A new species of day gecko (Squamata, Gekkonidae, Cnemaspis

SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE
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Received 12 December 2003; revised accepted
22 August 2005
SOMA P AUL1
S. R. SIKDAR2,*
1
Asutosh College, 92,
S.P. Mukherjee Road,
Kolkata 700 026, India
2
Plant Molecular and Cellular
Genetics Section,
Bose Institute, P-1/12 C.I.T. Scheme VII M,
Kolkata 700 054, India
*For correspondence.
e-mail: [email protected]
A new species of day gecko (Squamata, Gekkonidae, Cnemaspis)
from the Anaikatti Hills, Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu, India
Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887, one of the major
groups of diurnally active gekkonid members
was listed under the family Sphaerodactylidae1,2. However, it was considered as
subfamily Sphaerodactylinae by a section
of taxonomists3. Currently, 41 species of
Cnemaspis have been reported from Asia,
including 19 from India4–8, and 16 from the
Western Ghats8. The Anaikatti Hills
(11°05′30.9″ N and 76°47′36.2″E), Western
Ghats, is a part of the Nilgiri Biosphere
Reserve located in Tamil Nadu, South
India. This Ghats range is one of the 25
recognized biodiversity hotspots of the
world9. Being located on the eastern slope
(~ 600 m asl), the climate of Anaikatti Hills
is semi-arid with temperature soaring up
to 40°C during summer, and the annual
rainfall hardly exceeds 650 mm. The forest
type of the area is Southern Mixed Dry
Deciduous10. Ongoing field studies by Salim
Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural
History (SACON), Coimbatore in the area
yielded 11 species of geckoes, including
the present new species of Cnemaspis gecko.
Geckoes were photographed in life and
measured8 and fixed in 6% formaldehyde.
Measurements were taken using Mitu1326
toyo vernier callipers (accuracy 0.01 mm)
following Bauer8. Taxonomic features of the
new species are compared with other congeners known from peninsular India3–6,8,11.
Cnemaspis anaikattiensis sp. nov. Holotype: ZSI 25601, Zoological Survey of
India (ZSI), Kolkata. Adult male, snoutvent length (SVL) 61 mm, tail length (TL)
58 mm, Anaikatti Hills (11°05′30.9″N and
76°47′36.2″E), Western Ghats, Coimbatore
district, Tamil Nadu, India. Collected by
A.M.A. Nixon and Debanik Mukherjee, 17
September 2003. Paratype: ZSI 25602,
female, data as above. Measurements of
the specimens are given in Table 1.
Diagnosis: C. anaikattiensis (Figure 1 a, b)
is diagnosable from its congeners by the
following combination of characters: A
large day gecko (SVL 61mm) with circular pupil, flanks without spine like tubercles, nostril in contact with the first
supralabial, postmentals three pairs – scales
of first pair separated by three small interscales, dorsal scales heterogeneous intermixed with enlarged tubercles, both
dorsal and ventral scales of the body
smooth, midventral scales in 26–27 rows
and lamellae under IVth digit is 16.
The holotype (adult male) measured
61 mm in SVL and 58 mm in TL (regenerated) and the paratype (female) measured
58 mm (SVL) and 58 mm (TL), head large
and distinct from the neck, rostral broader
and partially divided by a cleft or rostral
groove, pupil circular, orbits with extrabrillar fringes, scales on the anterior part of
fringes longer but fragmented, supraciliaries
merge with extra-brillar fringes, two pairs
of supranasals, the anterior one longer than
wide and in contact with nostril and rostral, anterior supranasals divided by an
internasal, 2–3 postnasals-bound nostril,
nostril in contact with first supralabial,
6–7 supralabials, 8–9 infralabials, first
supralabial broader and longer than the rest,
2–3 rows of scales separate eye from supralabials, granular scales on the snout
larger than that present on the dorsum of
the head, ear opening oval, mental subtriangular, broad, three pairs of postmentals,
first two pairs larger than the third one, first
pair divided transversely by three small
interscales and postmentals in contact with
infralabials.
Body stout, flanks without any projecting spine-like tubercles, dorsal scales
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 89, NO. 8, 25 OCTOBER 2005
SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE
Table 1.
Measurements (mm) of holotype* and paratype of Cnemaspis anaikattiensis sp. nov.
