Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2018-05-17
Page range: 334–356
Abstract views: 122
PDF downloaded: 1

Two new species of bent toed geckos, Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Northeast India with comments on name-bearing types from the region

Department of Biology, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, Pennsylvania 19085, USA Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India
Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, South Kensington, London, United Kingdom
National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore 560065, India
508, 8 B Cross, Asha Township, Doddagubbi village, Bangalore, 560077, India
Department of Biology, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, Pennsylvania 19085, USA
Reptilia Alpha taxonomy cyt b Himalayas lizard ND2 systematics taxonomic review

Abstract

Two new species of the genus Cyrtodactylus are described based on collections from Northeast India, and descriptions and diagnoses of previously described species and synonyms from the region are provided. One of the new species from lowland habitats in Tripura is medium sized, with a continuous series of precloacal pores, and is allied to C. ayeyarwadyensis from Myanmar; while the other new species from West Bengal is smaller, with both femoral and precloacal pores, and is related to C. gubernatoris from West Bengal and Sikkim. We designate a lectotype for Cyrtodactylus khasiensis and recognize the C. khasiensis synonym Gymnodactylus himalayicus as a valid species of Cyrtodactylus based on morphological evidence, and suggest the recognition of the last remaining subspecies of C. khasiensis, C. k. cayuensis, as a valid species based on geography and morphology. The stabilization of the taxa Cyrtodactylus khasiensis and C. gubernatoris with a limited subset of characters and specific distributional data, as well as the elevation of Cyrtodactylus himalayicus comb. nov. from synonymy, will allow the descriptions of many more Cyrtodactylus species from the region.

 

References

  1. Agarwal, I., Bauer, A.M., Jackman, T.R. & Karanth, K.P. (2014) Insights into Himalayan biogeography from geckos: A molecular phylogeny of Cyrtodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 80, 145–155.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2014.07.018

    Agarwal, I., Giri, V.B. & Bauer, A.M. (2018). On the status of Cyrtodactylus malcolmsmithi (Constable, 1949). Breviora, 557, 1–11.
    https://doi.org/10.3099/MCZ41.1

    Ahmed, S. & Dasgupta, G. (1992) Reptilia. In: Ghosh, A.K. (Ed.), Fauna of West Bengal. Part II. (Reptilia, Amphibia, fishes, Hemichordata and archaeozoology). State Fauna Series 3. Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, pp. 1–65.

    Anderson, J. (1871) A list of the reptilian accession to the Indian Museum, Calcutta, from 1865 to 1870, with a description of some new species. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 40, 12–39.

    Annandale, N.E. (1906) A new gecko from the Eastern Himalayas. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 2 (7), 287 – 288.

    Annandale, N.E. (1907) Reports on a collection of Batrachia, reptiles and fish from Nepal and the western Himalayas. Records of the Indian Museum, 7 (1907), 149–155, pl. IV.

    Annandale, N.E. (1913) The Indian geckos of the genus Gymnodactylus. Records of the Indian Museum, 9, 309–326, pls. XVI–XVII.

    Batuwita, S. & Bahir, M.M. (2005) Description of five new species of Cyrtodactylus (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from Sri Lanka. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement, 12, 351–380.

    Bauer, A.M. (2002) Two new species of Cyrtodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Myanmar. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 53, 73–86.

    Bauer, A.M. (2003) Descriptions of seven new Cyrtodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) with a key to the species of Myanmar (Burma). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 54, 463–498.

    Bauer, A.M., Masroor, R., Titus-McQuillan, J., Heinicke, M.P., Daza, J.D. & Jackman, T.R. (2013) A preliminary phylogeny of the Palaearctic naked-toed geckos (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae) with taxonomic implications. Zootaxa, 3599 (4), 301–324.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3599.4.1

    Blyth, E. (1861) Proceedings of the Society. Report of the Curator. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, xxix (“1860”), 87–115.

