Cnemaspis umashaankeri, Narayanan & NA, 2022

Narayanan, Surya & NA, Aravind, 2022, A new species of rupicolous Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Biligirirangan Hills of Southern India, Vertebrate Zoology 72, pp. 823-837 : 823

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e89324
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:8B11246E-AE07-4975-9C52-A6C1CB887844
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/2784859C-5B45-45C2-B682-E52E1C939F1A
taxon LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:act:2784859C-5B45-45C2-B682-E52E1C939F1A
treatment provided by	Vertebrate Zoology by Pensoft
scientific name	Cnemaspis umashaankeri
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Cnemaspis umashaankeri sp. nov.

Figs 3 View Figure 3 , 4 View Figure 4 , 5 View Figure 5 , 6 View Figure 6

Type locality.

Biligiri Rangan Hills village, Biligiri Ranganathaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve, Karnataka, India (12.002204°N and 77.145234°E, 1161 m asl).

Holotype.

ZSI-R-28301, SVL 25.7 mm, adult male, collected from the type locality by Aravind N.A. and Surya Narayanan on 14th October 2021 (Figs 3 View Figure 3 , 4 View Figure 4 , 6A View Figure 6 ).

Paratypes (n=3).

ZSI-R-28302, SVL 24.6 mm, adult male (Fig. 5A View Figure 5 ); BNHS 3127, SVL 27.7 mm, adult female (Fig. 5B View Figure 5 ); BNHS 3126, SVL 28.8 mm, adult male (Fig. 5C View Figure 5 ). Collection details same as holotype.

Etymology.

The specific epithet is a patronym honouring Dr R. Uma Shaanker, Retired Professor of Plant Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore and Founder of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bangalore. He has contributed immensely to understanding plant and animal evolution, ecology, and conservation biology.

Suggested common name.

Umashaanker’s Dwarf Gecko.

Diagnosis.

A small-sized Cnemaspis , SVL up to 29 mm (n=4). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; moderately keeled, granular scales in the vertebral and paravertebral region irregularly arranged, weakly keeled tubercles on each side of flank, tubercles in lowest row largest, spine-like; 6-8 rows of dorsal tubercles; ventral scales smooth, imbricate, 20 or 21 scales across the belly, 90-96 longitudinal scales from mental to cloacal opening, subdigital scansors smooth, entire, unnotched; 6-9 lamellae under digit I of manus and eight lamellae under digit I of pes, 15-17 and 12-15 lamellae under digit IV of pes and manus, respectively; males with 4 or 5 femoral pores on each thigh separated on either side by 4 or 5 poreless scales from a series of 6-8 precloacal pores; tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; median row of subcaudals smooth, slightly enlarged; subdigital scansors smooth, entire, unnotched.

Comparison with gracilis, Cnemaspis mysoriensis and Cnemaspis monticola clades.

Cnemaspis umashaankeri sp. nov. differs from the members of the Cnemaspis monticola clade ( Pal et al. 2021), including its members from Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia by the absence of spine-like tubercles in the flanks (versus spine like tubercles present in all the members of Cnemaspis monticola and kandiana clades). Additionally, from the Indian members of this clade C. umashaankeri sp. nov. can be distinguished by the presence of 90-94 ventral scales (versus 113-129 in C. monticola Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita and Pethiyagoda, 2007; 130-136 in C. australis Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita and Pethiyagoda, 2007; 111-124 C. schalleri Khandekar, Thackeray and Agarwal, 2021); by a combination of 6-8 PP and 4 or 5 FP separated by 4 or 5 poreless scales (versus 3 or 4 PP and 3-5 FP separated by 9-12 poreless scales in C. monticola ; 2 or 3 PP and 4 or 5 FP separated by 11-13 poreless scales in C. australis ; 2 or 3 PP and 3-5 FP separated by 8-10 poreless scales in C. schalleri ).

