Gehyra electrum ZOZAYA, FENKER & MACDONALD, 2019
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Gehyra electrum?
Gehyra electrum
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| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Amber rock dtella |
| Synonym | Gehyra electrum ZOZAYA, FENKER & MACDONALD 2019 |
| Distribution | NE Australia (NE Queensland) Type locality: Springfield Station, Queensland (17.89°S, 144.41°E, 490 m elevation) |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: QM J96403 (SMZ0970), adult male (Fig. 4 in Zozaya et al. 2019). collected from on 23 September 2017 by S.M. Zozaya, J.W. de Jong, and A.L. Fenner. Paratypes. Talaroo Station, Queensland (18.02°S, 143.79°E): QM J96402 (male), QM J96408 (female). Springfield Station, Queensland (17.89°S, 144.41°E): QM J96404 (female). Amber Station, Queensland (17.74°S, 144.32°E): QM J70090 (male). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis. A medium-sized (46–50 mm SVL) species of Gehyra; no webbing of skin between toes III and IV; no skin-fold along posterior of hindlimb; subcaudal scales transversely widened; rostral scale gabled dorsally with a deep medial groove on the dorsal half of the scale; single internarial scale usually present; 2 postnasals of similar size, or with lower postnasal slightly larger; mental scale wedge-shaped posteriorly; 2–3 pairs of postmental scales (chin shields), with inner pair largest and separated from each other by the mental scale along 40% or more of their length; 7–9 supralabials; 7–8 infralabials; snout moderately convex in lateral view; 7–8 undivided subdigital lamel- lae on the expanded portion of the fourth toe, excluding the apical wedge; subdigital lamellae often with deep medial notch but never fully divided; no granules separating proximal lamellae; adult males with 12–13 pre-cloacal pores arranged in a shallow wedge that points anteriorly; background colouration orange-brown to pinkish-orange; dorsal pattern variable but typically consists of white spots, sometimes arranged in transverse rows, with dark spots that sometimes merge into irregular blotches or dark transverse bands. Comparison with sympatric congeners. Gehyra electrum sp. nov. is sympatric with G. dubia (Fig. 6E–F in Zozaya et al. 2019) and G. einasleighensis (Fig. 7B). Gehyra electrum sp. nov. can be distinguished from G. dubia by the former’s smaller adult size (SVL 46–50 mm versus 49–64 mm in G. dubia), orange-brown to pinkish-orange background coloura- tion (versus ranging from whitish-grey to dark grey), and most reliably by the mental scale that forms a deep wedge between the inner-postmentals (versus a very shallow wedge; Fig 5). Gehyra electrum sp. nov. can be distinguished from G. einasleighensis by the former’s undivided subdigital lamellae (versus divided), a higher number of subdig- ital lamellae on the fourth toe (7–8 versus 6 or fewer), its larger adult size (SVL 46–50 mm versus 31–41 mm), and the presence of irregular large dark blotches or bars (versus relatively small, discrete dark spots). Gehyra electrum sp. nov. does not co-occur with the closely related G. catenata (nearest records ~330 km south) but can be distin- guished from this species by its orange-brown to pinkish-orange background colouration with a pattern of whitish spots and black or purple-brown blotches or bars (versus light brown or grey background colouration with a darker chain-like dorsal pattern in G. catenata; Fig. 7C). |
| Comment | |
| Etymology | From the Latin noun electrum, meaning ‘amber’, in reference to the orange-brown background colouration typical of the species, and alluding to Amber Station, where the earliest confirmed specimen of this species was collected (paratype QM J70090). The name is treated as a noun in apposition. |
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