The Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu has a brand new species of gecko to its credit score, a latest examine revealed within the journal Bionomina studies. Named Dravidogecko coonoor, the animal, which is part of the Dravidogecko genus endemic to the high-elevation areas of the Western Ghats, was recognized from Coonoor within the Higher Nilgiris. The invention provides to the rising record of endemic reptiles within the area, together with Cnemaspis anandani, Cnemaspis nilagirica, Cnemaspis indica and Hemiphyllodactylus nilgiriensis.
Dravidogecko coonoor is a probably threatened gecko species, whose inhabitants, so far as the research might assess, exists solely exterior the protected space community. The lead creator of the paper, A. Abinesh Anbazhagan, now based mostly on the Pondicherry College, first encountered the species in 2019 throughout his MPhil research on the Authorities Arts Faculty, Ooty. “I used to be at Coonoor observing the night time sky in an deserted shed when the gecko landed on my shoulder,” recollects Anbazhagan. “It seemed completely different from any recognized species. On the time, my MPhil was centered on geckos, and I had additionally come throughout a paper that described six new species of Dravidogecko. Their map marked Coonoor, however that they had no specimen from right here. However I had one on my hand.” Whereas he began finding out its distribution then, COVID-19 and a subsequent job on the IISc in Bengaluru got here in the best way.
Later, the species discovered point out in a 2021 paper underneath the identify Dravidogecko coonoorensis, based mostly on genetic divergence. Nonetheless, the outline didn’t meet the necessities of the Worldwide Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), because it lacked a proper, character-based analysis tied to bodily specimens. Consequently, the identify was rendered nomenclaturally unavailable.
Anbazhagan and colleagues waited for over a yr for the authors of the 2021 examine to validate the species identify. When no follow-up occurred, they went forward with formal description. “We retained the identify to honour the unique work,” he says.
The brand new Bionomina paper offers a full typification and morphological description of the species, based mostly on 4 specimens collected from Coonoor in June 2019. The holotype and three paratypes have been collected from buildings and vegetation within the Coonoor township, at elevations between 1750 and 1905 metres above sea degree. Tissue samples have been preserved for genetic evaluation and the specimens have been deposited on the Zoological Survey of India’s Southern Regional Station in Chennai.
Dravidogecko coonoor is distinguished from its congeners by a mix of traits, together with 24 to 26 ventral scale rows, 38 precloacal-femoral pores in males, and particular counts of subdigital lamellae. Subject observations point out the gecko is nocturnal, arboreal and infrequently present in human-modified habitats corresponding to constructing partitions and tree trunks in plantation landscapes.
Banner picture: Dravidogecko coonoor. Picture by Rishi Kesavan.