Am ong the members of the Cnemaspis mysoriensis clade, Cnemaspis umashaankeri sp. nov. closely resembles C. yercaudensis Das and Bauer, 2000 and C. otai Das and Bauer, 2000 in having 20 or 21 MVSR and 90-94 ventral scales (versus 18-20 MVSR and 90-105 ventrals in C. yercaudensis ; 18 MVSR and 93-98 ventrals in C. otai ), but it differs from the all the members in the Cnemaspis mysoriensis clade by the following characters. It can be easily distinguished from the members of the clade by having a combination of 6-8 PP and 4 or 5 FP separated by 4 or 5 poreless scales (versus 2 PP and 2 FP separated by 12-14 poreless scales in C. adii Srinivasulu, Kumar and Srinivasulu, 2015; 4 PP and 3 FP separated by 9 or 10 poreless scales in C. otai ; 2 PP and 2 FP separated by 7 or 8 poreless scales in C. mysoriensis (Jerdon, 1853); 2 PP and 3 femoral pores separated by 5 or 6 poreless scales in C. yercaudensis ; 2 PP and 2 or 3 FP on each side separated by 8 poreless scales in C. stellapulvis Khandekar, Thackeray and Agarwal, 2020; 3 PP and 1 FP on each side separated by 10 poreless scales in C. rishivalleyensis Agarwal, Thackeray and Khandekar, 2020; FP absent and 2-5 PP in C. avasabinae Agarwal, Bauer and Khandekar, 2020); 2 (3 in one specimen) PP and 2 FP on each side separated by 6-9 poreless scales in C. tigris Khandekar, Thackeray and Agarwal, 2022.

From the members of the gracilis clade, Cnemaspis umashaankeri sp. nov. can be easily distinguished by a combination of 6-8 PP and 4 or 5 FP separated by 4 or 5 poreless scales (versus 4 PP and 4-6 FP separated by 8 poreless scales in C. agarwali Khandekar, 2019; 1 or 2 PP and 4 FP separated by 7-9 poreless scales in C. shevaroyensis Khandekar, Gaitonde and Agarwal, 2019; 2-4 PP and 5-9 FP separated by 1-6 poreless scales in C. thackerayi Khandekar, Gaitonde and Agarwal 2019; 3 or 4 PP and 5 or 6 FP separated by 1 or 2 poreless scales in C. jackeii Pal, Mirza, Dsouza and Shanker 2021; 2 PP and 3-5 FP separated by 9-11 poreless scales in C. mundanthuraiensis Khandekar, Thackeray and Agarwal, 2022). Furthermore, C. umashaankeri sp. nov. differs from all the members of this clade in having a lower ventral 90-96 and MVSR 20 or 21 (versus 24-26 MVSR and 136-140 ventrals in C. agarwali ; 21-24 MVSR and 111-118 ventrals in C. shevaroyensis ; 22-25 MVSR and 105-122 ventrals in C. agarwali ).

Additionally, Cnemaspis umashaankeri sp. nov. can be distinguished from Cnemaspis boiei (Gray, 1842) by the presence of femoral and preanal pores (versus both femoral and preanal pores absent in C. boiei ). From Cnemaspis jerdoni (Theobald, 1868), the new species can be distinguished by the presence of 4 or 5 femoral pores and 6-8 preanal pores (versus 8 femoral pores and preanal pores absent in C. jerdoni ).

Description of the holotype (ZSI-R-28301).

Adult male in good state of preservation, the tip of the tail clipped for the tissue collection (Fig. 3 View Figure 3 ). SVL 25.7 mm, head short (HL/SVL 0.29), wide (HW/ HL 0.64), not strongly depressed (HD/HL 0.48), distinct from neck. Loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent. Snout roughly one-third of the head length (ES/HL 0.35), 2.5 × eye diameter (ED/ES 0.40); scales on snout and canthus rostralis large, round; slightly larger than the scales those on forehead and interorbital region; occipital and temporal region with much smaller granules (Fig. 4A View Figure 4 ).

Eye small (ED/HL 0.14); with round pupil; orbit with fringe scales that are largest anteriorly; supraciliaries not elongate. Ear-opening deep, vertical, small (EL/HL 0.06); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE/ED 2.18). Rostral much wider (1.7 mm) than long (0.8 mm), partially divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove for more than half of its length; single enlarged supranasal on each side, slightly larger than postnasals; a small scale present at the juncture of rostral and internasals; rostral in contact with supralabial 1, nasal, supranasal, internasal, briefly contacting post nasal; nostrils oval, each surrounded by postnasal, supranasal and rostral; three rows of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials (Fig. 4A View Figure 4 ).

