Cnemaspis magnifica KHANDEKAR, THACKERAY, PAL & AGARWAL, 2020
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Cnemaspis magnifica
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| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: magnificent dwarf gecko |
| Synonym | Cnemaspis magnifica KHANDEKAR, THACKERAY, PAL & AGARWAL 2020 |
| Distribution | India (Karnataka) Type locality: Mookanana resort campus, Hongadahalla village, Sakleshpur (12.781°N, 75.708°E; ca. 570 m asl.), Hassan District, Karnataka, India |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. NCBS-BH699 (AK 857), SVL 50.7 mm, adult male, collected by Akshay Khandekar, Swapnil Pawar and Tejas Thackeray on 05 June 2019. Paratypes. NCBS-BH701 (AK 858), SVL 54.2 mm, NCBS-BH702 (AK 859), SVL 47.1 mm, BNHS 2545 (AK 860), SVL 48.5 mm, and BNHS 2546 (AK 861), SVL 58.0 mm, adult males; NCBS-BH700 (AK 856), SVL 56.7 mm, BNHS 2547 (AK 855), SVL 52.8 mm, adult females; same data as holotype. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A large-sized Cnemaspis, snout-vent length upto 58 mm. Dorsal scales on trunk heterogeneous, smooth, oval, granular scales intermixed with enlarged, irregularly arranged, weakly keeled, conical tubercles; tubercles on dorsolateral aspect of flanks more pronounced and conical than those on vertebral and paravertebral rows; spine-like scales absent on flanks. Ventral scales on belly smooth, imbricate, 24–26 scales across the belly, 133–160 longitudinal scales between mental to anterior border of cloaca. Subdigital scansors smooth, entire except for 2–4 proximal scansors on digit I–V of both manus and pes which are divided, unnotched; 22–25 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 24–28 lamellae under digit IV of pes. Males with six or seven femoral pores on each thigh separated by 15 or 16 poreless scales; dorsal pholidosis of tail homogenous, composed of small, smooth, regularly arranged, flattened, subimbricate scales, without whorls of enlarge tubercles; median row of sub-caudals smooth, enlarged, irregularly arranged with few large scales alternating with smaller scales; postcloacal spur either indistinct or absent. Colouration in life: Dorsal ground colour of head, body, limbs and tail light brown; head with numerous light blotches, a pair of dark ocelli on occiput, brille dull yellow. Labials dull white without any markings. A single dull white postorbital streak merging with its counterpart from the other orbit on back of the occiput. A single large central black ocellus outlined by much lighter tubercles at anterior of forelimb insertions. Dorsum with four pale white mid-vertebral blotches from axilla to tail base which are flanked by numerous dull yellowish tubercles on either side. Dorsum of forelimbs and hindlimbs with three brown bands/ blotches, digits with alternating dark and light bands; dorsum of tail with thick five or six alternating brown and light grey bands that encircle tail; regenerated portion grey. Ventral surfaces dull-white, mottled with brown under limbs and toward flanks gular region mottled with numerous dark and light yellow spots; no dark markings on belly; precloacal region and femoral pores yellow; underside of tail grey, much darker than belly. Pupil black outlined by thin, brick red iris. Comparison with Indian congeners: Cnemaspis magnifica. sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other Indian congeners on the basis of the following differing or non-overlapping characters: A large-sized Cnemaspis of SVL upto 58 mm (versus small-sized Cnemaspis SVL < 40 mm in C. andersonii, C. aaronbaueri, C. adii, C. agarwali, C. ajijae, C. amba, C. amboliensis, C. australis, C. assamensis, C. flaviventralis, C. gracilis, C. girii, C. goaensis, C. indica, C. koynaensis, C. limayei, C. littoralis, C. mahabali, C. monticola, C. mysoriensis, C. otai, C. avasabinae, C. shevaroyensis, C. yercaudensis and C. wicksii; medium-sized Cnemaspis SVL 40–50 mm in C. anandani, C. bangara, C. boiei, C. graniticola, C. heteropholis, C. jerdonii, C. kolhapurensis, C. kottiyoorensis, C. nilagirica, C. ornata, C. thackerayi, C. wynadensis and C. yelagiriensis); spine-like scales absent on flanks (versus spine-like scales present on flanks in C. andersonii, C. amboliensis, C. anandani, C. assamensis, C. flaviventralis, C. goaensis, C. jerdonii, C. koynaensis, C. littoralis, C. monticola, C. mysoriensis, C. nilagirica, C. otai, C. wicksii and C. yercaudensis); scales on dorsal aspect of trunk heterogeneous (versus scales on dorsal aspect of trunk homogeneous in C. adii, C. assamensis, C. boiei, C. indica, C. jerdonii, C. kolhapurensis, C. littoralis, C. nilagirica and C. sisparensis); dorsal pholidosis of tail homogeneous, composed of