Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 1788 No. 1: 9 Jun. 2008
Type: Article
Published: 2008-06-09
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1788.1.2
Page range: 21–36
Abstract views: 28
PDF downloaded: 1

A new species of velvet gecko (Diplodactylidae: Oedura) from north-east Queensland, Australia

School of Botany and Zoology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
School of Botany and Zoology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
Reptilia Oedura jowalbinna Oedura coggeri Oedura monilis Oedura castelnaui Laura Quinkan sandstone morphology principal components analysis

Abstract

We describe a new species of velvet gecko (Diplodactylidae: Oedura) from north-east Queensland, Australia. Oedura jowalbinna sp. nov. is a robust, medium-sized (SVL 60–69 mm) gecko that is readily distinguished from its congeners by its distinctive dorsal colour pattern. The dorsum is grey with faint freckling and a pale, dark-edged band across the neck and another across the base of the tail. The combination of a yellow tail and a grey body is also distinctive. Oedura jowalbinna sp. nov. also differs significantly from the most similar congener, O. coggeri, in a multivariate analysis of morphology and scalation, primarily due to its smaller body size, higher interorbital, supralabial and infralabial scale counts, and lower subdigital lamellae scale count. These traits are generally non-overlapping between O. jowalbinna sp. nov. and O. coggeri, however, more individuals of O. jowalbinna sp. nov. need to be assessed to accurately determine variation within the new species. All O. jowalbinna sp. nov. were found at night on overhangs in dissected sandstone escarpment south-west of the town of Laura. Surveys are required to determine the distribution of O. jowalbinna sp. nov. across the sandstone escarpments of the Laura region. This species is the third reptile species (along with the skinks Ctenotus quinkan and C. nullum) described that has a highly localised range centred on the sandstone escarpments of the Laura region. Additionally, included herein is a comparison of O. coggeri and O. monilis. Typical dorsal colour pattern differs between these two species but the large amount of variation (particularly in O. coggeri) merges these differences. Oedura coggeri and O. monilis could not be distinguished in multivariate analyses of morphology and scalation. Genetic data and further analyses of colour pattern, morphology and scalation are required to resolve species boundaries within and between these two species.

References

  1. Ang-Gnarra Aboriginal Corporation (1995) Our country, our art, our Quinkans. Ang-Gnarra Aboriginal Corporation, Laura.

    Bustard, H.R. (1966) The Oedura tryoni complex: east Australian rock-dwelling geckos (Reptilia: Gekkonidae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Zoology, 14, 1–14.

    Cogger, H.G. (2000) Reptiles and amphibians of Australia. 6th ed. Reed New Holland, Sydney, 808 pp.

    Couper, P.J., Keim, L.D. & Hoskin, C.J. (2007) A new velvet gecko (Gekkonidae: Oedura) from south-east Queensland, Australia. Zootaxa, 1587, 27–41.

    De Keyser, F. & Lucas, K.G. (1968) Geology of the Hodgkinson and Laura Basins, north Queensland. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Australia, Bulletin 84, 254 pp.

    De Vis, C.W. (1884) On new Australian lizards. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland, 1, 53–56.

    De Vis, C.W. (1888) A contribution to the herpetology of Queensland. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 2, 811–826.

    De Vis, C.W. (1892) Zoology of British New Guinea. Part 1. Vertebrata. Annals of the Queensland Museum, 2, 1–24.

    Duméril A.M.C. & Bibron, G. (1836) Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complete des reptiles, Vol. 3. Librairie Encyclopédique Roret, Paris. 528 pp.

    Gray, J.E. (1842) Description of some hitherto unrecorded species of Australian reptiles and batrachians. The Zoological Miscellany, 2, 51–57.

    Gray, J.E. (1845) Catalogue of the specimens of lizards in the collection of the British Museum. Trustees of the British Museum/Edward Newman, London, 289 pp.

    Ingram, G.J. (1979) Two new species of skinks, Genus Ctenotus (Reptilia, Lacertilia, Scincidae), from Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia. Journal of Herpetology, 13, 279–282.

    Ingram, G.J. & Czechura, G.V. (1990) Four new species of striped skinks from Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 29, 407–410.

    King, M. (1984) Three new species of Oedura (Gekkonidae, Reptilia) from the Mitchell Plateau of north western Australia. Amphibia-Reptilia, 5, 329–337.

    King, M. & Gow, G.F. (1983) A new species of Oedura (Gekkonidae: Reptilia) from the Alligator Rivers region of northern Australia. Copeia, 1983, 445–449.

    Macleay, W. (1877) The lizards of the “Chevert” Expedition. 2nd paper. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 2, 97–104.

    Thominot, A. (1889) Observations sur quelques reptiles et batraciens de la collection du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris. Bulletin de la Société Philomathique de Paris, 1, 21–30.

    Wells, R.W. & Wellington, C.R. (1984) A synopsis of the class Reptilia in Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology, 1, 73–129.

    Wilson, S.K. & Swan, G. (2003) A complete guide to reptiles of Australia. New Holland, Sydney, 480 pp.

    Wilson, S.K. (2005) A field guide to reptiles of Queensland. Reed New Holland, Sydney, 256 pp.