbricate scales which continues on upper part of the hand; those on dorsal part of thigh and shank are similar like dorsum, with conical, granular scales, intermixed with enlarged, rounded, feebly keeled tubercles, which are bit larger in size on thigh than shank, posterior portion lacks enlarged tubercles, anterior aspect of thigh with much larger, smooth, imbricate scales.

Fore- and hind limbs relatively stout; forearm short (FL/SVL ratio 0.16); tibia short (CL/SVL ratio 0.17); digits moderately long, strongly clawed; all digits of manus and digits I–IV of pes indistinctly webbed; terminal phalanx of all digits curved, arising angularly from distal portion of expanded lamellar pad, half or more than half as long as associated toepad; scansors beneath each toe in straight transverse series, divided except a distal and three to four basal scansors on digit I and one or two in all digits are single; scansors from proximal most at least twice the diameter of palmar scales to distalmost single scansor: 12-12-13-13 -14 (left manus) 12-12-13-13 -14 (right manus; Fig. 5A ), 10-13-14-14 -15 (left pes) 10-14-14-14 -15 (right pes; Fig. 5 B). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (8.4)> III (8.3)> V (8.2)> II (8.0)> I (7.0) (left manus); V (10.5)> III (9.5)> II (9.5) = IV (10.0)> I (6.7) (left pes).

Tail depressed, flat beneath, verticillate, without median furrow; length of tail slightly less than snout-vent length (TL/SVL ratio 0.98); tail covered above with small (slightly larger than dorsal granules), posteriorlypointed, weakly imbricate scales, becoming gradually more flattened, imbricate and larger towards tip, intermixed with a longitudinal series of six slightly enlarged, smooth, flattened tubercles of which single ventro-lateral series is largest, these tubercles are two to three times larger than adjacent scales and distinguishable on anterior seven to eight whorls of tail, on posterior portion they are indistinguishable; ventral scales larger, imbricate, median row (subcaudal plate) slightly broader, not extending across width of the tail proximally, but distally they extend almost across the width of the tail.

......continued on the next page Paratypes

Spec No NCBS-AQ042 NCBS-AQ043 BNHS 2308 Sex Female Male Female SVL 79.5 76.5 65.2 TRL 34.0 33.0 28.0 BW 18.4 19.2 14.5 CL 14.6 14.3 12.0 TL 59.0* 87.0 23.0* TW 11.6* 11.0 8.0 HL 24.0 23.0 19.5 HW 16.1 15.5 13.7

......continued on the next page Coloration (in preservative). Dorsum a mottled brownish-grey with a paler, narrow, broken vertebral stripe extending from the shoulder to the level of the hind limb insertion. Diffuse, irregular ashy blotches weakly discernible on middorsum, flanks, and limbs, more prominent on shoulders and sacrum. Dorsum of head predominantly light greyish-brown with faded whitish to ashy, irregular markings on occiput and crown. Antorbital region mostly unmarked above, with paler markings across loreal region. A dark brown stripe extending from posterior margin of orbit to occiput. Labials and adjacent scale rows cream, unmarked. Distal portions of limbs with darker brownish markings, digits with alternating brown and pale greyish bands. Dorsum of tail (regenerated) mottled dark grey with a brownish suffusion, especially middorsally, and irregular, diffuse pale grey blotches. Venter, including that of tail, off-white, tending to cream on the mental and postmental scales with the palms, soles, and precloacal region slightly darker than surrounding areas ( Fig. 1 ).

