Asaccus authenticus NAZAROV, NABIZADEH, RAJABIZADEH, MELNIKOV, VOLKOVA, POYARKOV & RASTEGAR-POUYANI, 2024
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Asaccus authenticus
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| Higher Taxa | Phyllodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Bandar-e Jask Leaf-toed Gecko |
| Synonym | Asaccus authenticus NAZAROV, NABIZADEH, RAJABIZADEH, MELNIKOV, VOLKOVA, POYARKOV & RASTEGAR-POUYANI 2024 |
| Distribution | Iran (Hormozgan) Type locality: sandstone cliff ca. 25 km northwards from Bandar-e jask, Hormozgan Province, southern Iran (25.8088° N; 57.8188° E, elevation 74 m a.s.l.) |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: ZMMU R-17675 (field number RAN 3400), adult male, collected on April 26, 2018 by Roman A. Nazarov, daniel A. Melnikov, Hossein Nabizadeh, and Mehdi Rajabizadeh. Paratypes (n=5): ZMMU R-17676 (field number RAN 3401, adult female), ZMMU R-17677 (field number RAN 3402 adult male), MMTT 2269 (field RAN 3399 subadult), MMTT 2270 (field number RAN 3404, adult male) and ERP10900 (field number RAN 3403 adult female). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A member of the genus Asaccus with the following combination of morphological characters: body size medium (Svlmax: 55.5 mm); limbs elongated; two pairs of postmentals, the anterior pair in broad contact; fine scales across the supraorbital region; 12–14 regular longitudinal rows of whitish, enlarged, weakly keeled, oval dorsal tubercles; small pointed tubercles on occiput, neck, and lateral surfaces of head; enlarged keeled tubercles scattered on the hindlimbs and the distal part of forelimbs; 2–3 small tubercles present on the upper arms; terminal lamellae on digits paired, extending beyond claws on 1/3 of the total length; cloacal tubercles weakly developed; ventral surface of the tail with transverse expanded plates; tip of tail laterally compressed and expanded; general background color light-grey with whitish dorsal tubercles; dorsal pattern consisting of five narrow transverse orange- brown bands: one on the neck, three on the body, and one on the sacrum; the interspaces between the dorsal bands wider than the bands themselves; five or six wide transverse bands on the tail, usually brownish or orange-brownish at the base, black in the middle, getting less distinct from the middle to the tip of the tail; tail tip white. (Nazarov et al. 2024) |
| Comment | |
| Etymology | Named after Latin authenticus (masculine gender), meaning ‘genuine’ or ‘original’. The name is given in reference to the distant phylogenetic position of Asaccus authenticus sp. nov. with respect to other Iranian congeners, as revealed by the latest phylogenetic studies (Fattahi et al., 2020). |
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