Wednesday, September 30, 2015

[Herpetology • 2015] Hemidactylus yajurvedi • A New Rock Dwelling Hemidactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Chhattisgarh, east-central India


Hemidactylus yajurvedi
Murthy, Bauer, Lajmi, Agarwal & Giri, 2015

Abstract

A distinct new species of gecko of the genus Hemidactylus is described from the Kanker district of Chhattisgarh State, east-central India. This large-sized (SVL average 81.33±13.40 to at least 98.0 mm) Hemidactylus is characterized by a dorsum with small granules, intermixed with 10–12 rows of irregularly arranged, slightly larger, rounded, weakly-keeled tubercles at midbody; 10–12 and 13–15 subdigital lamellae on the first and fourth digits, respectively, of both manus and pes; a single enlarged postcloacal tubercle on either side of the tail; 10–12 femoral pores on each thigh separated by 5–8 poreless scales; 12–14 supralabials and 10–12 infralabials.

Keywords: Reptilia, Hemidactylus yajurvedi sp. nov., H. aaronbaueri, cryptic species, Chhattisgarh, India




B.H.C.K. Murthy, A. M. Bauer, Aparna Lajmi, Ishan Agarwal and Varad Giri. 2015. A New Rock Dwelling Hemidactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Chhattisgarh, India. Zootaxa. 4021(2): 334–350. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4021.2.5