A new species of rock-dwelling Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Tamil Nadu, southern India

摘要

A new species of the gekkonid genus Cnemaspis is described based on a series of nine specimens from near Sankari in Salem district, Tamil Nadu state, southern India. The new species is diagnosable by the following suite of characters: a small-sized Cnemaspis (adult snout to vent length less than 33 mm); heterogeneous dorsal pholidosis consisting of weakly keeled granular scales intermixed with large strongly keeled, conical tubercles, 9-11 rows of dorsal tubercles, 12-17 tubercles in paravertebral rows; spine-like scales absent on flank, 17-20 lamellae under digit IV of pes. Males with 4-6 femoral pores on each thigh, separated on either side by eight poreless scales from four precloacal pores; precloacal pores separated medially by a single poreless scale; two single dorsal ocelli on occiput and between forelimb insertions, two pairs of ocelli on either side just anterior and posterior to forelimb insertions. Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov. is the fifth endemic species of Cnemaspis from peninsular India outside the Western Ghats and highlights the rich and unique diversity of this understudied region.