Oedura nesos OLIVER, JOLLY, SKIPWITH, TEDESCHI & GILLESPIE, 2020
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Oedura nesos
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| Higher Taxa | Diplodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Oedura nesos OLIVER, JOLLY, SKIPWITH, TEDESCHI & GILLESPIE 2020 |
| Distribution | Australia (Northern Territory: Groote Eylandt) Type locality: Cave Paintings Recreation Area (13.97322°S, 136.50316°E) Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory, Australia |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. NTM R38578, adult female with original tail, and liver samples stored in ethanol, collected by Graeme Gillespie and Jaime Heiniger on 14 November 2016. Paratypes. (n=12) All from Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory, Australia. NTM R38576 & R38582 same locality and date as holotype; NTM R38579–R38581 from sandstone outcrop 700 m north of Alyangula (13.8412°S, 136.42305°E) collected 16 November 2016; NTM R38583 from sandstone outcrop adjacent to Umbakumba Rd (13.93050°S, 136.4945°E) collected 17 November 2016; NTM R38577 from sandstone outcrop adjacent to Umbakumba Rd (13.8927°S, 136.5112°E) collected 17 November 2016; AMS R138727–8, Groote Eylandt (13.8299°S, 136.4200°E); NTM R7494 & R7495, Umbakumba Rd (13.8799°S, 136.5000°E); NTM R7541, Ayakamindadina (13.97°S, 136.60°E). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Differs from all Oedura in the following combination of characters: moderate size (to 85 mm SVL); head moderately wide (HW/SVL 0.18–0.20) and flattened (HD/SVL 0.07–0.12); tail short (TL/SVL original 0.52–0.62, regrown 0.45–0.54), transversely flattened (shallower than body), much narrower than head (TW/HW 0.59–0.77) and tapering gradually to tip; rostral 50% or less divided; postcloacal spurs 2 or 1 on each side (mode 2); 16 precloacal pores in adult males; head colouration dark brown with pale whitish-yellow supraoculars and canthal stripe absent or indistinct; and dorsal colouration of adults including five moderately well-defined whitish bands (including nuchal band), usually with greyish central shading, alternating with wider regions of extensive yellow splotching on a dark brown background (Oliver et al. 2020). |
| Comment | Conservation. Oedura nesos sp. nov. appears to be restricted to sandstone outcrop habitats on Groote Eylandt. These habitats are only approximately 43, 919 ha (439 km2) in extent; however, they are not under any foreseeable threat. Currently, manganese mining operations on Groote Eylandt do not pose a threat to Oedura nesos sp. nov. because manganese deposits are mostly found beneath flat, lateritic soils away from the sandstone escarp- ment. Where the species has been found it appears to be locally common. Oliver et al. therefore tentatively recommend that it be listed as Least Concern. |
| Etymology | Nesos (Greek) meaning island, in reference to the insular distribution of this species. Used as a noun in apposition. |
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