Hemidactylus amarasinghei SAYYED, KHOT & PURKAYASTHA, 2025
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Hemidactylus amarasinghei?
Hemidactylus amarasinghei
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| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Amarasinghe’s house gecko |
| Synonym | Hemidactylus amarasinghei SAYYED, KHOT & PURKAYASTHA 2025: 298 |
| Distribution | India (Maharashtra) Type locality: Chalkewadi Plateau (17.554166°N, 73.820000°E; alt. 1057.6 m a.s.l.), Satara District, Maharashtra State, India |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. Adult male, BNHS 2929, collected from under a rock during daytime by Amit Sayyed on 01 August 2022. Paratypes. Two adult males, BNHS 2930, BNHS 2931, and an adult female, BNHS 2932, collected by Ayaan Sayyed and Masum Sayyed; same data as holotype. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A medium-sized gecko of the genus Hemidactylus, SVL up to 54.3 mm (n = 4); having 10–11 supralabials; 9–10 infralabials; scales on snout and canthus rostralis round, juxtaposed, smooth; head dorsum, temporal and occipital region with much smaller scales intermixed with randomly arranged, weakly keeled, conical, enlarged tubercles; rostral divided by a median suture for its entire length; two pairs of well-developed postmentals, the inner pair slightly larger than the outer; canthal region with 18–21 scales; supraciliaries separated by 21–22 scales at mid-orbit; dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; small, granular scales intermixed with enlarged, regularly arranged, feebly keeled tubercles having 15–16 across the midbody; 28–31 paravertebral tubercles between pelvic and pectoral limb insertion points; midsagittal ventral scales 135–147; mid-body scales 30–31 across the belly between the lowest rows of dorsal scales; males with 7–9 femoral pores (n = 3) on each side, six or seven poreless scales between femoral pores; 7–8 lamellae beneath toe IV; original tail covered above with granular, flattened, smooth scales, intermixed with series of 4–7 much enlarged, keeled, pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; ventral scales with large, undivided, rectangular subcaudal scales, covering almost entire portion of the tail; median row bordered laterally by one or two rows of large, smooth, imbricate triangular scales; two post-cloacal spurs present on each side. (Sayyed et al. 2025) Comparisons: The species was compared with the members of H. brookii group based on direct specimen examination and from original literature describing species within the group (Gray 1845; Blanford 1870; Beddome 1870; Murray 1884; Grandison & Soman 1963; Constable 1949; Deraniyagala 1953; Mahony 2009; Giri & Bauer 2008; Bauer et al. 2008; Agarwal et al. 2019, 2020; Mirza & Raju 2017; Lajmi et al. 2020; Adhikari et al. 2022; Khandekar et al. 2023). Hemidactylus amarasinghei sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from all members of the H. brookii group by a combination of the following non-overlapping characters: 7–9 femoral pores on each side versus 10–11 in H. kushmorensis; 10–14 in H. malcolmsmithi; 11–17 in H. parvimaculatus; 10–12 in H. rishivalleyensis Agarwal, Thackeray & Khandekar; 15 in H. sankariensis Agarwal, Bauer, Giri & Khandekar; 16–17 in H. srikanthani Adhikari, Achyuthan, Kumar, Khot, Shreeram & Ganesh; 12–13 in H. brookii sensu stricto; 15–16 in H. xericolus Lajmi, Giri, Singh & Agarwal and 12–13 in H. gleadowi, precloacal pores are present in H. gracilis Blanford, H. reticulatus Beddome, H. sataraensis Giri & Bauer, H. albofasciatus Grandison & Soman and H. imbricatus Bauer, Giri, Greenbaum, Jackman, Dharne & Shouche; 6–7 poreless scales between femoral pores versus 2–3 in H. kushmorensis; 9–10 in H. rishivalleyensis; 8 in H. chipkali Mirza & Raju; 1–3 in H. malcolmsmithi and H. parvimaculatus; 4 in H. sankariensis; a single poreless scale in males of H. brookii sensu stricto and H. xericolus; no poreless scales in H. quartziticolus Khandekar, Thackeray, Mariappan, Gangalmale, Waghe, Pawar & Agarwal; enlarged, feebly keeled, conical tubercles on dorsum versus no enlarged tubercles in H. imbricatus; strongly keeled pointed tubercles in H. gracilis, H. chipkali, H. chikhaldaraensis Agarwal, Bauer, Giri & Khandekar, H. mahonyi Adhikari, Achyuthan, Kumar, Khot, Shreeram & Ganesh, H. murrayi, H. sankariensis, H. treutleri Mahony and H. srikanthani; 15–16 rows of tubercles on the mid-dorsum versus 6–8 in H. xericolus; 11–14 in H. flavicaudus Lajmi, Giri, Singh & Agarwal; 13–14 in H. mahonyi and 19–20 in H. kushmorensis; 30–31 ventral scale rows across the belly at midbody versus 22–26 in H. flavicaudus and H. xericolus, 26–28 in H. sataraensis and 24–29 in H. quartziticolus; more than 33 in H. chikhaldaraensis, 32–34 in H. gleadowi, 33–42 in H. kushmorensis, 30–35 in H. rishivalleyensis, 33–35 in H. sankariensis and 37 or 38 in H. srikanthani. Hemidactylus amarasinghei sp. nov. is morphologically close to H. varadgirii, however, can be distinguished from it by having: parasagittal tubercle rows feebly keeled (versus parasagittal tubercles strongly keeled); 7–9 femoral pores on each side and 6–7 poreless scales between femoral pores versus 9–10 femoral pores on each side separated by four or five poreless scales. (Sayyed et al. 2025) Additional details (6878 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
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