Measurement (mm)
Snout-vent length (SVL)
Tail length (TL)
Tibia length (TBL)
Tail width (TW)
Head length (HL)
Head width (HW)
Head depth (HD)
Ear length (EL)
Forearm length (FA)
Eye diameter (ED)
Eye-to-nostril distance (E–N)
Eye-to-snout distance (E–S)
Eye-to-ear distance (E–E)
Distance between nares (IN)
Inter orbital snout distance (IO)
Distance from axilla to groin (A–G)
HL/SVL
HW/SVL
HD/HL
E–S/HW
ED/E–S
ED/HL
EL/HL
E–E/ED
A–G/SVL
FA/SVL
TBL/SVL
heterogeneous – with enlarged, pointed and
conical tubercles intermixed with small
scales, tubercles on the flanks and hinder
part of the body larger than the adjacent
ones, dorsal scales increase in size from
mid-dorsum to the lateral parts, scales on
the dorsum at the mid-body smaller than
those of ventrum at same level, ventral
scales smooth and imbricate, gular scales
granular and smaller than the pectoral
scales and anterior pectoral scales smaller
than the abdominal ones. Scales on palm and
sole smooth, variable in size, inner surface
of the limbs with smooth and weakly imbricate scales, scales on dorsal surface of
thigh, tibia, upper and fore arms mostly
smaller, flattened, smooth and intermixed
with a few comparatively larger conical
scales, interdigital webbing absent. Base of
the first digit of manus and pes with three
enlarged entire subdigital scansors, others
with two interphalangeal plates not much
enlarged. Relative length of the digits in
manus IV (6 mm), III (5.5 mm), V (5 mm),
II (4.5 mm), I (3.5 mm) and pes IV (7 mm),
III (6.5 mm), V (6 mm), II (4.5 mm), I
(4 mm). Dorsal scales of the tail flattened,
smooth, weakly imbricate, a few mid
dorsal scales little enlarged, subcaudals
smooth with wide single or paired (di-
ZSI 25601*
61
58
11
7.5
11
9
7
1.5
10
3.5
5.5
7
5
2
5
29
0.18
0.15
0.64
0.78
0.5
0.32
0.14
1.43
0.48
0.16
0.18
ZSI 25602
58
58
11
7
10
9
6
1.5
10
3.5
5.5
7
5
2
5
28
0.17
0.16
0.60
0.78
0.5
0.35
0.15
1.43
0.48
0.17
0.19
vided) plates as in C. heteropholis8 and postcloacal spur absent. Males differ from
females in having 7–8 femoral pores on
either side and enlarged preanal scales.
Preanal pore or groove is absent in this
species.
Colour (in life): Head and dorsum brown
with dark spots, vertebral part with yellowish white patches, larger tubercles yellowish, 2–3 black stripes between eye
and ear opening, digits with alternating
dark and light bands and ventral scales
greyish-white.
Etymology: C. anaikattiensis is named
for the type locality, the Anaikatti Hills,
Western Ghats, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu,
southwestern India.
Comparison: Indian Cnemaspis geckoes
were divided into two groups11, one having
flanks with spine-like projecting tubercles
(C. jerdonii group) and the rest without
spine-like projecting tubercles (C. indica
group). Of the 19 Cnemaspis species reported so far from India, 18 are found in
Peninsular India, and among them 10 belong to the latter group. C. anaikattiensis
belongs to C. indica group and differed
from other members by possessing
smooth (unkeeled) dorsal scales, excepting
perhaps C. yercaudensis and C. nairi. Males
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 89, NO. 8, 25 OCTOBER 2005
a
b
Figure 1. a, Cnemaspis anaikattiensis in life
(ZSI 25601) showing enlarged heterogeneous
tubercles and general colouration. b, C. anaikattiensis showing mental and chin shields
arrangements.
of C. sisparensis, C. heteropholis, C. wynadensis, C. indica and the new species
lack preanal pore or groove, whereas the
rest of them have the same.
C. anaikattiensis (superficially) appears similar to C. sisparensis and C.
heteropholis of the Western Ghats. The
holotype of C. sisparensis (Theobald)
[= Gonatodes bireticulatus] Annd. collected by F.H.Gravely from ‘Kavalai,
1300–3000 ft, Cochin State’ ZSI 17970,
Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata was
examined. Additional taxonomic characters include: no internasal scale in C. sisparensis (vs presence in the new species),
nostril not in contact with first supralabial
(vs in contact in C. anaikattiensis), gular
and ventral part pigmented, brick-red in
preservative in C. sisparensis (vs unpigmented). The recently erected C. heteropholis8 differs in supranasals in contact
(vs separated by an internasal in C. anaikattiensis), nostril not in contact with
first supralabial (vs in contact) and keeled
scales on the dorsal surface of thigh, tibia,
upper and fore arms in C. heteropholis (vs
1327
SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE
smooth). C. heteropholis is reportedly
most similar to C. sisparensis8.
In addition, C. sisparensis and C. heteropholis are reported only from high
rainfall areas (annually ~ 2000 mm), such
as tropical evergreen forest compared to
the record of the new species from mixed
dry deciduous forest with scanty rainfall
(600 mm). Similar to C. anaikattiensis and
C. heteropholis, species with heterogeneous scalation might also be expected
from other parts of the Western Ghats (A.
M. Bauer, pers. commun.). Till mid 70s, 11
species of Cnemaspis have been reported
from India11,12. Among them distribution
data for Cnemaspis boei (Gray, 1842)7
are lacking, and since then five new
Cnemaspis species have been described
from the Western Ghats4,5,8. The taxonomy
of Cnemaspis geckoes is poorly understood8, and further intensive surveys in
the Western Ghats would result in more
new species.
