Cnemaspis kawminiae KARUNARATHNA, DE SILVA, GABADAGE, KARUNARATHNA, WICKRAMASINGHE, UKUWELA & BAUER, 2019
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Cnemaspis kawminiae
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| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Kawmini’s Day Gecko Sinhala: Kawminige Divaseri Hoona Tamil: Kawminivin Pahalpalli |
| Synonym | Cnemaspis kawminiae KARUNARATHNA, DE SILVA, GABADAGE, KARUNARATHNA, WICKRAMASINGHE, UKUWELA & BAUER in KARUNARATHNA et al. 2019: 340 |
| Distribution | Sri Lanka (Central Province) Type locality: moss-covered granite wall in Mandaramnuwara, bordering Pidurutalagala Mountain range, Nuwara-Eliya District, Central Province, Sri Lanka (7.033558°N, 80.798794°E, WGS1984; elevation 1,600 m asl. |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. NMSL 2019.18.01, adult male, 33.7 mm SVL (Fig. 9), collected around 1100 hrs) on 14 December 2018 by Suranjan Karunarathna and Anslem de Silva. Paratypes. NMSL 2019.18.02, adult male, 33.2 mm SVL and NMSL 2019.18.03, adult female, 35.2 mm SVL, col- lected from a small granite cave Mandaramnuwara, bor- dering Pidurutalagala Mountain, Nuwara-Eliya District, Central Province, Sri Lanka (7.020600°N, 80.788639°E, WGS1984; elevation 1,658 m asl, around 1400 hrs) col- lected on 14 December 2018 by Suranjan Karunarathna and Anslem de Silva. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Cnemaspis kawminiae sp. nov., may be readily distinguished from its Sri Lankan congeners by a combination of the following morphological and meristic characteristics: maximum SVL 35.2 mm; dorsum with homogeneous flat granular scales; one internasal, 2/2 supranasals and 2/2 postnasals; 20–22 interorbital scales; 9–10 supraciliaries, 10–11 canthal scales, 20–22 eye to tympanum scales; three enlarged postmentals; postmentals bounded by five chin scales; chin with smooth and round granules, gular, pectoral, and abdominal scales smooth, subimbricate; 17–21 belly scales across the venter; 7–8 weakly developed tubercles on posterior flank; 86–92 linearly arranged paravertebral granules; two precloacal pores in males, 4/4 femoral pores on each side in males separated by 11–13 unpored proximal femoral scales, 6–7 unpored distal femoral scales; 107–114 ventral scales; 76–78 midbody scales; subcaudals smooth, median row small, in an irregular series of sub-rhomboid shaped scales; 7–8 supralabials; 7–8 infralabials; 14–15 total lamellae on 4th digit of manus, and 15–16 total lamellae on 4th digit of pes. Comparisons with other Sri Lankan species. Among species of the C. kandiana clade sensu Agarwal et al. (2017), Cnemaspis kawminiae sp. nov. differs from C. butewai, C. ingerorum, C. kallima, C. kandiana, C. kivulegedarai, C. kotagamai sp. nov., C. menikay, C. pava, C. pulchra, C. retigalensis, C. samanalensis, C. silvula, C. tropidogaster, and C. upendrai by having homogeneous (versus heterogeneous) dorsal scales; from C. amith by having smooth (versus keeled) pectoral scales; from C. gotaimbarai, C. kumarasinghei, and C. dissanayakai sp. nov. by having fewer ventral scales (107–114 versus 129–138, 120–134 and 118–120, respectively), and also from C. kumarasinghei and C. dissanayakai sp. nov. by having fewer midbody scales (76–78 versus 87–94 and 94–98, respectively), from C. gotaimbarai by having fewer paravertebral granules (86–92 versus 117–121); from C. latha by having more paravertebral granules (86–92 versus 72–79), and more belly scales (17–21 versus 13–15); from C. nandimithrai by having fewer belly scales (17–21 versus 25–27) and by having fewer total lamellae on digit IV of pes (15–16 versus 19–20). The new species, Cnemaspis kawminiae sp. nov., also clearly differs from the following species of the C. podihuna clade sensu Agarwal et al. (2017): C. alwisi, C. anslemi, C. gemunu, C. godagedarai, C. hitihami, C. kandambyi, C. kohukumburai, C. molligodai, C. nilgala, C. phillipsi, C. podihuna, C. punctata, C. rajakarunai, C. rammalensis, and C. scalpensis by the absence (versus presence) of clearly enlarged, hexagonal or subhexagonal subcaudal scales. |
| Comment | Similar species: C. kumarasinghei, C. gotaimbarai |
| Etymology | The specific epithet is an eponym Latinized (kawminiae) in the feminine genitive singular, honoring Hadunneththi Kawmini Mendis – mother of the first author (Suranjan Karunarathna) for her unconditional love, generous support, and financial support for research. |
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