Mental enlarged, subtriangular, wider than long; two pairs of postmentals, inner pair large, roughly rectangular, bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmentals and two enlarged chin shields; outer postmentals slightly smaller than inner postmentals, roughly circular, bordered by inner postmentals and eight enlarged chin shields; inner postmentals in contact with each other and two small gular scales prevent contact of left and right outer postmentals; chin shields bordering postmentals flat, smooth, smaller than outermost postmentals. Eight Supralabials on each side and seven supralabials on left and six on right side at midorbit; supralabial I largest, supralabials decreasing in size posteriorly; seven infralabials to angle of jaw on each side and six at midorbit on either side; infralabial I largest, infralabials decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 4C View Figure 4 ). Extra-brillar fringe scales seven or eight on each side; 24-26 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at midorbit.

Body relatively slender (BW/SVL 0.23), trunk less than half of SVL (AGL/SVL 0.42); spine-like scales on flank absent. Dorsal scales on trunk heterogeneous, moderately keeled anteriorly and strongly keeled posteriorly; granular scales intermixed with much larger, strongly keeled, conical tubercles; approximately eleven tubercles in paravertebral row from above forelimb insertion to the hind limb insertion. Scales on nape are slightly smaller than those on paravertebral rows and smaller on the occiput. Scales on flank slightly larger than those on dorsum, granular and strongly keeled, intermixed with more tubercles than that of the dorsum. Ventral much larger than those on the dorsum, those on belly smooth, imbricate, subequal from chest to vent; midbody scale rows across belly 21; 90 scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca. Scales on throat and pectoral region slightly smaller than those on belly, flat and imbricate; gular region with much smaller, flattened scales with those on chin bordering postmentals. Four femoral pores on each thigh separated four poreless scales on the left and five poreless scales on the right from six continuous precloacal pores (Fig. 4D View Figure 4 ).

Scales on palm and sole smooth, flat and roughly circular; scales on dorsal aspect of manus and pes hetero-genous, moderately keeled, imbricate; those near forelimb insertion much smaller; dorsal aspect of forearm and elbow with scales smaller than those on upper arm, strongly keeled, roughly rounded; dorsal aspect of hand predominantly bearing large, strongly keeled, imbricate scales. Ventral aspect of upper arm with smooth, roughly rounded. Scales on dorsal aspect of thigh subequal to those on dorsal granules, strongly keeled, imbricate. Scales on dorsal aspect of knee and shank slightly smaller than those on dorsum of thigh, subimbricate, strongly keeled; dorsal aspect of foot predominantly bearing small to large, moderate to strongly keeled, imbricate scales; scales on ventral aspect of thigh and shank similar to those on midbody ventrals (Fig. 3 View Figure 3 ). Fore and hind limbs moderately long, slender; (CL/SVL 0.16); digits long, with a strong, recurved claw, distal portions laterally compressed conspicuously. Series of unpaired lamellae on basal portion of digits, separated from narrower distal lamellae by a single large scale at the inflection; proximal lamellae series: 1-3-3-4-3 (right manus; Fig. 4E View Figure 4 ), 1-4-4-6-5 (right pes; Fig. 4F View Figure 4 ), 1-3-4-4-3 (left manus), 1-4-4-6-3 (left pes); distal lamellae series: 7-8-11-10-9 (right manus; Fig. 4E View Figure 4 ), 7-9-10-10-10 (right pes; Fig. 4F View Figure 4 ), 7-8-10-11-9 (left manus), 7-8-10-11-10 (left pes). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (2.1)> III (1.9)> V (1.8)> II (1.6)> I (1.1) (right manus); III (3.3)> IV (3.1)> II (2.3)>V (2.2)> I (1.7) (right pes).

