Lygodactylus nyaneka MARQUES, CERIACO, BUEHLER, BANDEIRA, JANOTA & BAUER, 2020
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Lygodactylus nyaneka?
Lygodactylus nyaneka
Find more photos by Google images search: 
| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Nyaneka Dwarf Gecko Portuguese: Osga-Anã- Nhanheca |
| Synonym | Lygodactylus nyaneka MARQUES, CERIACO, BUEHLER, BANDEIRA, JANOTA & BAUER 2020 Hemidactylus capensis [sic] — BOCAGE 1867: 219 Hemidactylus capensis [sic] — BOCAGE 1870: 68 Lygodactylus capensis — BOCAGE 1895: 15 Lygodactylus capensis capensis — SCHMIDT 1933: 4 Lygodactylus capensis — MONARD 1937: 53 Lygodactylus capensis bradfieldi — FITZSIMONS 1943: 53 Lygodactylus capensis — LOVERIDGE 1947: 208 Lygodactylus capensis — LOVERIDGE 1957: 187 Lygodactylus capensis — FRADE 1963: 253 Lygodactylus capensis — PASTEUR 1965 [1964]: 62 Lygodactylus capensis — BRANCH 1998: 246 Lygodactylus bradfieldi — BRANCH 1998: 246 [part] Lygodactylus capensis capensis — BATES et al. 2014: 118 Lygodactylus capensis — MARQUES et al. 2018: 190 Lygodactylus bradfieldi — CONRADIE et al. 2016: 24 [?] [part] Lygodactylus bradfieldi — MARQUES et al. 2018: 189,190) [part] Lygodactylus angolensis — BAPTISTA et al. 2019: 113 Lygodactylus nyanyeka — LOBÓN-ROVIRA et al. 2022 (in error) |
| Distribution | Angola (Huíla) Type locality: Lubango, Kimbo do Soba, Huíla Province, southwestern Angola [-14.93419°, 13.46925°, 1866 m a.s.l] |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. An adult male (CAS 263418, field number AMB 10134; Fig. 14) collected by M. Marques, L. Ceríaco, B. Butler, T. Júlio and M. Heinicke, on 21 July 2017. Paratypes. All specimens from Angola. Six specimens: An adult female (CAS 263420, field number AMB 10136), same data as holotype; An adult male (CAS 263529, field number AMB 10363), collected at Bibala Cross- road [-14.74350°, 13.33222°, 864 m a.s.l.], collected by L. Ceríaco, S. Bandeira & I. Agarwal, on 23 November 2016; An adult male (CAS 263531, field number AMB 10352), collected at Montipa [-14.66482°, 13.25763°, 669 m a.s.l.], collected by L. Ceríaco, S. Bandeira & I. Agarwal, on 23 November 2016; An adult male (UF 187228, field number AMB 10165), collected at Bicuar National Park, camp headquarters [-15.10161°, 14.83986°, 1242 m a.s.l.], collected by M. Marques, L. Ceríaco, B. Butler, S. Bandeira, T. Júlio and M. Heinicke, on 27 July 2017; An adult male (UF 187229, field number AMB 10790), collected at Chibia [-15.18944°, 13.69058°, 1467 m a.s.l.], collected by M. Marques, L. Ceríaco, B. Butler, S. Bandeira, T. Júlio and M. Heinicke, on 5 August 2017; An adult male (UF 187230, field number AMB 10477), collected at Virei [-16.11958°, 12.83458524°, 523 m a.s.l.], collected by L. Ceríaco, S. Bandeira & I. Agarwal, on 28 November 2016. Additional material: MHNC-UP/REP, UF, CAS. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis. Lygodactylus nyaneka sp. nov. is a small dwarf gecko with a maximum SVL of 34 mm. It can be distinguished from other members of the genus occurring in Angola and surroundings region by having 1) four scales surrounding the nostril (1st supralabial, two supranasal and one postnasals); 2) nostrils separated from the rostral and pierced above the suture between rostral and first supralabial; 3) mental followed by three postmentals; 4) first infralabial with 25–50% overlap of postpostmental; 5) 16 to 17 rows of ventral scales at midbody; 6) 4–6 precloacal pores in males; 7) median subcaudals arranged in a pattern of one row of scales about 1⁄4 width of the tail alternating with two rows of scales about 1⁄2 width of the tail (Fig. 4B); 8) venter white; 9) gular region usually white, but sometimes speckled with minute black dots. Background usually grey to brown with a pair of black lines on the flanks bordering a pale stripe (not always visible) with a line of cream dots from the posterior part of the orbit to the end of the tail (Figs 14–15, Marques et al. 2020). Comparison with other South and Southwestern African Lygodactylus. As the molecular data provide evidence of the distinctiveness of Lygodactylus nyaneka sp. from all other taxa, we here restrict our morphological comparisons to those named congeners occurring in Angola and surrounding countries. Lygodactylus nyaneka sp. nov. differs from L. angolensis, L. chobiensis, L. lawrencei and L. tchokwe sp. nov. by having 4–6 precloacal pores (versus 7–10 in L. angolensis; 7–11 in L. chobiensis; two in L. lawrencei; two to four in L. tchokwe sp. nov.) (Fig. 2). The new species can be distinguished from L. baptistai sp. nov., L. bradfieldi and L. capensis in not having the rostral in contact with the nostrils. It can be further distinguished from nominotypical L. capensis by its staggered rows of subcaudal plates in original tails (versus a more linear distribution of the rows in L. capensis). It differs from L. chobiensis and L. baptistai sp. nov. by its white ventral and gular coloration (versus bright yellow in L. chobiensis and L. baptistai sp. nov.) (Marques et al. 2020). Variation. Variation in scalation and body measurements of the type series is reported in Table 6. Paratypes agree almost entirely with the holotype, with the exception of two male paratypes (CAS 263529; UF 187228) that differ slightly in coloration, with both specimens having a darker dorsum with a more faded pattern, and speckled black on the gular region (CAS 263529) (Marques et al. 2020). |
| Comment | |
| Etymology | The specific epithet “nyaneka” is a noun in apposition and is given in honor of the dominant ethnolinguistic group of the region where the species exists. |
| References |
|
| External links |