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Paragehyra austini Crottini, Harris, Miralles, Glaw, Jenkins, Randrianantoandro, Bauer & Vences, 2014

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Higher TaxaGekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymParagehyra austini CROTTINI, HARRIS, MIRALLES, GLAW, JENKINS, RANDRIANANTOANDRO, BAUER & VENCES 2014 
DistributionMadagascar (Andohahela National Park: western slopes of the Andohahela massif)

Type locality: Grotte Ampasy (Andohahela National Park), 24° 32.663′ S; 46° 41.249′ E; 796 m elevation, western slope of the Andohahela massif, Tolagnaro (Fort Dauphin) Fivondronana, Toliara province, SE Madagascar  
Reproductionoviparous (manual imputation, fide Zimin et al. 2022) 
TypesHolotype ZSM 339/2005 (FGZC 2366), adult male with everted hemipenes and open ventral portion of the right forelimb, collected on 26th January 2005 by Parfait Bora, Frank Glaw and Miguel Vences. Paratypes ZSM 338/2005 (FGZC 2355), young female or unsexed subadult in good condition and with open ventral portion of the right hindlimb; ZSM 340/2005 (FGZC 2367), adult male with everted hemipenis and with autotomised tail (tail preserved with the specimen); UADBA uncatalogued (FGZC 2365), juvenile; UADBA uncatalogued (FGZC 2368), adult male; all collected at the same locality and dates as the holotype. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis A Paragehyra with no enlarged tubercles on dor- solateral surfaces of the body (character BT); no tubercles on dorsal surfaces of limbs (character TDL); and no tubercles on dorsolateral surface of tail (character TT); enlarged infralabials diminish gradually in size posteriorly (character I); small lateral chin scales extend anteriorly along each side, excluded from contact with first infralabials and first postmentals, in contact with second infralabials (character C); ventral scales on distal (tibial) segment of hindlimb slight- ly larger than the other ventral scales (character VET); scales on preaxial-ventral portion of pes between end of tibia and base of digit I relatively small, seven scales visible (character SPP); three to four small, subdigital scales between enlarged basal scales and terminal distal pad on digit I of manus and pes (character SS); claw-bearing segment of digits II–V of manus and pes with three to seven subdigital scales (character SSC); smooth dorsal scales equal in size than ventrals (character DO); smooth pigmented ventral scales (character VE); smooth pigmented subcaudal scales (character SC); triangle-shaped mental scale (character ME); first large postmental scales in contact for more than the 50 % of their length (character 1PM).
P. austini sp. nov. is most similar to P. gabriellae from which it is differentiated in five characters: BT (absence of enlarged tubercles dorsolaterally on the body vs. presence), VET (ventral scales on distal (tibial) segment of hindlimb slightly larger than the other ventrals vs. ventral scales on distal (tibial) segment of hindlimb of normal size), SS (3–4 vs. 7–10 smaller subdigital scales between enlarged basal scales and distal pad on digit I of manus and pes), SSC (subdigital scales on claw-bearing segment of digit II–V of manus and pes with distalmost scale markedly larger than the others vs. numerous small scales increasing gradually in size distally), 1PM (first large postmental scales in contact for more than the 50 % of their length vs. first large postmental scales in contact for equal or less than the 50 % of their length).
P. austini sp. nov. differs from P. petiti in 12 characters: BT (absence of enlarged tubercles dorsolaterally on body vs. 10 longitudinal rows of enlarged tubercles dorsolaterally on body), TDL (absence vs. presence of enlarged tubercles on distal segment of forelimbs), TT (absence vs. presence of transverse rows of enlarged tubercles on tail), I (enlarged infralabials diminish gradually in size posteriorly vs. first four to six infralabials much larger than remainder), VET (ventral scales on distal (tibial) segment of hindlimb slightly larger than the other ventrals vs. five to six enlarged ventral scales on distal (tibial) segment of hindlimb), SPP (seven small scales along preaxial-ventral border of pes vs. five large scales along preaxial-ventral border of pes), SS (three to four small subdigital scales between enlarged basal scales and terminal distal pad on digit I of manus and pes vs. two to three small scales), SSC (subdigital scales on claw-bearing segment of digit II–V of manus and pes with distalmost scale markedly larger than the others vs. large and almost equally in size scales), DO (smooth dorsal scales equal size to ventrals vs. smooth dorsal scales smaller than ventrals), VE (smooth pigmented ventral scales vs. smooth unpigmented ventral scales), SC (smooth pigmented subcaudal scales vs. smooth unpigmented subcaudal scales), ME (triangle-shaped mental scale vs. bell-shaped mental scale).
P. austini sp. nov. differs from P. felicitae sp. nov. in eight characters: BT (absence of enlarged tubercles vs. 12 longitu- dinal rows of enlarged tubercles dorsolaterally on body), TDL (absence of enlarged tubercles on dorsal surfaces of limbs vs. presence), TT (absence of transverse rows of enlarged tuber- cles on tail vs. presence), VET (ventral scales on distal (tibial) segment of hindlimb slightly larger vs. 6 enlarged ventral scales on distal (tibial) segment of hindlimb), SPP (7 small scales along preaxial-ventral border of pes vs. 6 large scales along preaxial-ventral border of pes), SS (3–4 small, subdigital scales between enlarged basal scales and terminal distal pad on digit I of manus and pes vs. 2–3 small scales), SSC (subdigital scales on claw-bearing segment of digit II–V of manus and pes markedly larger than the others vs. scales almost subequal), VE (smooth pigmented ventral scales vs. smooth unpigmented ventral scales). 
CommentHabitat: walls of a cave

Abundance: only known from its original description (Meiri et al. 2017). 
EtymologyThe name “austini” is a personal noun in the genitive case. D. J. Harris dedicates this new species in honour of Mr. Austin O’Malley. 
References
  • Crottini, Angelica; D. James Harris, Aurélien Miralles, Frank Glaw, Richard K. B. Jenkins, J. Christian Randrianantoandro, Aaron M. Bauer and Miguel Vences 2014. Morphology and Molecules reveal Two New Species of the poorly studied Gecko Genus Paragehyra (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Madagascar. Organisms Diversity & Evolution 15:175–198; DOI 10.1007/s13127-014-0191-5 - get paper here
  • Kwet, Axel 2015. Liste der im Jahr 2014 neu beschriebenen Reptilien. Terraria-Elaphe 2015 (3): 50-64 - get paper here
  • Meiri, Shai; Aaron M. Bauer, Allen Allison, Fernando Castro-Herrera, Laurent Chirio, Guarino Colli, Indraneil Das, Tiffany M. Doan, Frank Glaw, Lee L. Grismer, Marinus Hoogmoed, Fred Kraus, Matthew LeBreton, Danny Meirte, Zoltán T. Nagy, Cristiano d 2017. Extinct, obscure or imaginary: the lizard species with the smallest ranges. Diversity and Distributions - get paper here
  • Zimin, A., Zimin, S. V., Shine, R., Avila, L., Bauer, A., Böhm, M., Brown, R., Barki, G., de Oliveira Caetano, G. H., Castro Herrera, F., Chapple, D. G., Chirio, L., Colli, G. R., Doan, T. M., Glaw, F., Grismer, L. L., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton 2022. A global analysis of viviparity in squamates highlights its prevalence in cold climates. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–16 - get paper here
 
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