Coloration (in life) (based on specimen other than the holotype, not collected). Dorsum a slightly mustardybrown with a series of four irregular transverse sets of grayish markings between shoulder and sacrum. Each transverse marking comprised of a discrete, mostly oblong vertebral mark, and less regularly-shaped paravertebral and flank blotches, all linked by a very pale ashy suffusion. The anterior extent of each set of transverse markings delineated by an irregular thin dark brown border. The exposed background coloration between the paler markings forming irregular chevrons mottled with dark brown flecks and reticulations, except for vertebral pale stripe. Nape with a bolder pale marking consisting of a series of bright white spots interconnected by a more diffuse greyish Vshaped marking. Crown with numerous small, whitish markings, mostly at the periphery and posteromedial portion of the parietal table. More diffuse ashy markings interorbitally, on mid-snout and in loreal regions. Irregular dark brown postocular stripes more-or-less confluent with anterior brown border of pale nape marking. Labial scales and infraorbital regions pale greyish. Limbs with dark brown reticulations enclosing pale grey to ashy, irregular, mostly ovoid blotches, largest on posterior margins of thighs; pattern bolder and with pale blotches more regularly alternating with background coloration on distal portions of limbs. Digits with greyish markings alternating with base coloration. A pale transverse set of markings, like those on sacrum, on pygal portion of tail base. Original portion of tail similar in colour and pattern to body dorsum, with V-shaped pale grey markings alternating with more extensive mustard-brown bands. Regenerated portion of tail with irregular, but largely alternating greyish and dark brown markings. Iris copper-colored ( Fig. 6 ).

Etymology. The specific epithet is a patronym, applied in the genitive singular case, honoring Dr. Hanumnth Narasimhachar Yajurvedi , Professor, Department of Studies and Research in Zoology, Manasagangotri, University of Mysore for his contribution in the field of reproductive biology of reptiles and mammals.

Suggested common name. Kanker Rock Gecko

Variation and additional information from type series. Mensural data for the type series and additional material is given in Table 1 . There are six females and two males, ranging in size from 63.0 mm to at least 98.0 mm. Males have a series of 11–12 femoral pores separated mesially by 7–8 poreless scales (ZSI 25925—12/12 pores on left/right side separated by seven poreless scales, NCBS-AQ043—11/11 pores on left/right side separated by eight poreless scales). All paratypes resemble the holotype in most of the morphological characters except as follows: length of original tail is slightly less than snout vent length in holotype (TL/SVL ratio 0.98), an exception as in other paratypes tail is slightly longer than snout vent length (ZSI 25923—1.04, ZSI 25925—1.12, SI 25926—1.09, NCBS-AQ040—1.01, NCBS-AQ043—1.13), other paratypes with short tail (NCBS-AQ041– 0.84, NCBS-AQ042– 0.74, BNHS 2308—0.35) has regenerated or broken tail. Range of supralabials is from 10–13 (9– 10 below eye) and infralabials from 10–11. The scales across belly range from 25–30 in the paratypes.

Colouration. Adult colouration variation primarily due to relative prominence of the dorsal pattern elements. Juvenile pattern very bold, brighter than in adults.

Phylogenetic relationships. Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov. is recovered as a member of the H. flaviviridis group ( Bansal and Karanth 2010), sister to the species pair H. leschenaultii + H. flaviviridis , these three species in turn are sister to Hemidactylus giganteus ( Fig. 9 ). These relationships are supported by high bootstrap (>95%) and posterior probability values (>0.99). H. yajurvedi sp. nov. is genetically distinct from its two closest relatives, with average uncorrected p-distance from the cyt b data of 0.12 from H. flaviviridis and 0.16 from H. leschenaultii .

Distribution. Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov. is known from five localities in Chhattisgarh, India ( Fig. 7 ). The type series was collected from Saranpal village, Kanker District, Chhattisgarh. The other localities are Charama, Kondagaon, Jagadalpur, and east and west of Kanker city; based on the historical specimens in collected of the ZSI, Kolkata, collected by R.C. Sharma and D.P. Sanyal in 1979. The first author (BHCKM) was able to observe the species at Charama and areas west of Kanker city, both localities in the Kanker District within a radius of approximately 35 km of the type locality. The other historic localities are farther away from the type locality include Kondagon, approximately 82 km south and Jagdalpur, about 156 km south. The habitat at the type locality, as well as at Charama and Kanker, is mixture of dry deciduous forest and scrub vegetation with assemblages of large rock boulders in between.