smooth, juxtaposed and flattened scales, lacking enlarged tubercles forming whorls (versus dorsal pholidosis of tail heterogeneous, composed of granular scales intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles forming whorls in C. aaronbaueri, C. adii, C. agarwali, C. ajijae, C. amba, C. amboliensis, C. anandani, C. australis, C. flaviventralis, C. girii, C. goaensis, C. jerdonii, C. koynaensis, C. limayei, C. littoralis, C. mahabali, C. monticola, C. mysoriensis, C. nilagirica, C. ornata, C. otai, C. avasabinae, C. shevaroyensis, C. thackerayi, C. yercaudensis); median row of sub-caudal scales smooth and distinctly enlarged (versus median row of sub-caudal scales smooth and not enlarged in, C. amba, C. ajijae, C. flaviventralis, C. girii, C. limayei, and C. koynaensis; median row of sub-caudal scales slightly enlarged in C. amboliensis, C. goaensis, C. mahabali, C. mysoriensis, C. otai, C. avasabinae, and C. yercaudensis); median row of sub-caudal scales smooth (versus median row of sub-caudal scales keeled in C. amboliensis, C. australis, C. goaensis and C. monticola); males with six or seven femoral pores on each side separated by 15 or 16 poreless scales and lacking precloacal pores (versus males with only precloacal pores present in C. aaronbaueri, C. anamudiensis, C. beddomei, C. maculicollis, C. nairi, C. ornata; males with both femoral and precloacal pores present in C. andersonii, C. adii, C. agarwali, C. amboliensis, C. australis, C. bangara, C. goaensis, C. gracilis, C. graniticola, C. mysoriensis, C. otai, C. shevaroyensis, C. thackerayi, C. yercaudensis, C. yelagiriensis and C. wicksii; males with a continuous series of 26–28 precloacal-femoral pores in C. kolhapurensis; males without femoral and precloacal pores in C. assamensis and C. boiei; males with only femoral pores— three or four in C. ajijae, two or three in C. amba, five or six in C. anandani, three in C. flaviventralis, three or four in C. girii, five in C. indica, eight in C. jerdonii, four or five in C. kottiyoorensis, three or four in C. koynaensis, four or five in C. limayei, 14–18 in C. littoralis, three or four in C. mahabali, 4–6 in C. wynadensis. Cnemaspis magnifica sp. nov. closely resembles C. heteropholis, C. kottiyoorensis, C. wynadensis and C. sisparensis. However, it can be distinguished from both by having large body size SVL upto 58 mm (versus mediumsized Cnemaspis SVL < 40-50 mm in C. heteropholis, C. kottiyoorensis, C. wynadensis); 24–26 scales across the belly (versus 27–30 in C. sisparensis; 20–25 in C. heteropholis); 133–160 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca (versus 119–122 in C. heteropholis; 113–118 in C. wynadensis; 138 in C. kottiyoorensis); 22–25 lamellae under digit IV of manus, and 24–28 lamellae under digit IV of pes (versus 20–22 lamellae under digit IV of manus, and 24 or 25 lamellae under digit IV of pes in C. heteropholis; 19 or 20 lamellae under digit IV of manus, and 20 or 21 lamellae under digit IV of pes in C. kottiyoorensis; 15 or 16 lamellae under digit IV of manus, and 18 or 19 lamellae under digit IV of pes in C. wynadensis); 15–17 lamellae under digit I of manus (versus 11 or 12 lamellae under digit I of manus in C. heteropholis); median row of sub-caudals smooth, enlarged, irregularly arranged with few large scales alternating with smaller scales (versus median row of sub-caudals enlarged, arranged as a single large scale alternating with two smaller scales in C. heteropholis, C. kottiyoorensis and C. sisparensis) Cnemaspis magnifica sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from the Cnemaspis heteropholis from Agumbe (Ganesh et al. 2011) by having large body size SVL upto 58 mm (versus medium-sized Cnemaspis SVL < 46 mm); 22–25 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 24–28 lamellae under digit IV of pes (versus 25–26 lamellae under digit IV of manus, and 31–32 lamellae under digit IV of pes) and 24–26 ventral scales across belly (versus 30 ventral scales across belly). |
| Comment | Activity period: The new species seems be nocturnal as Khandekar et al. did not find any individuals during daytime (12:00 to 16:00). They observed individuals of the new species emerging from rocky crevices in the evening (18:30) and they were completely out and active by (19:30). Habitat: All the type specimens were collected from large vertical rocks (~4–6 m in height) along the stream, approximately ~2 m above the ground. Sympatry: Cnemaspis sp., Eutropis carinata Schneider, Eutropis macularia Blyth. |
| Etymology | The epithet is derived from the Latin magnifico (=magnificent) and is given to this striking species for its large size and conspicuous colour pattern. |
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