Afroedura rupestris, Jacobsen, Niels H. G., Kuhn, Arianna L., Jackman, Todd R. & Bauer, Aaron M., 2014

Jacobsen, Niels H. G., Kuhn, Arianna L., Jackman, Todd R. & Bauer, Aaron M., 2014, A phylogenetic analysis of the southern African gecko genus Afroedura Loveridge (Squamata: Gekkonidae), with the description of nine new species from Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa, Zootaxa 3846 (4), pp. 451-501 : 474-475

Afroedura rupestris sp. nov.

( Fig. 7 A–B)

Afroedura multiporis ‘Abel Erasmus’ Jacobsen 1992a, 1997

Holotype. TM 81233, adult male, Farm Perkeo 223KT, 24°27'S, 30°35'E, Sekukhuneland District (2430BC), Limpopo Province, Republic of South Africa, collector R.E. Newbery, 28 June 1982.

Paratypes. TM 81224–81228, 81230–81232, 81234–81235, same data as holotype.

Additional material: TM 47504, 52120, 81229, Bourk’s Luck, Pilgrim’s Rest District, Limpopo Province, Republic of South Africa (2430DB).

Etymology. The species name refers to the rupicolous nature of this (and most) members of the genus Afroedura .

Diagnosis. A large Afroedura (to 62 mm SVL) differing from all other congeners by the following combination of characters: two pairs of enlarged subdigital lamellae per digit; tail faintly verticillate with three subcaudal rows and usually six supracaudal rows per verticil; dorsal scales bluntly keeled to trihedral; usually a single internasal scale; 20–24 precloacal pores in males.

Description. (based on holotype TM 81233) Adult male; SVL 52.0 mm; tail 61.0 mm; mass in life 3.4 g. A slender elongated, lightly pigmented gecko with a rounded crown to the head. Rostral twice as broad as high, heptagonal; nostril pierced between rostral, first upper labial and three nasal scales; nasorostrals separated by a granular scale behind rostral. Scales on snout larger than on crown with some keeled scales along canthus rostralis and above and slightly anterior to the eyes; 2–3 supraciliary spines. Scales between the nasals and anterior margin of eye 12 and from posterior margin of eye to ear 20. Supralabials nine. Mental wedge-shaped, pentagonal, longer than broad; postmentals two; infralabials eight.

Dorsals granular, heterogeneous, smaller paravertebrally, larger dorsolaterally, bluntly keeled to rounded, conical and juxtaposed. Scales rows at midbody 87. Ventral scales smooth, larger than dorsals, imbricate. Digits slender with two pairs of enlarged scansors and some enlarged inferomedian scales under the fourth toe. Other digits lacking enlarged inferomedian scales. Precloacal pores in a continuous row of 24, arranged in a chevron; three postcloacal spurs on each side of tail base. Tail long, somewhat flattened proximally; caudal scales arranged in poorly developed verticils with six dorsal and three ventral rows per verticil; dorsal scales smaller than ventrals and subimbricate; ventrals imbricate.

Color. Olive-brown above with six, rarely seven, blackish wavy and irregular crossbands extending from occiput to sacrum. Pale whitish spots sometimes present at posterior margin of crossbands but may be absent. Limbs pale olive-brown with reticulate darker patterns on the thighs or with wavy stripes and spots. Crown of head paler, mostly without distinct markings. A darkish stripe from nostril to the anterior margin of eye. Two stripes extend from posterior margin of eye to above ear opening. In some individuals a single stripe extends through the eye and is continuous with the occipital bar. Tail with up to 10 crossbars. Body venter whitish, tail venter brownish with darker speckling.

Variation. Paratypes and other specimens agree with the holotype in most features of scalation ( Table 4). Single internasal typically present but two in paratype TM 81232 and nasorostrals in contact (no internasals) in TM 81234. Scales from eye to ear 16–19. Supraciliary spines four and scales on snout not keeled except above and anterior to the eye in TM 81232. Rostral and mental scales variable in relative proportion and shape. Postmentals generally two, but three in TM 47504, 52120 and 81234 and one in TM 81232. Female specimens lack precloacal pores; males typically with 20–26 pores with the exception of TM 81231 and TM 81225 which have 12, with a series of poreless scales separating left and right pore series. Postcloacal spurs 1–4. Caudal verticils with 6–7 subcaudal rows each. Tail 51.76–54.31% of total length. 45.45 % of individuals (n = 11) exhibit caudal autotomy.

Distribution. Apparently limited to the Eastern Escarpment of Limpopo Province, between the Abel Erasmus Pass and Bourke’s Luck ( Fig. 6 ).

Natural history. An exclusively rupicolous species living in crevices between rocks and under flakes of exfoliating rock along sandstone cliffs in Ohrigstad Mountain Bushveld (SVcb 26) ( Mucina & Rutherford 2006) at altitudes between 850–1200 m a.s.l. ( Fig. 8 A). Also found in kloofs and on rocky Blackreef quartzite outcrops on top of cliffs.

Remarks. Afroedura rupestris sp. nov. shares with A. haackei , A. multiporis , and A. major bluntly keeled to trihedral dorsal scales and although not sampled in our molecular phylogeny, presumably belongs to the same clade as these taxa ( Jacobsen 1992a, 1997). It differs from these species in typically having 20–24 preclocal pores in males (versus 16–17 in A. multiporis , generally 25–28 in A. haackei , and 18–19 in A. major ). It may further be differentiated from A. multiporis and A. major by its lower number of supracaudal scale rows per vertical (6 versus 7 and 8, respectively). It is significantly larger (max SVL 62 mm) than A. haackei (max SVL 52 mm), from which it also has a significantly higher number of supralabials (p <0.05, t28 d.f.) and scales from eye to ear (p <0.001, t25 d.f.), and smaller than A. major (max SVL 76 mm).

Figures

FIGURE 6. Map of Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, South Africa and adjacent regions showing the distributions of previously described species of Afroedura endemic to this region and known localities of the nine new species described in this paper. For previously recognized forms an approximate outline of the range based on Bates et al. (2014) is shown; genetically sampled localities are marked by circles in Figure 4. For new species all known localities are plotted as dots (see relevant species accounts), with genetically sampled site marked by circles with a a red center, type locality marked by a star, and all other localities indicated by open circles colored to correspond to the key in the figure. The very restricted distributions of A. maripi sp. nov., A. rondavelica sp. nov., and A. rupestris sp. nov. are indicated by arrows and are labeled directly on the map.

FIGURE 7. Afroedura rupestris sp. nov. (A) Farm Perkoe, Limpopo Province, South Africa (Photo N. H. G. Jacobsen). (B) Abel Erasmus Pass, Limpopo Province, South Africa (Photo Marius Burger).

FIGURE 8. Habitats of new species of South African Afroedura spp. (A) General view of Abel Erasmus Pass, Limpopo, habitat of A. rupestris sp. nov. (B) Habitat of A. maripi sp. nov. near the summit of Mariepskop, Mpumalanga Province in heavy mist. (C) Habitat of A. granitica sp. nov. at its type locality on Farm Lillie, Limpopo Province. (D) Habitat of A. pienaari sp. nov. at Waterpoort on the northern edge of the soutpansberg, Limpopo Province. Photos A and C: Stuart V. Nielsen, Photos B and D: Aaron M. Bauer.