Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 5343 No. 4: 11 Sept. 2023
Type: Article
Published: 2023-09-11
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5343.4.1
Page range: 301-337
Abstract views: 2216
PDF downloaded: 35

Revision of zigzag geckos (Diplodactylidae: Amalosia) in eastern Australia, with description of five new species

College of Science and Engineering; James Cook University; Townsville; QLD 4811; Australia
Biodiversity & Geosciences Program; Queensland Museum; South Brisbane; QLD 4101; Australia
Reptilia Amalosia hinesi sp. nov. Amalosia saxicola sp. nov. Amalosia nebula sp. nov. Amalosia capensis sp. nov. Amalosia queenslandia sp. nov. Amalosia rhombifer Amalosia lesueurii Amalosia jacovae Amalosia robusta Nebulifera

Abstract

Geckos of the genus Amalosia Wells & Wellington, 1984 occur across eastern and northern Australia. Only five species are described but additional diversity has been recognised for some time. Here we assess species diversity in eastern Australia, using morphological and genetic (ND4 mtDNA) data. We describe five new species, all morphologically distinct and highly genetically distinct (>25% divergence). Amalosia hinesi sp. nov. is found in woodlands on the western side of the Great Dividing Range in south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales. Amalosia saxicola sp. nov. is a large species found on rocks in the Mackay–Townsville areas of mid-east Queensland, including on many offshore islands. Amalosia nebula sp. nov. is restricted to rocky areas in upland sclerophyll forest of the Wet Tropics region of north-east Queensland. Amalosia capensis sp. nov. is a small species found in the northern half of Cape York Peninsula. Amalosia queenslandia sp. nov. is a small species that is widespread through woodlands over much of eastern and central Queensland. These species are diagnosed from other Amalosia species in eastern Australia, including A. cf. rhombifer which occurs in north-western Queensland. Amalosia cf. rhombifer is part of the clades comprising the remainder of the ‘A. rhombifer’ complex across the Northern Territory and Western Australia, which will be dealt with separately. Herein, we also we also synonymise the monotypic genus Nebulifera with Amalosia. This revision brings the number of Amalosia species to ten.

 

