On the status and relationships of the gecko species Gehyra barea Kopstein 1926, with description of new specimens and a range extension

Abstract

Gehyra barea is a poorly known gecko species from the southern Banda Islands, Maluku Province, Indonesia, that has received scant attention since it was described in 1926. A combination of morphological characters distinguish the types of this species from all other described Gehyra, and suggest that it is a distinct taxon. These same morphological characters occur in two recently collected specimens from the Raja Ampat Islands, just off the west coast of New Guinea, that we assign to this species, extending the known range of the taxon by over six hundred kilometres. We provide a revised and extended diagnosis and description of the species based on these new specimens. Morphological and genetic data from these specimens indicate G. barea is closely related to Gehyra baliola from further east in southern New Guinea, and that these species form a clade with Geyhra oceanica. Gehyra is a taxonomically challenging group, and the status of most species from the Melanesian region is in need of review.