Tail incomplete, cylindrical in cross-section, relatively slender, longer than snout-vent length (TL/SVL 0.87). Dorsal scales at tail base granular, strongly keeled, similar in size and shape to those on midbody dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flatter, subimbricate posteriorly, intermixed with two rows of distinctly enlarged, conical, strongly keeled paravertebral tubercles; four to six tubercles in dorsolateral, lateral and ventrolateral rows, distinctly enlarged, strongly keeled, imbricate, which are restricted only at the anterior portion of the tail, forming whorls. Scales on the ventral aspect of the original tail much larger than those on the dorsal, imbricate, smooth, with a series of three enlarged subcaudal scales of which the median series is almost twice the size of adjunct two rows, roughly hexagonal; those on the tail base much smaller, imbricate and smooth, a single enlarged postcloacal spur on each side.

Colour in life.

Dorsal aspect of the body is overall dark brown with yellow and black intermixed irregular patches. The weakly keeled granular tubercles on the lateral aspect of the body prominently in yellow. An indistinct pale vertebral stripe extending from the neck to the anterior portion of the tail. The dorsal part of the head is not distinctly different from the dorsal body in colour. One dark preorbital stripe extending from the narial region to the eye, two postorbital stripes running from the posterior of eye to the axillar insertion and the other stripe extends from the posterior of the subocular region extending towards venter. Rostral and first two supralabials are predominantly darker, rest yellowish. Infralabials predominantly darkish bordered by yellow, except the last which is fully yellowish. Black and greyish dorsal transverse caudal bands encircling the tail. Black bands generally 7 or 8 scales thicker and greyish bands thicker by 4 or 5 scales. All the black separate except the third to fifth that is connected dorsally. Post cloacal spur yellowish on either side. Ventral surface dull white and gular region distinctly yellowish. Few ventral scales along the coastal and the scales in the thigh indistinctly yellowish. In preservative, all the colour remains same except the yellow, that turned paler on both dorsal and ventral sides.

Variation in paratypes.

Mensural and meristic data for the type series are provided in Table 1 View Table 1 & 2 View Table 2 . Paratypes range in size of the SVL from 24.6 mm to 28.8 mm (n=3). Paratypes ZSI-R-28302 and BNHS 3126 are males and ZSI-R-28302 is a female. All paratypes overall resemble the holotype except in the following characters. Tail complete in the paratype BNHS 3127 and incomplete in all other paratypes ZSI-R-28302, BNHS 3126 with varying degrees in length, all of which have original tails. Post mentals in brief contact in the paratype ZSI-R-28302 and are separated by a single small scale in paratype BNHS 3126. Outer postmentals are separated by a series of three scales in ZSI-R-28302 and by four scales in BNHS 3126. The overall colouration of all the male specimens (ZSI-R-28302 & BNHS 3126) is similar to the holotype. The dark mottling in the gular scales is absent in BNHS 3126 and less prominent in ZSI-R-28302. The dorsal colouration of the only female paratype BNHS 3127 is brownish overall including the tail.

Distribution and natural history.

Cnemaspis umashaankeri sp. nov. is currently known only from four localities within the BRT Tiger Reserve (Fig. 7 View Figure 7 ). During our fieldwork we found this species in the settlements largely intermixed with coffee plantations in BR Hills and K Gudi villages (11.906001°N, 77.133290°E) and Basavanakadu stream (11.941572°N, 77.155268°E). Beyond these areas, we also found C. umashaankeri sp. nov. commonly in semi-evergreen, moist deciduous forests around the coffee estates within the Tiger Reserve mainly in habitats associated with the rocky granite boulders and crevices. The holotype and the paratypes were collected from building walls of the ATREE field station situated amidst the human settlements and coffee plantations, indicating that this species can survive human disturbances. The type series was collected at night around 20:00 hrs during which individuals were highly active. Within the sampled sites, several other individuals of C. umashaankeri sp. nov. were observed foraging, mostly in the evenings or later in the night. These uncollected individuals were identified based on the dorsal pholidosis and number of femoral and preanal pores. Eggs of the new species were seen in the rock and building crevices. Hemidactylus graniticolus Agarwal, Giri and Bauer, 2011 and Hemidactylus sp. are found syntopically with the new species within the known range.