Cnemaspis temiah, Grismer & Wood & Anuar & Riyanto & Ahmad & Muin & Sumontha & Grismer & Onn & Quah & Pauwels, 2014

Grismer, Lee, Wood, Perry L., Anuar, Shahrul, Riyanto, Awal, Ahmad, Norhayati, Muin, Mohd A., Sumontha, Montri, Grismer, Jesse L., Onn, Chan Kin, Quah, Evan S. H. & Pauwels, Olivier S. A., 2014, Systematics and natural history of Southeast Asian Rock Geckos (genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887) with descriptions of eight new species from Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, Zootaxa 3880 (1), pp. 1-147 : 81-85

Cnemaspis temiah sp. nov

Temiah Rock Gecko

Fig. 44

Cnemaspis affinis Grandison 1972:80 ; Dring 1979:221

Cnemaspis flavolineata Manthey & Grossmann 1997:211 (in part); Chan-ard et al 1999:104, Grismer 2008:30; Grismer et al. 2008c:9 (in part); Grismer 2011a:317

Cnemaspis flavolineatus Lim et al. 2002:51

Holotype. Adult female LSUHC 9110 collected on 11 November 2008 by L. Lee Grismer, Norhayati Ahmad, and Chan K. Onn on trail 11, Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia (03°09.01 N, 106°14.03 E) at approximately 1600 m in elevation.

Paratypes. All paratypes are from the same locality as the holotype. LSUHC 9159–60 have the same collectors and collection dates. LSUHC 9739 was collected by Chan K. Onn on 22 March 2010 ; LSUHC 9816–18 were collected by L. Lee Grismer, Chan K. Onn, and R. Gregory on 27 August 2010 .

Diagnosis. Maximum SVL 46.7 mm; eight or nine supralabials; 7–9 infralabials; ventral scales keeled; 5–7 continuous, pore-bearing precloacal scales with round pores; 22–27 paravertebral tubercles; body tubercles semilinearly arranged, weakly present on flanks; tubercles present in lateral caudal furrows; no ventrolateral row of caudal tubercles; lateral row of caudal tubercles present; caudal tubercles not encircling tail; all subcaudals keeled, no enlarged median scale row; three postcloacal tubercles on each side of tail base; no enlarged femoral or subtibial scales; subtibials keeled; no enlarged submetatarsal scales on first toe; 22–26 subdigital fourth toe lamellae; lightcolored, vertebral stripe variably present (Tables 6,7).

Description of holotype. Adult female; SVL 38.6 mm; head oblong in dorsal profile, moderate in size (HL/ SVL 0.27), somewhat narrow (HW/SVL 0.18), flattened (HD/HL 0.39), distinct from neck; snout short (ES/HL 0.46), flat in lateral profile; postnasal region constricted medially, flat; scales of rostrum keeled, slightly raised, larger than similarly shaped scales on occiput; low, supraorbital ridges; weak frontorostral sulcus; canthus rostralis smoothly rounded; eye large (ED/HL 0.21); extra-brillar fringe scales largest anteriorly; pupil round; ear opening oval, taller than wide; rostral slightly concave, dorsal 75% divided by longitudinal groove; rostral bordered posteriorly by supranasals and two smaller scales and laterally by first supralabials; 9R,8L raised supralabials of similar size; 9R,L infralabials, decreasing in size slightly posteriorly; nostrils elliptical, oriented dorsoposteriorly; bordered posteriorly by small, granular, postnasal scales; mental large, triangular, bordered posteriorly by four postmentals, outer two largest; gular scales raised, keeled; throat scales larger, raised, keeled.

