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Type: Article
Published: 2014-04-09
Page range: 192–200
Abstract views: 19
PDF downloaded: 1

A new species of arboreal forest-dwelling gecko (Hemidactylus: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from coastal Kenya, East Africa

National Museums of Kenya, Herpetology Section, Museum Hill Road, P.O. Box 40658-00100 , Nairobi, Kenya.
Department of Biology, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, Pennsylvania 19085, USA.
Hemidactylus mrimaensis sp. nov. Gekkonidae Kenya coastal kaya forests description

Abstract

A new species of Hemidactylus, H. mrimaensis sp. nov., is described from coastal kaya forests of Kenya. This small-sized, arboreal gecko may be distinguished from its probable close relative, the sympatric H. mabouia, by its more slender habitus, golden color, small adult body length (maximum SVL 50 mm in females) and features of scalation including keeled dorsal tubercles in 11–14 longitudinal rows, pointed tubercles on tail larger than those on the dorsum, and 32–34 precloacal pores in males. This gecko may be endemic to the coastal forests and given the ongoing threats to this habitat, the species is of high conservation concern.