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Type: Article
Published: 2017-11-13
Page range: 331–345
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A new species of large-bodied, tuberculate Hemidactylus Oken (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Eastern Ghats, India

National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore 560065, Karnataka, India.
Department of Biology, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, Pennsylvania, 19085, USA.
Zoological Survey of India, Central Zone Regional Centre, Jabalpur 482002, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Wildlife Biology and Taxonomy Lab, Department of Zoology, University College of Science, Osmania University, Hyderabad 500007, Telangana, India.
Department of Biology, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, Pennsylvania, 19085, USA. Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, Karnataka, India
Reptilia Hemidactylus Gekkonidae Andhra Pradesh Eastern Ghats India

Abstract

A distinct new gecko of the genus Hemidactylus is described from Andhra Pradesh, India. This large-sized (snout to vent length up to at least 105 mm), scansorial Hemidactylus is characterized by dorsal scalation of small granules intermixed with large, pointed, trihedral tubercles that form 16–17 fairly regularly arranged longitudinal rows at midbody; 9–11 subdigital lamellae below the first and 11–13 below the fourth digit; 6–8 strongly pointed and keeled enlarged tubercles on the original tail; 20–23 femoral pores separated by 4 poreless scales in males; 11–13 supralabials and 9–11 infralabials. This is the third vertebrate endemic to the Mahendragiri Range, highlighting the significance of this topographically complex region.

 

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