    Cervenka, J., Frynta, D. & Kratochvi, L. (2008) Phylogeny and taxonomy of the Middle Eastern geckos of the genus Cyrtopodion and their selected relatives. Zootaxa, 1931, 25–36.

    Che, J., Zhou, W., Hu, J., Yan, F., Papenfuss, T.J., Wake, D.B. & Zhang, Y. (2010) Spiny frogs (Paini) illuminate the history of the Himalayan region and Southeast Asia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 107, 13765–13770.
    https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1008415107.

    Chettri, B. & Bhupathy, S. (2007) Checklist of reptiles reported from Sikkim and Darjeeling Hills. Journal of Hill Research, 20, 1–6.

    Darevsky, I.S., Helfenberger, N., Orlov, N. & Shah, K. (1997) Two new species of the genus Gonydactylus (Sauria: Gekkonidae) from eastern Nepal. Russian Journal of Herpetology, 4 (2), 89–93.

    Das, I. (1997) A new species of Cyrtodactylus from the Nicobar Island, India. Journal of Herpetology, 31 (3), 375–382.
    https://doi.org/10.2307/1565666

    Das, I. & Palden, J. (2000) A herpetological collection from Bhutan, with new country records. Herpetological Review, 31 (4), 256–258.

    Das, I., Dattagupta, B. & Gayen, N.C. (1998) History and catalogue of reptile types held in the collection of the Zoological Survey of India. Journal of South Asian Natural History, 3 (2), 121–172.

    Datta-Roy A., Das, I., Bauer, A.M., Tron, R.K.L. & Karanth, K.P. (2013) Lizard Wears Shades. A Spectacled Sphenomorphus (Squamata: Scincidae), from the Sacred Forests of Mawphlang, Meghalaya, North-east India. Zootaxa, 3701 (2), 257–276.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3701.2.7

    Duda, P.L., & Sahi, D.N. (1978) Cyrtodactylus himalaynus: a new gekkonid species from Jammu, India. Journal of Herpetology, 12 (3), 351–354.
    https://doi.org/10.2307/1563616

    Grismer, L.L., Chan K.O., Grismer, J.L., Wood, P.L. Jr. & Belabut, D. (2008) Three new species of Cyrtodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Peninsular Malaysia. Zootaxa, 1921, 1–23.

    Grismer, L.L., Wood, P.L. Jr., Anuar, S., Quah, E.S.H., Muin, M.A., Mohamed, M., Onn, C.K., Sumarli, A.X., Loredo, A.I. & Heinz, H.M. (2014) The phylogenetic relationships of three new species of the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus complex (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from poorly explored regions in northeastern Peninsular Malaysia. Zootaxa, 3786 (3), 359–381.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3786.3.6

    Grismer, L.L., Wood, P.L. Jr. & Lim K.K.P. (2012) Cyrtodactylus majulah, a new species of bent-toed Gecko (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Singapore and the Riau Archipelago. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 60, 487–499.

    Jerdon, T.C. (1870) Notes on Indian herpetology. Proceedings of the Asiatic Society Bengal, 1870, 66–85.

    Kamei, R.G., San Mauro, D., Gower, D.J., van Bocxlaer, I., Sherratt, E., Thomas, A., Babu, S., Bossuyt, F., Wilkinson, M. & Biju, S.D. (2012) Discovery of a new family of amphibians from Northeast India with ancient links to Africa. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Biological Sciences, 279, 2396–2401.
    https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.0150

    Khan, M.S. (2006) Amphibians and Reptiles of Pakistan. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida, xvi + 311 pp.

    Li, P.-P. (2007) Description of a new subspecies of Cyrtodactylus khasiensis from China. Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica, 32 (3), 733–737.

    Mahony, S. (2009) Taxonomic status of Cyrtodactylus khasiensis tamaiensis (Smith, 1940) and description of a new species allied to C. chrysopylos Bauer, 2003 from Myanmar (Reptilia: Gekkonidae). Hamadryad, 34, 62–74.