References

  1. ASH (2016) Australian Society of Herpetologists, Inc. Position Statement No. 2. Available from: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5448a9abe4b0ad6dc5e6fe6d/t/59f01e306957da917f56eb2b/1508908604637/ASH_Taxonomic_Position_Statement_Final.pdf (accessed 5 May 2023)
  2. Barnett, L.K., Phillips, B.L. & Hoskin, C.J. (2017) Going feral: Time and propagule pressure determine range expansion of Asian house geckos into natural environments. Austral Ecology, 42, 165–175. https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.12416
  3. Barnett, L.K., Phillips, B.L., Heath, A.C.G., Coates, A. & Hoskin, C.J. (2018) The impact of parasites during range expansion of an invasive gecko. Parasitology, 145, 1400–1409. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003118201800015X
  4. Boulenger, G.A (1885) Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). British Museum, London, 436 pp. [pp. 106, pl. 10, fig. 1].
  5. Bustard, H.R. (1969) Oedura reticulata, a new velvet gecko from south-west Western Australia. Western Australian Naturalist, 11, 82–85.
  6. Cogger, H.G. (1957) Investigations in the geckkonid genus Oedura Gray. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 82, 167–179.
  7. Cogger, H.G. (2014) Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. 7th Edition. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, 1033 pp. [pp. 289] https://doi.org/10.1071/9780643109773
  8. Cogger, H.G., Cameron, E.E. & Cogger, H.M. (1983) Zoological Catalogue of Australia Vol. 1. Amphibia and Reptilia. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 313 pp. [p. 96]
  9. Couper, P.J., Keim, L.D. & Hoskin, C.J. (2007) A new velvet gecko (Oedura: Gekkonidae) from south east Queensland, Australia. Zootaxa, 1587 (1), 27–41. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1587.1.2
  10. De Vis, C.W. (1884) On a new Australian lizard. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland, 1, 53–56. https://doi.org/10.5962/p.350997
  11. Dixon, J.R. & Kluge, A.G. (1964) A new gekkonid lizard genus from Australia. Copeia, 1964, 174–180. https://doi.org/10.2307/1440848
  12. Doughty, P. & Oliver, P.M. (2013) Systematics of Diplodactylus (Squamata: Diplodactylidae) from the south-western Australian biodiversity hotspot: redefinition of D. polyophthalmus and the description of two new species. Records of the Western Australian Museum, 28, 44–65. https://doi.org/10.18195/issn.0312-3162.28(1).2013.044-065
  13. Doughty, P., Ellis, R. & Oliver, P. (2016) Many things come in small packages: Revision of the clawless geckos (Crenadactylus: Diplodactylidae) of Australia. Zootaxa, 4168 (2), 239. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4168.2.2
  14. Duméril, A.M.C. & Bibron, G. (1836) Erpétologie Généale ou Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles. Vol. 3. Paris, Roret, iv + 517 + 392 pp.
  15. Gray, J.E. (1832) Three new animals brought from New Holland by Mr Cunningham. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1832, 39–40.
  16. Gray, J.E. (1842) Description of some hitherto unrecorded species of Australian reptiles and batrachians. In: Gray, J.E. (Ed.), Zoological Miscellany. Treuttel, Würtz & Co., London, pp. 51–57.
  17. Gray, J.E. (1845) Catalogue of the specimens of lizards in the collection of the British Museum. British Museum, London, xxviii + 289 pp.
  18. Greenlees, M.J. & Bezzina, C. (2014) Amalosia jacovae, an addition to the herpetofauna of New South Wales. Herpetofauna, 44, 41–44.
  19. Günther, A. (1867) Additions to the knowledge of Australian reptiles and fishes. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 20, 45–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222936708562716
  20. Hoskin, C.J. (2019) Description of three new velvet geckos (Diplodactylidae: Oedura) from inland eastern Australia. Zootaxa, 4683 (2), 242–270. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4683.2.4
  21. Hoskin, C.J. & Higgie, M. (2008) A new species of velvet gecko (Diplodactylidae: Oedura) from north-east Queensland, Australia. Zootaxa, 1788 (1), 21–36. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1788.1.2
  22. Hoskin, C.J., Zozaya, S.M. & Vanderduys, E. (2018) A new species of velvet gecko (Diplodactylidae: Oedura) from sandstone habitats of inland north Queensland, Australia. Zootaxa, 4486 (2), 101–124. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4486.2.1
  23. Kaiser, H., Crother, B., Kelly, C.M.R., Luiselli, L., O’Shea, M., Ota, H., Passos, P., Schleip, W. & Wüster, W. (2013) Best practices: In the 21st century, taxonomic decisions in herpetology are acceptable only when supported by a body of evidence and published via peer review. Herpetological Review, 44, 8–23.
  24. King, M. (1984) Three new species of Oedura (Gekkonidae, Reptilia) from the Mitchell Plateau of North Western Australia. Amphibia-Reptilia, 5, 329–337. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853884X-005-03-13
  25. Melville, J. Chapple, D.G., Keogh, J.S., Sumner, J., Amey, A., Bowles, P., Brennan, I.G., Couper, P., Donnellan, S.C., Doughty, P., Edwards, D.L., Ellis, R.J., Esquerré, D., Fenker, J., Gardner, M.G., Georges, A., Haines, M.L., Hoskin, C.J., Hutchinson, M., Moritz, C., Nankivell, J., Oliver, P., Pavón-Vázquez, C.J., Pepper, M., Rabosky, D.L., Sanders, K., Shea, G., Singhal, S., Worthington Wilmer, J. & Tingley, R. (2021) A return-on-investment approach for prioritization of rigorous taxonomic research needed to inform responses to the biodiversity crisis. PLoS Biology, 19, e3001210. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001210
  26. Oliver, P.M., Bauer, A.M., Greenbaum, E., Jackman, T. & Hobbie, T. (2012) Molecular phylogenetics of the arboreal Australian gecko genus Oedura Gray 1842 (Gekkota: Diplodactylidae): Another plesiomorphic grade? Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 63, 255–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2011.12.013
  27. Oliver, P.M., Couper, P.J. & Pepper, M. (2014) Independent transitions between monsoonal and arid biomes revealed by systematic revison of a complex of Australian geckos (Diplodactylus; Diplodactylidae). PLoS ONE, 9, e111895. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0111895
  28. Oliver, P.M. & Doughty, P. (2016) Systematic revision of the marbled velvet geckos (Oedura marmorata species complex, Diplodactylidae) from the Australian arid and semi-arid zones. Zootaxa, 4088 (2), 151–176. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4088.2.1
  29. Pepper, M., Doughty, P., Hutchinson, M.N. & Keogh, J.S. (2011) Ancient drainages divide cryptic species in Australia’s arid zone: Morphological and multi-gene evidence for four new species of Beaked Geckos (Rhynchoedura). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 61, 810–822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2011.08.012
  30. Rambaut, A. (2018) FigTree. Version 1.4.4. Available from: http://tree.bio.ed.ac.uk/software/figtree/ (accessed 20 January 2023)
  31. Reside, A.E., Critchell, K., Crayn, D.M., Goosem, M., Goosem, S., Hoskin, C.J., Sydes, T., Vanderduys, E.P. & Pressey, R.L. (2019) Beyond the model: expert knowledge improves predictions of species’ fates under climate change. Ecological Applications, 29, e01824. https://doi.org/10.1002/bes2.1522
  32. Skipwith, P.L., Bi, K. & Oliver, P.M. (2019) Relicts and radiations: Phylogenomics of an Australasian lizard clade with east Gondwanan origins (Gekkota: Diplodactyloidea), Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 140, 106589. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106589
  33. Stamatakis, A. (2014) RAxML version 8: a tool for phylogenetic analysis and post-analysis of large phylogenies. Bioinformatics, 9, 1312–1313. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btu033
  34. Swan, G., Shea, G. & Sadlier, R. (2022) A Field Guide to Reptiles of New South Wales. 4th Edition. Reed New Holland, Sydney, pp. 288 [pp. 12–15]
  35. Uetz, P., Slavenko, A., Meiri, S. & Heinicke, M. (2020) Gecko diversity: a history of global discovery. Israel Journal of Ecology & Evolution, 66, 117–125. https://doi.org/10.1163/22244662-bja10003
  36. Vanderduys, E., Hoskin, C.J., Kutt, A.S., Wright, J.M. & Zozaya, S.M. (2020) Beauty in the eye of the beholder: a new species of gecko (Diplodactylidae: Lucasium) from inland north Queensland, Australia. Zootaxa, 4877 (2), 291–310. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4877.2.4
  37. Wells, R.W. & Wellington, C.R. (1984) A synopsis of the class Reptilia in Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology, 1, 73–129.
  38. Williams, S.E., VanDerWal, J., Isaac, J., Shoo, L., Storlie, C., Fox, S., Bolitho, E.E., Moritz, C., Hoskin, C.J. & Williams, Y. (2010) Distributions, life-history specialization, and phylogeny of the rainforest vertebrates in the Australian Wet Tropics. Ecology, 91, 2493. https://doi.org/10.1890/09-1069.1
  39. Wilson, S. & Swan, G. (2021) A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia. 6th Edition. Reed New Holland, Sydney, pp. 688 [p. 82]