scholarly journals Dwarfs of the fortress: A new cryptic species of dwarf gecko of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata, Gekkonidae) from Rajgad fort in the northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra, India

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-38
Author(s):  
Amit Sayyed ◽  
Vivek Philip Cyriac ◽  
Anish Pardeshi ◽  
Shauri Sulakhe

A new species of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 is described from the Rajgad fort in the northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra, India. The new species, belonging to the flaviventralis clade, is one of the smallest known Indian Cnemaspis and can be distinguished from other congeners by its genetic distinctiveness and few key morphological characters. The new species can be diagnosed from all other Indian congeners by its small body size (SVL < 27 mm), the absence of conical and spine-like tubercles on flank; heterogeneous dorsal pholidosis; presence of only femoral pores and no precloacal pores in males; weakly keeled scales on the ventral surface of neck, pectoral, abdominal region and limbs; granular scales on the tail with whorls of slightly enlarged, strongly keeled tubercles; and the absence of enlarged median subcaudal scales. The new species is currently known to inhabit the man-made historical structures from a single locality in Rajgad, Maharashtra, where it is presumed to be uncommon.

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4545 (3) ◽  
pp. 389 ◽  
Author(s):  
SURANJAN KARUNARATHNA ◽  
AARON M. BAUER ◽  
ANSLEM DE SILVA ◽  
THILINA SURASINGHE ◽  
LANKANI SOMARATNA ◽  
...  

A new species of Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 is described from Nilgala Savannah Forest in Sri Lanka. The new species is diagnosed from all other congeners by the following suite of characters: small body size (SVL< 33 mm), dorsal scales on trunk homogeneous, one pair of post mentals separated by a single small chin scale, ventral scales on trunk smooth, subimbricate, 17–19 scales across the belly. Subdigitals scansors smooth, entire, unnotched; lamellae under digit IV of pes 17 –18. Males with femoral pores on each thigh but lacking precloacal pores. Median row of subcaudals smooth, subimbricate, enlarged and in an irregular series of subhexagonal scales. This new species had been previously confused with Cnemaspis alwisi Wickramasinghe & Munidradasa, 2007. The new species differs from Cnemaspis alwisi by having 122–129 ventral scales (versus 146–152), 7–8 supralabials (versus 8–10), and relatively shorter SVL ranging between 31.5–32.9 mm (versus 37.8–39.9 mm). Further, the new species is genetically divergent from Cnemaspis alwisi, the species that it closely resembles by 13.5% and 7.8% from its sister species in the ND2 gene. The present discovery highlights the need for dedicated herpetofaunal explorations in Sri Lanka, especially the intermediate bioclimatic zone and associated cave systems and rock outcrops. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3616 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUAN M. GUAYASAMIN ◽  
ALEJANDRO F. ARTEAGA

We describe a new Pristimantis from La Libertad and Rumiloma, Reserva Mazar, Andes of Southeastern Ecuador, at elevations between 2895–3415 m. This species is assigned to the P. orestes group, from whose members it differs by its small body size (adult males ≤ 18.1 mm; adult females ≤ 23.7 mm), usually reticulated ventral pattern, and visible tympanum. The vocalization of the new species consists of a series of calls; each call is composed by a pulsed, non-modulated note in frequency, and with a dominant frequency of 3122–3171 Hz. A molecular phylogeny based on a fragment of the mitochondrial gene 12S shows that the new species is sister to Pristimantis simonbolivari.


Zootaxa ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 1527 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
MING JI ◽  
YUFENG DING ◽  
JIAN-XIU CHEN

A new species, Folsomia wanxianensis, from China (Chongqing) was described in the present paper. The new species shares some characters with F. albens Kaprus’ & Potapov 1999, such as the absence of ommatidia, sensillar formulae and small body size. However, it could be easily distinguished from F. albens by the number of laterodistal setae on the ventral tube and the number of setae on furca. It is also easily distinguished from all known species in the genus by the combination of the following characters: 4+4 laterodistal setae on the ventral tube, 10+10 dorsal setae on manubrium, 10–11 ventral and four dorsal setae on dens, and other features.


Herpetozoa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 131-140
Author(s):  
Shuo Liu ◽  
Mian Hou ◽  
Mingzhong Mo ◽  
Dingqi Rao

A new species of the genus Micryletta Dubois, 1987 is described from Yunnan Province, China, based on morphological and molecular analyses. The most obvious differences between the new species and other species of this genus are small body size, unique coloration, and relatively longer hind limbs. In 16S rRNA gene sequences, the new species is diverged from all other congeners by 3.1%–8.0%.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4948 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-274
Author(s):  
V. DEEPAK ◽  
FRANK TILLACK ◽  
NILADRI B. KAR ◽  
VIVEK SARKAR ◽  
PRATYUSH. P. MOHAPATRA

