Gekko carusadensis LINKEM, SILER, DIESMOS, SY & BROWN, 2010
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Gekko carusadensis
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| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Luzon Karst Gecko |
| Synonym | Gekko carusadensis LINKEM, SILER, DIESMOS, SY & BROWN 2010 Gekko (Archipelagekko) carusadensis — WOOD et al. 2019 Gekko (Archipelagekko) carusadensis — WOOD et al. 2020 |
| Distribution | Philippines (Luzon) Type locality: inside a cave in secondary-growth forest (19:30) in Barangay Biak na Bato, Municipality of San Miguel and Doña Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan Province, Luzon Island, Philippines, N 15.1084°, E 121.0724°. |
| Reproduction | oviparous (manual and phylogenetic imputation, fide Zimin et al. 2022) |
| Types | Holotype: PNM 9715 (ACD Field No. 4537; formerly KU 319968), adult male, collected on 17 January, 2009, collected by Arvin C. Diesmos and Charles W. Linkem. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Gekko carusadensis differs from non-Philippine G. kikuchii Oshima, G. shibatai Toda, Sengoku, Hikida & Ota, G. tawaensis Okada, G. vertebralis Toda, Sengoku, Hikida & Ota, and G. vittatus Houttuyn by the presence of precloacal pores in males; from G. badenii Szczerbak & Nekrasova, G. grossmanni Günther, G. petricolus Taylor, G. russelltraini Van Tri, Bauer, Wood, & Grismer, and G. taylori Ota & Nabhitabhata by the presence of femoral pores in males; from G. melli Vogt, G. scientiadventura Rösler, Yiegler, Vu, Herrmann & Böhme, G. subpalmatus Günther, and G. tawaensis by the presence of dorsal tubercles; from G. albofasciolatus Günther, G. nutaphandi Bauer, Sumontha & Pauwels, G. siamensis Grossmann & Ulber, G. smithii Gray, and G. verreauxi Tytler by having a smaller adult SVL (< 98 mm vs. > 110 mm); from G. auriverrucosus Zhao & Liu, G. liboensis Zhao & Li, G. japonicus (Schlegel), G. scabridus Liu & Zhou, G. swinhonis Günther, G. taibaiensis Song, and G. wenxianensis Zhou & Wang by a larger number of digit IV lamellae (18–20 vs. 9 or fewer); from G. chinensis Gray, G. hokouensis, and G. yakuensis Matsui & Okada by lacking any interdigital webbing; from G. similignum Smith by the presence of more dorsal tubercle rows and from G. palmatus Boulenger and G. ulikovskii Darevsky & Orlov by the presence of more precloacofemoral pores. Gekko carusadensis differs from all other species of Philippine Gekko (i.e., G. athymus, G. crombota, G. ernstkelleri, G. gecko, G. gigante, G. mindorensis, G. monarchus, G. palawanensis, G. porosus, G. romblon and G. rossi) by the following characters (1) moderately large body size (SVL 83.4–97.2 mm for adult males; 79.9–87.5 for females); (2) dorsum gray, with little to no dark gray mottling or transverse bars; (3) moderate number of precloacofemoral pores (46–50) arranged in a continuous, uninterrupted series (pore bearing in males; lacking pores in females); (4) moderate number of mildly conical dorsal body tubercle rows (16–18 midbody; 25–28 paravertebrally). Gekko carusadensis differs from its phenotypically most similar congener, G. mindorensis, by the presence of fewer precloacofemoral pores (46–50 vs 52–66); by having 18–20 scansors beneath toe IV (vs. 12–14); by having on average fewer midbody tubercle rows (14–17 vs. 16–20); and by G. carusadensis females being larger than G. mindorensis females (79.9–87.5 mm vs. 68.2–70.9). It can be further diagnosed from G. mindorensis by the difference in coloration (light gray with small dark gray mottling versus gray with dark thin transverse bands). The presence of 46–50 precloacofemoral pores distinguishes Gekko carusadensis from all Philippine congeners, including G. rossi (77–88), G. crombota (58–74), G. porosus (74–80), G. monarchus (31–40), G. mindorensis (52–66), G. romblon (71–84), G. gigante (52–66), G. ernstkelleri (36–42), G. palawanensis (64– 70), G. athymus (20–24), and G. gecko (12–20). A high number of toe IV subdigital scansors (18–20) distinguish G. carusadensis from G. rossi (10–16), G. crombota (15–18), G. porosus (14–16), G. monarchus (13–15), G. mindorensis (12–14), and G. romblon (12, 13). Moderately large body size in males and females distinguishes Gekko carusadensis from the smaller species G. monarchus (male 56.2–80.7 mm; female 40.6– 69.7 mm), G. mindorensis (male 55–88.2 mm; female 68.2–70.9 mm), and G. palawanensis (male 57.2–65.7 mm; female 44.5–61.8 mm) and from the larger species G. athymus (male 99.2–119.9 mm; female 88.2–117.1 mm), G. gecko (male 120.1–166.1 mm; female 119.2–144.1 mm) and female G. porosus (91–96.7 mm). Gekko carusadensis is further distinguished from Gekko porosus by the absence of a modified distal femoral porebearing patch (vs. present, composed of a short series of 2 or 3 rows of pore-bearing scales). The new species differs from G. crombota (Brown et al., 2008) by small dark mottling on light gray dorsum (vs. presence of trilobed cream bars) on the body trunk; by fewer (16–18) midbody dorsal tubercle rows (vs. 18–22); and precloacofemorals arranged in a continuous series (vs. 1 or 2 scale separation between preacloacals and femorals; Brown et al., 2008:fig 4B). Finally, dorsal coloration (light gray with small dark gray mottling) distinguishes G. carusadensis from the highly variable range of patterns exhibited by other Philippine Gekko. These and other differences are summarized in Table 1 of LINKEM et al. (2010). |
| Comment | Abundance: only known from its original description (Meiri et al. 2017). |
| Etymology | Gekko carusadensis is derived from the word “Carusadus” which refers to a region in Slovenia with extensive Karst topography (Kranjc, 2001, cited in Linkem et al. 2010). This region is considered the origin of the term “Karst” (Kranjc, 1998), the current term for the type of topography in which the new species occurs. |
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