Natural history. The type locality is characterized by large boulder outcrops and scrub vegetation surrounded by cultivated land near Saranpal village, about five kilometres east of Kanker city ( Fig. 8 ). The entire habitat is predominantly flat cultivated land with rocky boulders and scrub vegetation. The region is located at an altitude of 416 m asl and receives an average annual rainfall of about 1295.2 mm.

Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov. has been observed resting among rock crevices or the lower portions of large boulders during the day, which provide secluded, shady resting places. This is the most common gecko at the type locality, and as many as 15 to 20 individuals may be seen resting on a single large boulder during the day. This species forages actively on boulders and on nearby trees after dark. These geckos are fast moving and easily disturbed during the day, escaping with great agility. However, at night they were less perturbed and human presence did not appear to disrupt their activity. Most of the individuals observed had regenerated tails. Juveniles and adults were syntopic and were observed foraging together after dark. There is extensive infestation of very small, presumably trombiculid mites on the limbs and digits, visible in live animals. Sympatric congeners at most localities where the new species was observed at include Hemidactylus cf. brookii and H. flaviviridis .

Discussion. Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov. is the 27th species of Hemidactylus known from India, and is an additional peninsular Indian endemic species within the tropical Asian clade of Hemidactylus ( Bansal and Karanth 2010) . The tropical Asian clade, with about 20 species (based on morphological affinities and after the phylogenies of Bansal & Karanth 2010 and Bauer et al. 2010), is a dominant vertebrate radiation in peninsular India, distributed in wet and dry, forest and non-forest habitats. Strikingly, this is the first new species allied to the H. flaviviridis clade to be described since H. giganteus in 1871. This clade includes the species H. flaviviridis , H giganteus and H. leschenaulti , apart from Hemidactylus yajurvedi . The rupicolous H. giganteus is endemic to peninsular India, thought to be distributed across a vast landscape in south-central and eastern India ( Smith 1935; Das 2003); and both H. flaviviridis and H. leschenaulti are widely distributed commensals which are found on rocks and trees in natural habitats.

This new description highlights the importance of collections-based research and adds to a growing body of work on Hemidactylus systematics and diversity in India. The history of systematics of Hemidactylus is representative of herpetological research in India, with little systematic taxonomic effort from post-Independence (1947) up until the 21st century. Most valid species that are distributed in India were described by British and other European scientists, with 17 species including 7 peninsular Indian endemics described from 1792–1935. Only two additional species that are currently valid were described from 1953–2006, including a single peninsular Indian endemic ( H. albofasciatus ) and the at least partly commensal species, H. parvimaculatus , which is distributed across Sri Lanka and parts of southern India. Since 2008, 6 new Hemidactylus have been described, all of which are peninsular Indian endemics. While some of these species descriptions and recent taxonomic revisions are the results of thoughtful amalgamation of observations based on museum specimens ( Agarwal et al. 2011; Mirza & Sanap 2014), many of the recent discoveries have been of entirely new forms found during focused fieldwork in regions with little systematic reptile collections.

Species group Species GenBank accession number Reference

Cyt b RAG 1 PDC

H. brookii group H. brookii CAS229632 GQ375295 GQ375313 GQ375307 Bauer et al., 2010b H. brookii CES06080 HM595649 HM622355 HM622370 Bansal and Karanth, 2010

H. brookii ZRC26167 GQ375293 GQ375314 GQ375305 Bauer et al., 2010b H. gracilis CES07039 HM595660 HM622359 HM622374 Bansal and Karanth, 2010

H. imbricatus JFBM2 EU268386 EU268293 EU268323 Bauer et al., 2010a H. imbricatus JS11 EU268385 EU268292 EU268322 Bauer et al., 2010a H. parvimaculatus ADS36 GQ375291 GQ375310 GQ375303 Bauer et al., 2010a H. parvimaculatus AMB7466 GQ375292 GQ375311 GQ375304 Bauer et al., 2010a H. parvimaculatus AMB7475 GQ375290 GQ375309 GQ375302

