A new species of rupicolous Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Male Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary, southern Eastern Ghats, India

Abstract

We describe a new species of rupicolous Cnemaspis from the Male Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary in the Eastern Ghats. The current description is based on a type series of eight specimens that bear a unique combination of morphological and colour pattern characteristics that do not occur in other closely related species. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses based on the mitochondrial gene ND2 recovered the new species to be nested within the gracilis clade and the sister species to the recently described C. agarwali from the Eastern Ghats.