Cnemaspis ranganaensis SAYYED & SULAKHE, 2020
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Cnemaspis ranganaensis
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| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Rangana dwarf gecko |
| Synonym | Cnemaspis ranganaensis SAYYED & SULAKHE 2020 |
| Distribution | India (Maharashtra) Type locality: Rangana Fort (16°04′39′′N, 73°51′03′′E; ca. 652 m asl), Bhudargad Taluka, Kolhapur District, Maharashtra, India |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. BNHS 2840, male, collected by Amit Sayyed, 30 December 2019. Paratypes. BNHS 2841, male and BNHS 2842, female, locality as for holotype, collected by Kiran Ahire, Devendra Bhosle and Abhijit Nale on, 30 December 2019. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis and comparison with Indian congeners. A small-sized Cnemaspis, SVL less than 34 mm. Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous, with feebly keeled; small, granular scales intermixed with irregular, slightly larger, feebly keeled tubercles; 3 or 4 spine-like tubercles on flank, conical tubercles absent on flank; gulars flat, smooth; 93–101 paravertebral scales, 59–63 mid-dorsal scales; 93–101 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca, 30–31 scales across belly; ventral scales smooth, imbricate. Males with 2–3 femoral pores on each thigh, 3 pre-cloacal pores, 8 or 9 poreless scales between femoral and precloacal pores. Supralabials to angle of jaw 6–7, infralabials to angle of jaw 6–7. Lamellae under fourth digit of manus, 13–14, and pes, 16–18. Tail with small, granular, keeled, pointed, subimbricate, intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles forming whorls; scales on ventral tail imbricate, smooth, with three rows of large, slightly elongated median subcaudals; very small post cloacal spur in both sexes. Cnemaspis ranganaensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other Indian congeners on the basis of the following differing or non-overlapping characters: SVL less than 34 mm (versus ≥ 40 in C. anaikattiensis (Theobald), C. anamudiensis Cyriac, Johny, Umesh & Palot, C. anandani Murthy, Nitesh, Sengupta & Deepak, C. bangara Agarwal, Thackeray, Pal, Khandekar, C. beddomei (Theobald), C. chengodumalaensis Cyriac, Palot, Deuti & Umesh, C. graniticola Agarwal, Thackeray, Pal, Khandekar, C. heteropholis Bauer, C. jerdonii (Theobald), C. kolhapurensis Giri, Bauer & Gaikwad, C. kottiyoorensis Cyriac & Umesh, C. maculicollis Cyriac, Johny, Umesh & Palot, C. magnifica Khandekar, Thackeray, Pal & Agarwal, C. nairi Inger, Marx, and Koshy, 1984, C. nilagirica Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita, and Pethiyagoda, C. ornata (Beddome), C. sisparensis (Theobald), C. thackerayi Khandekar, Gaitonde & Agarwal, C. wynadensis (Beddome), C. yelagiriensis Agarwal, Thackeray, Pal, Khandekar, C. zacharyi Cyriac, Palot, Deuti & Umesh. 2020); mid-dorsal scales heterogenous (versus dorsal scales homogenous in C. adii Srinivasulu, Kumar & Srinivasulu, C. assamensis Das & Sengupta, C. boiei (Gray), C. indica (Gray), C. jerdonii (Theobald), C. kolhapurensis, C. littoralis (Jerdon), C. mysoriensis (Jerdon), C. nilagirica and C. zacharyi); spine like tubercles present on flanks (versus spine like tubercles absent in C. aaronbaueri Sayyed, Grismer, Campbell & Dileepkumar, C. adii, C. agarwali Khandekar, C. ajijae Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar, C. amba Khandekar, Thackeray & Agarwal, C. anamudiensis, C. anaikattiensis, C. australis Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita & Pethiyagoda, C. avasabinae Agarwal, Bauer & Khandekar, C. bangara, C. beddomei, C. boiei, C. chengodumalaensis, C. girii Mirza, Pal, Bhosale & Sanap, C. graniticola, C. heteropholis, C. indica, C. kolhapurensis, C. kottiyoorensis, C. maculicollis, C. magnifica, C. mahabali Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar, C. nairi, C. limayei Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar, C. ornata, C. otai Das & Bauer, C. shevaroyensis Khandekar, Gaaitonde & Agarwal, C. sisparensis, C. thackerayi, C. yercaudensis Das & Bauer, C. wynadensis, C. yelagiriensis and C. zacharyi); gular scales flat, smooth (versus carinate in C. andersonii (Annandale), C. wicksi (Stoliczka), and C. monticola Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita, and Pethiyagoda); tail with a series of three large, smooth, slightly elongated median subcaudals (versus median row of sub-caudal scales not enlarged in C. adii, C. ajijae, C. amba, C. flaviventralis Sayyed, Pyron & Dahanukar, C. girii, C. gracilis (Beddome), C. koynaensis Khandekar, Thackeray & Agarwal, C. limayei; C. monticola, C. australis with keeled sub-caudals); presence of both precloacal and femoral pores (versus absence of femoral pores in C aaronbaueri, C. anamudiensis, C. avasabinae, C. beddomei, C. maculicollis, C. nairi, C. ornata; femoral pores present in C. ajijae, C. amba, C. anandani, C. chengodumalaensis C. flaviventralis, C. girii, C. heteropholis, C. indica, C. jerdonii, C. kottiyoorensis, C. koynaensis, C. limayei, C. littoralis, C. magnifica, C. mahabali, C. nilagirica, C. sisparensis, C. wynadensis and C. zacharyi; no precloacal or femoral pores in C. assamensis and C. boiei, a continuous series of precloacal-femoral pores in C. kolhapurensis); continuous series of three precloacal pores (versus precloacal pores separated medially by poreless scales in C. gracilis, C. shevaroyensis and C. thackerayi); The new species closely resembles C. amboliensis Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar, C. goaensis (Sharma) and C. indraneildasii Bauer ( a junior synonym of C. goaensis), however differs from these by maximum snout to vent length 34 mm (versus 32 mm in C. amboliensis and 30 mm in C. goaensis/C. indraneildasii); dorsal scales feebly keeled (versus dorsal scales strongly keeled in C. amboliensis and C. goaensis; dorsal scales small, conical, with pointed, slightly enlarged tubercles scattered throughout in C. indraneildasii); rostral scale not divided, median groove absent; ventral surface of neck smooth; scales on dorsal aspect of thigh and tibia feebly keeled (versus rostral scale partially divided by a median groove; ventral surface of neck weakly carinate; scales on thigh and tibia smooth in C. goaensis, scales on forelimb and hindlimb tricarinate in C. amboliensis); mid-body scales across the belly 30–31 (versus mid-body scales 19–22 in C. amboliensis, 20–22 in C. goaensis); subcaudal scales with median series and adjunct rows enlarged, imbricate and smooth (versus sub-caudals smooth, imbricate, second and third rows on each side or midline carinate in C. amboliensis); lamellae under fourth digit of pes, 16–18 (versus 10–11 in C. amboliensis and 12 in C. indraneildasii). Cnemaspis goaensis and C. indraneildasii have a very similar overlapping morphological pattern, thus all comparisons with C. goaensis also apply to C. indraneildasii (Sayyed & Sulakhe 2020). |
| Comment | Similar species: C. indraneildasii, C. goaensis. |
| Etymology | Named for the Rangana region of the Kolhapur District, Maharashtra, India from where the type series was collected. |
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