H. reticulatus CES07016 HM595669 - - Bansal and Karanth, 2010

H. satarensis CES08010 HM595672 - - Bansal and Karanth, 2010

H. flaviviridis H. yajurvedi CES12006 KT601564 KT601568 KT601566

group H. yajurvedi CES12007 KT601565 KT601569 KT601567

H. flaviviridis CAS228540 HM559595 HM559693 HM559660 Bauer et al., 2010a H. flaviviridis FMNH245515 EU268387 EU268294 EU268324 Bauer et al., 2010a H. flaviviridis ID7626 EU268388 EU268295 EU268325 Bauer et al., 2010a H. flaviviridis ID7640 HM559596 HM559694 HM559661 Bauer et al., 2010a H. giganteus CES08013 HM595657 HM622357 HM622372 Bansal and Karanth, 2010

H. giganteus JB03 HM559598 HM559698 HM559665 Bauer et al., 2010a H. leschenaultii AMB7443 HM559601 HM559701 HM559668 Bauer et al., 2010a H. leschenaultii JB05 HM559602 HM559702 HM559669 Bauer et al., 2010a

H. frenatus group H. frenatus AMB7420 EU268391 EU268298 EU268328 Bauer et al., 2010a H. frenatus CES07035 HM595655 HM622356 HM622371 Bansal and Karanth, 2010

H. frenatus LLG4871 GQ375289 GQ375308 GQ375301 Bauer et al., 2010a H. frenatus LLG6745 EU268390 EU268297 EU268327 Bauer et al., 2010a......continued on the next page

Species group Species GenBank accession number Reference Cyt b RAG 1 PDC

H. prashadi group H. aaronbaueri CES08016 HM595641 HM622352 HM622367 Bansal and Karanth,

2010

H. triedrus CES07007 HM595673 HM622365 HM622379 Bansal and Karanth, 2010

H. triedrus JB08 HM559617 HM559716 HM559683 Bauer et al., 2010a H. triedrus JB09 HM559616 HM559715 HM559682 Bauer et al., 2010a H. prashadi CES07040 HM595668 HM622364 HM622378 Bansal and Karanth, 2010

H. prashadi JB02 HM559608 HM559708 HM559675 Bauer et al., 2010a H. prashadi JB30 HM559609 HM559709 HM559676 Bauer et al., 2010a H. lankae AMB7453 HM559615 HM559714 HM559681 Bauer et al., 2010a H. depressus ADS29A HM559589 HM559687 HM559654 Bauer et al., 2010a H. depressus AMB7481 HM559593 HM559691 HM559658 Bauer et al., 2010a H. hunae AMB7416 HM559606 HM559706 HM559673 Bauer et al., 2010a H. graniticolus CES08026 HM595664 HM622361 HM622375 Bansal and Karanth, 2010

H. maculatus BNHS1516 HM559607 HM559707 HM559674 Bauer et al., 2010a

Outgroup H. mabouia AMB8301 HM559604 HM559704 HM559671 Bauer et al., 2010a H. mabouia YPM14798 HM559605 HM559705 HM559672 Bauer et al., 2010a We remove Hemidactylus giganteus from the checklist of reptiles of Chhattisgarh, as the specimens based on which both Sanyal and Dasgupta (1990) and Chandra and Gajabe (2005) reported this species from Chhattisgarh are the historical collections made by R.C. Sharma and D.P. Sanyal in 1979. This series of 36 specimens at the ZSI, Kolkata which were collected from Konta, Kanker, Jagdalpur and Charma, all in Chhattisgarh, are the very specimens that first alerted us to the presence of this new form. Most of Chhattisgarh, as well as other central Indian states including Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh remain unexplored, with no systematic biodiversity inventorization. Systematic surveys by trained personnel across a range of taxonomic groups are essential if we are to fill these large gaps in knowledge, especially as India’s forests and wild habitats are under increasing threats from development projects.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Dorsal view of holotype (ZSI 25924, adult female) of Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov. Photo by Ishan Agarwal & Varad Giri. Scale bar = 10 mm.

