Cnemaspis tropidogaster (BOULENGER, 1885)
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Cnemaspis tropidogaster
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| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Rough-bellied Day Gecko |
| Synonym | Gonatodes kandianus forma tropidogaster BOULENGER 1885: 70 Cnemaspis tropidogaster — TAYLOR 1953: 1541 Cnemaspis kandiana – WERMUTH 1965: 14 Cnemaspis tropidogaster — INGER, MARX & KOSHY 1984 Cnemaspis tropidogaster — KLUGE 1993 Cnemaspis (Cnemaspis) tropidogaster — RÖSLER 2000: 63 Cnemaspis tropidogaster — KARUNARATHNA & AMARASINGHE 2011 |
| Distribution | Sri Lanka, SW India (Kerala), elevation up to 1300 m. Type locality: restricted to Ceylon (= Sri Lanka) |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Lectotype: BMNH 71.12.14.49; Syntypes: BMNH; NMSL (fide MENDIS WICKRAMASINGHE & MUNINDRADASA 2007, but the NMSL types are invalid, fide T. Amarasinghe, pers. comm., 20 Oct 2014) |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A small-sized Cnemaspis (snout to vent length 28–33 mm in an adult males), which can be distinguished from all known congeners by the following combination of characters: postmentals separated by a small scale; nostrils are not in contact with first supralabial; 5–6 supra labials to angle of mid-orbit position and end of jaw at 8–9 supra labials; 36–38 interorbitals; throat scales keeled; 72–78 dorsal tubercles; dorsal tubercles small, rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal; intermixed with groups of large (3–4 in a transverse row), slightly carinated tubercles at the mid region of the body; lower part of flank with spine-like tubercles; upper part of flank with subconical scales; gular scales keeled; 28 midventrals; ventral keeled and imbricate; mid subcaudals small; 3–5 preanal pores; 4–5 femoral pores on each side; 11–12 subdigital lamellae and 4 basal lamellae in the 4th finger; 11–13 subdigital lamellae and 5 basal lamellae in the 4th toe. |
| Comment | Group: The C. tropidogaster group within Cnemaspis (7 species: Cnemaspis tropidogaster, C. clivicola , C. pava , C. pulchra, C. samanalensis, C. silvula and C. upendrai), is characterized by the presence of both femoral and precloacal pores, mid subcaudal scales large, and rough abdominal scales (Wickramasinghe et al. 2016). Distribution: C. tropidogaster sensu stricto, earlier reported from India is currently believed to be a Sri Lankan endemic known only from the type specimens (Ganesh et al. 2011). Phylogenetics: The imprecise type locality of Cnemaspis tropidogaster (Boulenger), the fact that the type series includes a number of different Indian species, and that no extant Sri Lankan populations have been recently assigned to this species mean that Agarwal et al. 2017 were are unable to confirm if any of the Cnemaspis spp. in their phylogeny represent true C. tropidogaster, hence its status remains unclear. |
| Etymology | Named after Greek tropis, tropidos = keel, and gaster = belly, venter, for the keeled throat scales and the lower part of flank with spine-like tubercles. |
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