Body slender, not particularly long (AG/SVL 0.43); small, keeled, dorsal scales equal in size throughout body, intermixed with much larger, multicarinate tubercles more or less randomly arranged; tubercles extend from occiput to base of tail; tubercles on flanks prominent; 26 paravertebral tubercles; pectoral scales raised, keeled, not elongate; abdominal scales slightly larger than dorsals, flat, keeled; no precloacal pores; forelimbs moderately long (FL/SVL 0.15), slender; dorsal scales of brachium raised, keeled; dorsal scales of forearm keeled, raised; ventral scales of brachium keeled, raised, juxtaposed; ventral scales of forearm smooth, raised, juxtaposed; palmar scales smooth, juxtaposed, raised; digits long with an inflected joint; claws recurved; subdigital lamellae unnotched; lamellae beneath first phalanges wide; lamellae beneath phalanx immediately following inflection granular, lamellae of distal phalanges wide; interdigital webbing absent; fingers increase in length from first to fourth with fourth and fifth nearly equal in length; hind limbs slightly longer and thicker than forelimbs (TBL/SVL 0.20); dorsal scales of thigh keeled, raised, juxtaposed; scales of anterior margin of thigh keeled; ventral scales of thigh keeled; subtibial scales keeled, flat, imbricate, with no enlarged anterior row; plantar scales smooth, juxtaposed, raised; no enlarged submetatarsal scales beneath first metatarsal; digits elongate with an inflected jointed; claws recurved; subdigital lamellae unnotched; lamellae beneath first phalanges wide; lamellae beneath phalanx immediately following inflection granular, lamellae of distal phalanges wide; interdigital webbing absent; toes increase in length from first to fourth with fourth being slightly longer than fifth; 25 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; caudal scales arranged in segmented whorls; dorsal caudal scales raised anteriorly, weakly keeled, juxtaposed; middorsal and lateral caudal furrows present; no row of enlarged, median subcaudal scales; subcaudal scales keeled; caudal tubercles do not encircle tail; caudal tubercles present in lateral caudal furrow; no enlarged postcloacal tubercles on lateral surface of hemipenal swellings at base of tail.

Color pattern in life ( Fig. 44 ). Dorsal ground color light brown to yellowish; head, body (including flanks), and limbs overlain with irregularly shaped, blotched, dark markings, those in the paravertebral region somewhat paired and alternating with somewhat larger, yellowish marking; tail generally immaculate; ground color of all ventral surfaces beige, weak dark stippling on throat, pectoral region, limbs and tail. There is no sexual dimorphism in color pattern and the pattern lights considerably at night.

Variation. Paratypes LSUHC 9160 and 9816 resemble the holotype in all aspects of coloration and pattern ( Fig. 44 ). The other paratypes show differing degrees of vertebral stipping . LSUHC 9159 and 9739 have a wide, yellow vertebral stipe extending from occiput to onto the tail . LSUHC 9817 also bears a vertebral stripe but it is interrupted just posterior to the shoulder region . LSUHC 9818 has a vertebral stripe that extends only to a point midway down the body between the limb insertions . LSUHC 9159 – 60,9739 , 9816 have broken tails . LSUHC 9816 is a male with a series of seven, contiguous, pore-bearing precloacal scales with round pores. Morphometric variation and variation in scalation are presented in Table 9 .

Distribution. Cnemaspis temiah sp. nov. is known only from the Cameron Highlands plateau, Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia ( Fig. 3 ).

Natural History. Grismer (2011a) reported Cnemaspis temiah sp. nov. to be an inhabitant of hill dipterocarp forests occurring in the vicinity of 1,150 meters in elevation ( Fig. 44 ). Unlike most Sundaic species of Cnemaspis that have a high affinity for rocky microhabitats, C. temiah sp. nov. occurs exclusively on vegetation. It is assumed this species is secretive and diurnal although it has never been observed during the day. Grismer (2011a) noted that all the lizards observed at night were sleeping on the trunks of trees or on the surfaces of leaves. Cnemaspis temiah sp. nov. appears to be very localized in distribution as well. At Cameron Highlands, lizards are found regularly but only along one 200 m stretch of a certain trail. They are very rare elsewhere. Gravid females carrying two eggs have been found during March, April and October ( Grismer 2011a), suggesting C. temiah sp. nov. may breed yearround.

Etymology. The specific epithet temiah is an invariable noun in apposition in reference to the Temiah Tribe of Orang Asli people that are also endemic to the Cameron Highland region.