C. anaikattiensis is a fast-moving diurnal gecko, largely active during dawn
and dusk. It inhabits rocky streambeds in
the tropical dry deciduous forest. Fieldwork covering all seasons of the year
yielded only four individuals, and it appears
that this species is solitary. Hemidactylus
maculatus, H. frenatus, H. brookii, H.
triedrus, Hemiphyllodactylus aurantiacus
and Geckoella collegalensis are common
and sympatric with the new species in
Anaikatti Hills.
1. Underwood, G., Proc. Zool. Soc., London,
1954, 124, 469–492.
2. Russell, A. P., Copeia, 1979, 1–21.
3. Kluge, A. G., Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
1967, 135, 1–60.
4. Sharma, R. C., Rec. Zool. Surv. India,
1976, 71, 149–167.
5. Inger, R. F., Marx, H. and Koshy, M.,
Herpetologica, 1984, 40, 149–154.
6. Das, I. and Bauer, A. M., Russ. J. Herpetol., 2000, 7, 17–28.
7. Das, I. and Sengupta, S., J. South Asian
Nat. Hist., 2000, 5, 17–24.
8. Bauer, A. M., Mitt. Hamb. Zool. Mus.
Inst., 2002, 99, 155–167.
9. Myers, N., Mittermeier, R. A., Mittermeier, C. G., Da Fonseca, G. A. B. and
Kent, J., Nature, 2000, 403, 853–858.
10. Champion, H. G. and Seth, S. K., A Revised Survey of the Forest Types of India,
Government of India Press, Nasik, 1968,
p. 404.
11. Smith, M. A., The Fauna of British India,
Taylor and Francis, London, 1935, vol. 2,
p. 440.
12. Boulenger, G. A., Catalogue of the Lizards
in the British Museum, British Museum,
London, 1885, vol. 1, p. 436.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. This paper is an
outcome of the Anaikatti Hills Biodiversity
Project sponsored by SACON. We are grateful
to V. S. Vijayan, Director, SACON for encouragement, and Tamil Nadu Forest Department for permission to work in the area and
support. We thank Aaron M. Bauer, Villanova
University, USA for providing valuable suggestions and comments on a draft manuscript
of this paper.
Received 18 March 2005; revised accepted 18
August 2005
DEBANIK MUKHERJEE
S. BHUPATHY*
A. M. A. NIXON
Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and
Natural History,
Anaikatti (PO),
Coimbatore 641 108, India
*For correspondence.
e-mail: [email protected]
First record of an exceptionally diverse and well preserved
amber-embedded biota from Lower Eocene (~ 52 Ma) lignites,
Vastan, Gujarat
The only window to the diverse terrestrial
biotic component comprising insects and
spiders is through their preservation in amber nodules commonly found in coals and
lignites, from the Permian onwards1–4.
Although a few isolated insect remains
have been reported from India5–8, the present
correspondence represents the first record
of a diverse biota and provides insights
into fossil insect and spider biodiversity,
not available through other processes of
fossilization. The present find has the potential of providing significant information
on the migration and degree of isolation
during the drift phase of the Indian Plate
prior to the India–Asia collision. Palaeobiogeographical relationships of insects
and spiders have been used in the context
of geodynamic plate tectonic models to
infer multiple migrational histories for
1328
the central Americas and Madagascar–
Africa connection9. The excellent state of
preservation of the Indian Eocene insects
could help in DNA characterization and
in understanding of the diversity and antiquity of modern-day South Asiatic insect and arachnid communities10,11.
The age of the Vastan lignite has been
established as Ypresian on the basis of
foraminiferal biostratigraphy and more
recently, by fossil shark assemblages12–16.
Early Eocene coal and lignites represent
a significant feature of the western margin of the Indian plate prior to the India–
Asia collision both in India and Pakistan17,18. Vastan mine is situated about
30 km northeast of Surat between the
Narmada and Tapti rivers (Figure 1). Amber
occurs in most of the multiple lignite
seams exposed in the quarry. Fossiliferous
marine foraminiferal and molluscan shellbearing grey and green shales and marls
are intercalated with the lignite seams and
are marked by the presence of Nummulites
burdigalensis12. Sharks and rays have recently been described13 and also suggests a
lagoonal palaeoenvironment intermittently connected to the open sea.
The amber occurs as dispersed nodules
in the brownish coloured lignites and is
usually very brittle and fractured. Amber
nodules were examined in a stereoscopic microscope and ground and polished to expose
the embedded specimens. The specimens
were coated in linseed oil and photographed
digitally using Leitz model Lux 11 Pol S
microscope. As some of the specimens
were deeply embedded in amber and not
exposed in one plane, focused photomicrography was not possible for all specimens.
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 89, NO. 8, 25 OCTOBER 2005