Afroedura otjihipa CONRADIE, SCHMITZ, LOBÓN-ROVIRA, BECKER, VAZ-PINTO & HAUPTFLEISCH, 2022
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Afroedura otjihipa
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| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Otjihipa Flat Gecko Afrikaans: Otjihipa Platgeitjie |
| Synonym | Afroedura otjihipa CONRADIE, SCHMITZ, LOBÓN-ROVIRA, BECKER, VAZ-PINTO & HAUPTFLEISCH 2022: 446 Afroedura cf. bogerti – BRANCH 1998: 232 Afroedura cf. bogerti – GRIFFIN 2002: 20 Afroedura cf. bogerti – GRIFFIN 2003: 10 Afroedura cf. bogerti – HERRMANN & BRANCH 2013: 5 |
| Distribution | Namibia Type locality: Otjihipa Middleberg (-17.28314, 12.66506, 1,900 m a.s.l.), Kunene Region, Namibia |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. NMNW R11253, adult female, collected by Morgan Hauptfleisch, Francois Becker, Vera De Cauwer, Wessel Swanepoel and Ernst van Jaarsveld on 23 April 2021. Paratype. NMNW R11245, adult male (paired with female NMNW R11253 in same rock crack). Same collection details as holotype. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A member of the greater ‘transvaalica’ group as it possesses two pairs of enlarged scansors per digit and a strongly verticillate and flattened tail (Jacobsen et al. 2014). Part of the A. bogerti group which differs from other members of the ‘transvaalica’ group by having less than 72 mid-body scale rows (vs. 97–102 in A. gorongosa, 113–120 in A. loveridgei, 102–119 in A. transvaalica); rostral excluded from the nostril (in contact in A. gorongosa); supranasals always in contact (separated by 1–3 granules in A. gorongosa; always in broad contact in A. loveridgei; usually in broad contact in A. transvaalica ~ 3–18%); and 15–16 scales between anterior borders of the eyes (19–22 in A. gorongosa, 15–19 in A. loveridgei, 15–20 in A. transvaalica) (comparative data from Branch et al. 2017, 2021). Afroedura otjihipa sp. nov. differs from other members of the A. bogerti group by a combination of the following characteristics (see Tables 5 and 7): 65–67 (mean 66.0) mid-body scale rows (64–78 [mean 72.8] in A. donveae, 69–77 [mean 73.5] in A. bogerti, 73–78 [mean 74.8] in A. praedicta, 78–82 (mean 79.5) in A. pundomontana sp. nov.; 76–88 [mean 79.3] in A. wulfhaackei, 73–86 [mean 80.3] in A. vazpintorum); supranasals always in contact (similar to A. donveae, A. vazpintorum, A. praedicta and A. pundomontana sp. nov.; in contact in ~ 33% of A. bogerti; in contact in ~ 57% of A. wulfhaackei); each tail verticil comprises 5 ventral and 6 dorsal rows of scales (mean 4 ventral and 5 dorsal in A. bogerti, A. praedicta and A. wulfhaackei; 4–5 (mean 4.4) ventral and 5–6 (mean 5.6) dorsal in A. pundomontana sp. nov.; 5–6 [mean 5.5] ventral and 6–7 [mean 6.6] dorsal in A. donveae; 5–6 [mean 5.0] ventral and 6–7 [mean 6.1] dorsal A. vazpintorum); ventral surfaces light cream and almost immaculate, with some scattered dark spots near lateral edges (similar to A. donveae and A. vazpintorum; greyish with black spots in A. bogerti, A. wulfhaackei, A. praedicta and A. pundomontana sp. nov.); larger average adult size 58.2 mm SVL (versus 57.6 mm in A. donveae, 51.7 mm in A. wulfhaackei, 51.3 mm in A. vazpintorum; 50.3 mm in A. pundomontana sp. nov., 50.0 mm in A. bogerti, 49.9 mm A. praedicta), and by having very distinct black-and-white tail banding (similar to A. donveae). Afroedura otjihipa sp. nov. differs from its sister lowland species A. donveae in having a brown or copper coloured (versus black) iris, a relatively broader head (mean HL/HW 1.1 versus 1.3), and in dorsal colour pattern (Fig. 6): in A. otjihipa sp. nov. it is dominantly dark brown, the yellow appearing as small asymmetrical, irregular patches, and as irregular borders of four paired, asymmetrical, irregular, roughly triangular brown blotches, which merge at the scapular and sacral regions to form two additional bands (versus roughly symmetrical brown patterns on a mostly yellow background in A. donveae). (Conradie et al. 2022) |
| Comment | Distribution: See map in Conradie et al. 2023: 280 (Fig. 3). |
| Etymology | The new species is named in reference to the area it was collected, namely Otjihipa Mountains in northern Namibia. |
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