Dravidogecko janakiae CHAITANYA, GIRI, DEEPAK, DATTA-ROY, MURTHY & KARANTH, 2019
We have no photos, try to find some by Google images search:
Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
Subspecies | |
Common Names | E: Janaki’s Dravidogecko |
Synonym | Dravidogecko janakiae CHAITANYA, GIRI, DEEPAK, DATTA-ROY, MURTHY & KARANTH 2019: 34 Hemidactylus anamallensis — BAUER & RUSSELL 1995 Hemidactylus anamallensis — BANSAL & KARANTH 2013 [non Gecko anamallensis GÜNTHER 1875] Dravidogecko anamallensis — SMITH 1933 Dravidogecko anamallensis — RADHAKRISHNAN 1999 [non Gecko anamallensis GÜNTHER 1875] |
Distribution | India (Kerala) Type locality: Munnar town (10.1436 °N, 77.0927 °E; ca. 1900 m asl.), Idukki District, Kerala |
Reproduction | |
Types | Holotype: ZSI-WGRC 3083 (Kozhikode, given as ZSIK or BNHS 2356), an adult male, collected by Jafer Palot and RC on 28th May, 2016. Paratypes. Details of collection same as the holotype. BNHS 2358, BNHS 2359 and ZSIK 2989—adult males; BNHS 2357, BNHS 2360 and ZSIK 2988—adult females. |
Diagnosis | Diagnosis . Snout-vent length up to 52.0 mm (n=8); two pairs of well-developed postmentals, inner pair longer than the outer and never in contact with infralabial II; ventral scales counted at mid- body, 24–30; precloacofemoral pores, 35 or 36 (n=4); subdigital lamellae under digit IV of manus, 7–9 and under digit IV of pes, 9–11; supralabials 8–11 and infralabials, 8–10 on each side. Dravidogecko janakiae sp. nov. can be distinguished from other congeners based on the following characters: Number of precloacofemoral pores (PcFP 35 or 36 versus 45 or 46 in D. anamallensis, 52–56 in D. septentrionalis sp. nov., 36–38 in D. meghamalaiensis sp. nov., 42 or 43 in D. douglasadamsi sp. nov., 48 in D. smithi sp. nov. & 38–40 in D. tholpalli sp. nov.); first pair of postmentals much longer than the second (2PML/1PML 0.47–0.70 versus only slightly longer, 0.82–0.96 in D. meghamalaiensis sp. nov.). |
Comment | Genetic divergence (p-distance). Dravidogecko janakiae sp. nov. exhibits 0.2% intraspecific variation, while it is 10.1% –21.5% divergent from all other congeners (Table 9 in Chaitanya et al. 2019). Habitat: The type-series was collected from tree trunks and buildings surrounded by mixed forests composed of evergreen and deciduous trees in the outskirts of Munnar town. Munnar falls under the Alleppey-Mangalore rainfall regime and receives upto 5000 mm of rainfall annually, spread over 144 days (Pascal 1982). Sympatry: Cnemaspis, Hemidactylus. |
Etymology | The specific epithet is an eponym honouring Kerala-born Janaki Ammal, the first Indian woman to obtain a doctorate in Botany in 1931. She obtained a PhD degree in an age when most Indian women were barely allowed a high school education because of prevailing social mores, and made seminal contributions to her fields of cytogenetics and phytogeography. |
References |
|
External links |