    Mahony, S. & Ali Reza, A.H.M. (2008) A herpetofaunal collection from the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh, with two new species records for the country. Hamadryad, 32 (1), 45–56.

    Mahony, S., Ahmed, M., Hossain, M.K., Kabir, M.M. & Hasan, M.K. (2009a) Cyrtodactylus ayeyarwadyensis bauer, 2003 (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) in Bangladesh with habitat details of new collection localities and a discussion of morphological variation. Salamandra, 45 (4), 245–250.

    Mahony, S., Hasan, M.K., Kabir, M.M., Ahmed, M. & Hossain, M.K. (2009b) A catalogue of amphibians and reptiles in the collection of Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Hamadryad, 34 (1), 80–94.

    Mahony, S., Foley, N.C., Biju, S.D., Teeling, E.C. (2017) Evolutionary history of the Asian Horned Frogs (Megophryinae): integrative approaches to timetree dating in the absence of a fossil record. Molecular Biolology and Evolution, 34 (3), 744–771 + S.I. 33 pp.

    Nazarov, R.A., Poyarkov Jr., N.A., Orlov, N.L., Nguyen, N.S., Milto, K.D., Martynov, E.L., Konstantinov, E.L. & Chulisov, A.S. (2014) A review of genus Cyrtodactylus (Reptilia: Sauria: Gekkonidae) in fauna of Laos with description of four new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS, 318, 391–423.

    Schleich, H.H. & Kästle, W. (1998) Description of Gonydactylus nepalensis spec. nov. from the Inner Terai of far west Nepal (Reptilia: Sauria: Gekkonidae). In: Schleich, H.H. & Kästle, W. (Eds.), Contributions to the herpetology of south-Asia (Nepal, India). Fuhlrott-Museum, Wuppertal, pp. 269–280.

    Schleich, H.H. & Kästle, W. (2002) Amphibians and Reptiles of Nepal. A.R.G. Gantner K.G., Ruggel, x + 1201 pp.

    Sharma, R.C. (2002). Fauna of India. Reptilia. Sauria. Vol. II. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, 430 pp.

    Smith, M.A. (1935) The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. II. Sauria. Taylor and Francis, London, xiii + 440 pp., 1 pl., 2 folding maps.

    Stoliczka, F. (1871) Notes on new or little known Indian lizards. Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1871, 192–195.

    Tamura, K., Peterson, D., Peterson, N., Stecher, G., Nei, M. & Kumar, S. (2011) MEGA5: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis using maximum likelihood, evolutionary distance, and maximum parsimony methods. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 28, 2731–2739.
    https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msr121

    Thompson, J.D., Higgins, D.G. & Gibson, T.J. (1994) CLUSTAL W: improving the sensitivity of progressive multiple sequence alignment through sequence weighting, positions-specific gap penalties and weight matrix choice. Nucleic Acids Research, 22, 4673–4680.
    https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/22.22.4673

    Uetz, P., Freed, P. & Hošek, J. (Eds.) (2017) The Reptile Database. Available from: http://www.reptile-database.org (accessed 3 November 2017)

    Venugopal, P.D. (2010) An updated and annotated list of Indian lizards (Reptilia: Sauria) based on a review of distribution records and checklists of Indian reptiles. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 2, 725–738.
    https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o2083.725-38

    Wood, P.L., Jr., Heinicke, M.P., Jackman, T.R. & Bauer, A.M. (2012) Phylogeny of bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus) reveals a west to east pattern of diversification. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 65, 992–1003.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2012.08.025

    Zug, G.R., Leviton, A.E., Vindum, J.V., Wogan, G.O.U. & Koo, M.S. (Comp.) (2003) Checklist of the Myanmar Herpetofauna from the Myanmar Herpetological Survey Project. Available from: http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/Herpetology/myanmar/checklist_lizards.html (accessed 05 October 2013)