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Gehyra girloorloo OLIVER, BOURKE, PRATT, DOUGHTY & MORITZ, 2016

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Higher TaxaGekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Kimberley Karst gecko 
SynonymGehyra girloorloo OLIVER, BOURKE, PRATT, DOUGHTY & MORITZ 2016 
DistributionAustralia (Western Australia: Pillara Range)

Type locality: Gogo Station, Pillara Range, south entrance of Menyous Gap (18.40439°S; 125.83698°E),  
Reproductionoviparous. Like all Gehyra in the variegata-punctata species-group, this species lays a single egg. Some females were gravid in November in spring at the end of the dry season. 
TypesHolotype: WAM R175045 (field number CCM3257) (male), collected on 4 November 2014 by P.M. Oliver, G. Armstrong and P. Skipwith. Paratypes. WAM R113727 (female), Cadjbut Mine 90 km south-east Fitzroy Crossing (18.7500°S; 126.1500°E); NMV D77029 and NMV D77030 (females), and NMV D77031 and NMV D77032 (males), Ngumpan Cliff area (18.75625°S; 126.06474°E); WAM R175037 (PMO147) and WAM R175038 (PMO149) (males), < 1 km south of Galeru Gorge (18.61407°S; 126.08386°E); WAM R175039 (CCM3242) and WAM R175040 (CCM3243) (males), Gogo Station, Limestone Billy Hills (18.32724°S; 125.76498°E); WAM R175043 (CCM3246) (female), Gogo Station, Limestone Billy Hills (18.33516°S; 125.75244°E). 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Digits broadly expanded basally and subdigital scansors present on all digits of manus and pes. Digit I of manus and pes clawless, penultimate phalanx of digits II–V free from scansorial pad. Differs from non- Australian Gehyra by the combination of: absence of webbing between third and fourth toes, absence of a skin fold along the posterior hindlimb and small adult size (SVL < 48 mm). Differs from all other Australian Gehyra by the combination of small body size (SVL < 48 mm), divided subdigital lamellae without basal wedge of granules, short snout and large eyes (OrbL/SnEye 0.58, 0.51–0.72), low number of pre-cloacal pores in males (8–11), postmentals not in contact (at most in point contact) with the second supralabial, one pair of outer chin shields and pinkish- brown dorsal background colour with pattern consisting of alternating bands of indistinct off-white spots and dark- brown transverse blotches on heavily stippled background.


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CommentHabitat: This species is closely associated with dissected limestone outcrops, and also occurs on small trees and shrubs (Fig. 8). It tends to be less common on exposed vertical rock faces than its much larger sympatric congener G. koira Horner. The locally occuring form of Gehyra nana tends to utilise different habitats—it is rarely found on limestone and generally on smaller boulders and rocky debris in surrounding areas. Gehyra girloorloo sp. nov. can be abundant in its preferred habitat, for example, most large shrubs along an open rock face in Menyous Gap had at least one specimen, often positioned head down close to the ground in what appeared to be a hunting posture. In contrast, we found this species to be scarce in early July 2014 when temperatures were low (< 15°C), with only two specimens observed over two nights of searching around Mt Piere Station (Oliver et al. 2016). 
EtymologyGirloorloo, pronounced “gir-loor-loo”, is a word the local Gooniyandi mob use for the limestone this species appears to be restricted to. This species name was suggested by elders from the Gooniyandi mob who speak for country on which this species occurs. 
References
  • DOUGHTY, PAUL; GAYLEEN BOURKE, LEONARDO G. TEDESCHI, RENAE C. PRATT, PAUL M. OLIVER, RUSSELL A. PALMER, CRAIG MORITZ 2018. Species delimitation in the Gehyra nana (Squamata: Gekkonidae) complex: cryptic and divergent morphological evolution in the Australian Monsoonal Tropics, with the description of four new species. Zootaxa 4403 (2): 201–244 - get paper here
  • Ellis, Ryan J.; Paul Doughty and Aaron M. Bauer 2018. An annotated type catalogue of the geckos and pygopods (Squamata: Gekkota: Carphodactylidae, Diplodactylidae, Gekkonidae, Pygopodidae) in the collection of the Western Australian Museum. Records of the Western Australian Museum 33: 051–094 - get paper here
  • Moritz, C. C., Pratt, R. C., Bank, S., Bourke, G., Bragg, J. G., Doughty, P., Keogh, J. S., Laver, R. J., Potter, S., Teasdale, L. C., Tedeschi, L. G. and Oliver, P. M. 2017. Cryptic lineage diversity, body size divergence, and sympatry in a species complex of Australian lizards (Gehyra). Evolution doi:10.1111/evo.13380 - get paper here
  • OLIVER, PAUL M.; GAYLEEN BOURKE, RENAE C. PRATT, PAUL DOUGHTY, CRAIG MORITZ 2016. Systematics of small Gehyra (Squamata: Gekkonidae) of the southern Kimberley, Western Australia: redescription of G. kimberleyi Börner & Schüttler, 1983 and description of a new restricted range species. Zootaxa 4107 (1): 049–064 - get paper here
 
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