Abstract
A new day gecko of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 is described from the intermediate bioclimatic zone (Haputale Forest and Idalgashinna Forest in Badulla District) of Sri Lanka. The new species belongs to the Cnemaspis kandiana clade and was recorded from granite caves and abandoned buildings within forested areas. The region in which these habitats are located, receives relatively high annual rainfall (2500–3500 mm) and has fairly cool, moist and well-shaded conditions. The new species is medium in size (30.2–32.9 mm SVL) and can be differentiated from all other Sri Lankan Cnemaspis by the presence of small subcaudals, heterogenous dorsal scales, smooth pectoral and ventral scales, 7 or 8 supralabials and infralabials, 143–159 ventral scales, 15–17 belly scales, 95–103 mid-body scales, 122–132 paravertebrals, 3 pre-anal pores, 4 or 5 femoral pores and 17 or 18 lamellae on 4th toe. The species described herein is categorised as Critically Endangered (CR) under the IUCN Red List Criteria. The major threats for the new species are habitat loss due to expansion of commercial-scale agriculture and illicit forest encroachments. Therefore, we recommend relevant authorities to take immediate conservation action to ensure the protection of these forest areas in Haputale and Idalgashinna along with the buffer zone in the near future.
Highlights
The tropical island of Sri Lanka has a rich and diverse assemblage of reptiles that comprises a total of 238 species, of which 155 (65%) are endemic and 107 are threatened with extinction (MoE-SL 2012; Batuwita 2016; Batuwita and Edirisinghe 2017; de Silva and Ukuwela 2020; Wickramasinghe et al 2017, 2019, 2020; Karunarathna et al 2019a, 2019b, 2020; Batuwita et al 2020)
We examined 458 Cnemaspis specimens representing all recognised Sri Lankan species, including all type specimens housed at the National Museum of Sri Lanka (NMSL), The Natural History Museum, London (BMNH) and specimens collected by Anslem de Silva (bearing the field codes ADS, Aaron Bauer and Suranjan Karunarathna, which have been deposited in the NMSL (Appendix 1)
Sri Lankan representatives of the genus are microhabitat specialists with narrow niches limited to moist, cool, zse.pensoft.net canopy-shaded rock outcrops, granite caves, trees, abandoned buildings, buildings associated with caves, wattle and daub houses and semi-naturalised rock walls, where their cryptic morphology and body colouration camouflage them in the environment (Smith 1935; Karunarathna et al 2019c)
Summary
The tropical island of Sri Lanka has a rich and diverse assemblage of reptiles that comprises a total of 238 species, of which 155 (65%) are endemic and 107 are threatened with extinction (MoE-SL 2012; Batuwita 2016; Batuwita and Edirisinghe 2017; de Silva and Ukuwela 2020; Wickramasinghe et al 2017, 2019, 2020; Karunarathna et al 2019a, 2019b, 2020; Batuwita et al 2020). Amongst the diverse reptile community of the Island, the diversity of geckos (Family Gekkonidae) are remarkable; 59 species have been recognised so far which accounts for 25% of the overall reptilian richness (Karunarathna et al 2019b; Amarasinghe and Karunarathna 2020). With 37 nominal species in Sri Lanka, Cnemaspis is considered as the most speciose reptile genus in the country, with 100% species endemism (Karunarathna et al 2019b; Amarasinghe and Karunarathna 2020). Cnemaspis are diurnal geckos distributed in Africa and Asia comprising three distinct paraphyletic groups in Africa, Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia (Gamble et al 2015)
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