FIGURE 2. Head of Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov. holotype, ZSI 25924. A) Dorsal view, B) Lateral view, C) Ventral view. Photo by Ishan Agarwal & Varad Giri. Scale bar = 10 mm.

FIGURE 3. Details of dorsal pholidosis of holotype (ZSI 25924) of Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov. showing irregularly arranged longitudinal rows of enlarged, rounded tubercles at midbody. Photo by Ishan Agarwal & Varad Giri. Scale bar = 10 mm.

FIGURE 4. Precloacal region of paratype (NCBS-AQ 043) of Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov. showing series of 11 femoral pores on left and right side separated medially by eight pore-less scales. Photo by Ishan Agarwal & Varad Giri. Scale bar = 10 mm.

FIGURE 5. A) Ventral view of right manus of Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov. holotype, ZSI 25924, B) Ventral view of right pes Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov. holotype, ZSI 25924. Photo by Ishan Agarwal & Varad Giri. Scale bar = 10 mm.

FIGURE 6. Photo in life of the Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov. (specimen not collected). Note the colouration. Photo by B. H. C. K. Murthy.

FIGURE 7. The known distribution of Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov. in Chhattisgarh (state boundary highlighted in bold), India: 1, Charama; 2, Near Saranpal (Type locality); 3, Saranpal; 4, Malanjkhudum waterfall; 5, Kondagaon; 6, Jagadalpur.

FIGURE 8. Type locality of holotype of Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov. near Saranpal village, 5 km East of Kanker city, District Kanker, Chhattisgarh, India. Photo by B. H. C. K. Murthy.

FIGURE 9. Maximum likelihood phylogeny of South Asian Hemidactylus (Bauer et al. 2010) showing the position of Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov. (bold) within the Hemidactylus flaviviridis clade. Other clades are collapsed, numbers at nodes represent support values (posterior probability / bootstrap).

Tables

TABLE 1. Measurements (in mm) and scale counts for type series of Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov. Abbreviations as in Materials and Methods. * indicates tail is incomplete. Numbers in parenthesis indicates number of poreless scales separating femoral pore series, number of notched or undivided lamellae, supralabial at midorbital position.

	Holotype	Paratypes
Specimen	ZSI 25924	ZSI 25923	ZSI 25925
Sex	Female	Female	Male
SVL	89.8	90.0	70.5
TRL	36.0	38.2	28.8
BW	21.4	21.7	16.5
CL	15.6	16.0	13.5
TL	88.0	94.0	78.5
TW	13.8	16.1	9.7
HL	26.1	26.9	20.5
HW	18.3	18.5	14.5
HH	10.1	10.0	8.0
FL	14.3	13.7	11.5
OD	4.8	5.5	4.3
NE	9.7	10.0	7.7
SE	12.0	12.4	9.5
EE	8.7	8.2	6.2
IN	2.4	2.5	2.0
IO	9.5	9.4	7.8
FP	-	-	12 -12 (7)
L Manus	12 (6)-12-13-13-14	11 (5)-12-13-14-13	12 (5)-14-14-14-15
R Manus	12 (6)-12-13-13-14	11 (5)-12-13-13-13	12 (6)-13-14-14-14
L Pes	10 (3)-13-14-14-15	11 (6)-13-14-14-14	11 (4)-14-15-15-16
R Pes	10 (4)-14-14-14-15	10 (5)-13-14-14-14	11 (5)-14-14-15-16
SL-L	12 (9)	12 (10)	12 (10)
SL-R	12 (10)	12 (9)	11 (9)
IL-L	10	11	11
IL-R	10	10	10