Comparisons. Cnemaspis temiah sp. nov. is a member of the affinis group and was previously considered conspecific with C. flavolineata (see Grismer 2011a and references therein). The molecular analysis indicates that not only is C. temiah sp. nov. separate from C. flavolineata but may not even its closest relative ( Fig. 2 ). Cnemaspis temiah sp. is separated from C. flavolineata by not having caudal tubercles that encircle the tail as opposed to having caudal tubercles encircling the tail anteriorly. It is further separated by lacking as opposed to having large, white, dorsal tubercles on the body and tail and having an uncorrected p- distance of 18.0% ( Table 4 ). Cnemaspis temiah sp. nov. differs from species of the affinis group as follows. From all species of the affinis group except C. bayuensis , C. flavolineata , C. hangus sp. nov., C. selamatkanmerapoh , and C. stongensis sp. nov. C. temiah sp. nov. differs by lacking an ocellus in the shoulder region. From all species of the affinis group except C. harimau it differs by having as opposed to lacking caudal tubercles that encircle the tail at least anteriorly. Cnemaspis temiah sp. nov. differs from C. affinis , C. bayuensis , C. hangus sp. nov., C. selamatkanmerapoh , and C. stongensis sp. nov. and C. mcguirei by having fewer subdigital lamellae on the fourth toe (22–26 versus 27–35 collectively). From C. affinis , C. bayuensis , C. grismeri , C. harimau , and C. narathiwatensis it differs by having as opposed to lacking precloacal pores. Cnemaspis temiah sp. nov. differs further from C. harimau and C. selamatkanmerapoh in having 22–27 as opposed to 18–20 and 30 paravertebral tubercles, respectively. From C. affinis and C. bayuensis it differs in having as opposed to lacking tubercles in the lateral caudal furrows. It differs from C. shahruli by not having a yellow gular region and from C. grismeri and C. mcguirei by not having nearly immaculate white caudal bands and a wide, yellow, postscapular band.

Relationships. The sister species relationship between Cnemapspis temiah sp. nov. and C. flavolineata is not supported and the two are separated by an uncorrected p -distance of 18.0% ( Fig. 2 ; Table 4 ).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Maximum-likelihood phylogram (–InL 73957.608688) of the species of the genus Cnemaspis with Bayesian posterior probabilities (BPP) and maximum-likelihood (ML) bootstrap values, respectively based on the concatenated 3 gene dataset. Black circles are nodes supported by BBP and ML values greater than 0.95 and 70, respectively. Gray circles are nodes supported only by ML values greater than 70. White circles are nodes supported only by BPP values greater than 0.95. The distribution maps on the right delimit the ranges of the four major clades.

FIGURE 3. Distribution of the species and species groups in the Ca Mau and Northern Sunda clades. Stars indicate type localities.

FIGURE 44. Cnemaspis temiah sp. nov. from Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia. Upper left: adult female (LSUDPC 5677) in the dark color pattern phase. Upper right: hatchling (LSUDPC 5382). Middle right: adult male (LSUDPC 5668) in the light color pattern phase. Middle left: microhabitat at trail 10, Tana Rata, Cameron Highlands. Lower: type series of C. temiah sp. nov., adult male holotype (LSUHC 9110) on far left. Photographs by LLG.

Tables

TABLE 9. Meristic and mensural character states of the type series of Cnemaspis temiah sp. nov. w = weak; f = female;

	LSUHC	LSUHC	LSUHC	LSUHC	LSUHC	LSUHC	LSUHC
	9110	9159	9160	9739	9816	9817	9818
	holotype	paratype	paratype	paratype	paratype	paratype	paratype
Supralabials	9	8	9	8	9	9	8
Infralabials	9	7	9	8	7	8	8
Ventral scales keeled (1) or not (0)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
No. of precloacal pores	/	/	/	/	7	/	/
Precloacal pores continuous (1) or separated (0)	/	/	/	/	1	/	/
Precloacal pores elongate (1) or round (0)	/	/	/	/	0	/	/
No. of paravertebral tubercles	26	23	27	22	26	22	22
Tubercles linearly arranged (1) or more random (0)	w	0	1	1	w	0	0

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