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Issue: Vol. 5618 No. 4: 4 Apr. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-04-04
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5618.4.5
Page range: 552-570
Abstract views: 288
PDF downloaded: 8

New Pygmy Gecko (Goggia: Gekkonidae) from the arid Northern Cape Province of South Africa

Port Elizabeth Museum (Bayworld); P.O. Box 13147; Humewood; Gqeberha 6013; South Africa; Department of Nature Conservation Management; Natural Resource Science and Management Cluster; Faculty of Science; George Campus; Nelson Mandela University; George; South Africa
Wolwekraal Conservation and Research Organisation; Prince Albert 6930; South Africa
Wolwekraal Conservation and Research Organisation; Prince Albert 6930; South Africa
Kokerboom Biological Research Station; Springbok 8240; South Africa
Reptilia Gekkonidae Namibia arid quartzite cryptic species

Abstract

The genus Goggia is composed of ten small bodied leaf-toed gecko species endemic to South Africa and adjacent Namibia. Using a combination of phylogenetic and morphological analyses we assessed the taxonomic status of an isolated rupicolous population discovered south of Klein Pella in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. The newly collected material was recovered as a well supported clade by two independent phylogenetic algorithms (maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference), with little intraspecies structuring. While the particular interspecific relationships among closely related Goggia remain unresolved, the phylogenetic results suggest the novel material is related to G. rupicola, G. gemmula, G. incognita and G. matzikamaensis. This is supported by the similar ecologies (rupicolous lifestyle), geographies (arid western extent of South Africa) and morphologies (prominent dorsal chevrons and yellow-centred pale dorsal spots), which are shared among these closely related species. Despite their similarity, the novel population from Klein Pella remains geographically separate, differs from congeners by an uncorrected ND2 p-distance of 11.03–22.91%, and is morphologically diagnosable. Based on these findings we describe the Klein Pella population as a new species.

 

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How to Cite

Conradie, W., Hundermark, C., Kemp, L. & Keates, C. (2025) New Pygmy Gecko (Goggia: Gekkonidae) from the arid Northern Cape Province of South Africa. Zootaxa, 5618 (4), 552–570. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5618.4.5