We describe a new species of fan-throated lizard of the genus Sitana from the Deccan peninsula of India. The new species is from the Sitana sivalensis clade and can be readily diagnosed morphologically from S. sivalensis, S. fusca and S. schleichi by having the dewlap extending beyond forearm insertion. The new species differs from all other congeners in the combination of morphological characters such as a feebly serrated dewlap with a dark blue line on the throat in adult males (versus  a well serrated dewlap with a bright blue patch and orange spots in S. ponticeriana complex), small body size (versus a large body size in S. gokakensis and S. thondalu) and a relatively smaller dewlap size (relatively larger in S. laticeps, S. spinaecephalus, S. dharwarensis, S. gokakensis, S. thondalu, S. marudhamneydhal, S. ponticeriana and S. visiri). The new species was found to be commonly distributed in arid and open habitats as well as in farmlands and plantations in northern Andhra Pradesh, eastern Madhya Pradesh and most parts of Chhattisgarh and Odisha states. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2227 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
DIEGO F. CISNEROS-HEREDIA ◽  
MARIO H. YÁNEZ-MUÑOZ ◽  
H. MAURICIO ORTEGA-ANDRADE

We describe a new species of Glassfrog of the family Centrolenidae. This new taxon, Terarohyla sornozai sp. nov., is diagnosed by having a protruding snout in lateral profile, uniform green dorsal colouration in life, concealed prepollex, extensive webbing between the outer fingers, fully webbed toes, and small body size. It inhabits the Non-Seasonal Evergreen Foothill and Lowland forests in the provinces of Esmeraldas, Imbabura, and Pichincha, north-western Ecuador.


Author(s):  
Daoyuan Yu ◽  
Le Cong Man ◽  
Louis Deharveng

Two species of Tomoceridae were found near Dalat, southern Vietnam. Tomocerus ocreatus Denis, 1948 is redescribed based on a neotype specimen. Previous records of Tomocerus ocreatus in non-type localities are reevaluated. A new species Tomocerina annamitica sp. nov. is described. The new species is mainly characterized by its small body size, pointed tenent hair, compound dental spines and the absence of intermediate teeth on mucro.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4969 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-350
Author(s):  
AKSHAY KHANDEKAR ◽  
TEJAS THACKERAY ◽  
ISHAN AGARWAL

We describe a distinct new rupicolous Cnemaspis based on four adult specimens collected from the Kedareshwar caves on Harishchandragad mountain, from the northern Western Ghats, approximately 1200 m asl. in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra state, India. Cnemaspis uttaraghati sp. nov. can be diagnosed from all other peninsular Indian congeners by its small body size (maximum SVL < 39 mm), heterogeneous dorsal pholidosis, presence of spine-like tubercles on flanks; presence of only femoral pores in males; tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles forming whorls; median row of sub-caudal scales smooth, slightly enlarged, regularly arranged with condition of two slightly larger scales alternating with a large divided scale. The new species is likely to be allied to the C. girii clade and can be diagnosed from its members by its slightly larger body size, presence of spine-like tubercles on flanks, the number of enlarged tubercles in paravertebral rows between forelimb and hindlimb insertions, the number of dorsal tubercle rows at mid-body, the number of ventral scales across belly at mid-body, the number of longitudinal ventral scales from mental to cloaca, and the number of lamellae under digit IV of manus. We also provide a detailed morphological dataset for C. goaensis and C. indraneildasii based on topotypic material and specimens collected from additional localities to confirm C. indraneildasii is a junior synonym of C. goaensis, and provide an updated diagnosis for C. goaensis. 


2014 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Xu ◽  
Liang Li ◽  
Lu-Ping Zhang

AbstractA new species of ascaridoid nematode, Hysterothylacium gibsoni sp. nov., is described based on specimens collected from the intestine of the slender lizardfish Saurida elongata (Temminck et Schlegel) (Aulopiformes: Synodontidae) in the Yellow Sea, China. The new species differs from its congeners by its small body size (12.8–13.2 mm), the absence of cervical alae, a very short intestinal caecum (representing 8.86–9.52% of oesophageal length) and a long ventricular appendix (intestinal caecum to ventricular appendix ratio 1:15.3–20.0), short spicules (0.38–0.41 mm, representing 2.97–3.11% of body length), the number and arrangement of the caudal papillae (25–28 pairs arranged as follows: 18–22 pairs precloacal, 3 pairs paracloacal, and 3–4 pairs postcloacal). In addition, Hysterothylacium tetrapteri (Bruce et Cannon, 1989) is also redescribed based on the material collected from the striped marlin Kajikia audax (Philippi) (Perciformes: Istiophoridae) in the South China Sea.


ZooKeys ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 822 ◽  
pp. 67-77
Author(s):  
Wanda Maria Weiner ◽  
Zhijing Xie ◽  
Yu Li ◽  
Xin Sun

Four species of the genus Ceratophysella living on mushrooms are reported from China, including a new species, Ceratophysellaskarzynskii Weiner &amp; Sun, sp. n., which is described from alpine mushrooms. The new species belongs to the Ceratophysella group of species with a dorsal chaetotaxy of type B and differs from the other species in a combination of characters. Ceratophysellaskarzynskiisp. n. is distinguished by its small body size (maximum length 1.09 mm), number of peg-like s-chaetae (30–32) in the ventral sensory file, the trilobed apical vesicle of antennal segment IV, five modified chaetae on dens, and serrated dorsal chaetae. A key to the Chinese species of the genus has been provided.


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