taxonID	type	description	language	source
B5ABB39848BF5F9AB08E1ED46CC81460.taxon	description	Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13	en	Khandekar, Akshay, Thackeray, Tejas, Kalaimani, Ayuthavel, Agarwal, Ishan (2023): Two new species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Gingee Hills, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 73: 887-913, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512
B5ABB39848BF5F9AB08E1ED46CC81460.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The specific epithet is an adjective formed from the Latin " caverna' for cave and " cola " meaning inhabitant or dweller, as the species is only known to occur in caves and crevices below large granite boulders.	en	Khandekar, Akshay, Thackeray, Tejas, Kalaimani, Ayuthavel, Agarwal, Ishan (2023): Two new species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Gingee Hills, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 73: 887-913, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512
B5ABB39848BF5F9AB08E1ED46CC81460.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. A small-sized Cnemaspis, snout to vent length less than 34 mm (n = 5). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granular scales in vertebral and paravertebral region, intermixed with about two or three regularly arranged rows of large, weakly keeled tubercles on each side of flank, tubercles in lowest row largest and spine-like; 4 - 6 rows of dorsal tubercles; ventral scales smooth, subcircular, subimbricate, 28 - 32 scales across belly, 116 - 125 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca; subdigital scansors smooth, entire, unnotched; 10 - 12 total lamellae under digit I of manus and pes, 15 - 19 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 18 - 21 lamellae under digit IV of pes; males (n = 3) with one or two femoral pores on each thigh separated on either side by 8 - 10 poreless scales from a continuous series of three precloacal pores; tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; a median row of subcaudals smooth, distinctly enlarged. Dorsal colouration grey-brown with a single medial dark spot on nape followed by four light blotches from forelimb insertions to tail base, tail with 12 - 14 alternating light and dark bars.	en	Khandekar, Akshay, Thackeray, Tejas, Kalaimani, Ayuthavel, Agarwal, Ishan (2023): Two new species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Gingee Hills, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 73: 887-913, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512
B5ABB39848BF5F9AB08E1ED46CC81460.taxon	description	Description of the holotype. Adult male in good state of preservation except extreme tail tip missing, partially everted hemipenis on left side, and a 4.0 mm long incision in sternal region for tissue collection (Fig. 9 A-E). SVL 32.2 mm, head short (HL / SVL 0.25), wide (HW / HL 0.61), not strongly depressed (HD / HL 0.33), distinct from neck. Loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent. Snout marginally less than half the head length (ES / HL 0.45), more than twice eye diameter (ES / ED 2.37); scales on snout and canthus rostralis large, subcircular, smooth; much larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; occipital and temporal region with much smaller, weakly keeled granules (Fig. 10 A, C). Eye small (ED / HL 0.19); with round pupil; orbit with extra-brillar fringe scales that are largest anteriorly; supraciliaries not elongate; interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal nine; 28 or 29 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at mid-orbit (Fig. 10 C). Ear-opening deep, oval, small (EL / HL 0.04); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE / ED 1.62; Fig. 10 C). Rostral twice wider (1.3 mm) than long (0.6 mm), incompletely divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove for more than half of its length; a single enlarged supranasal on each side, marginally larger than postnasals, separated from each other by a single enlarged internasal and a smaller scale on snout; rostral in contact with nostril, supralabial I, supranasal and internasal; nostrils oval, each surrounded by postnasals, supranasal, rostral and supralabial I; two rows of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials (Fig. 10 C). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, marginally wider (1.5 mm) than long (1.2 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair slightly larger than outer pair, roughly square, separated from each other below mental by an enlarged chin scale; inner pair bordered by mental, infralabial I and II, outer postmental and three enlarged chin shields on either side; outer postmentals roughly square, bordered by inner postmentals, infralabial II, and four enlarged chin shields on either side; three enlarged gular scales prevent contact of left and right outer postmentals; chin shields bordering postmentals flat, smooth, smaller than outermost postmentals, rest flattened, smooth, even smaller (Fig. 10 B). Infralabials bordered below by a row or two of slightly enlarged scales, decreasing in size posteriorly. Seven supralabials up to angle of jaw on left and eight on right, six at midorbital position; supralabial I largest, decreasing in size posteriorly; seven infralabials up to angle of jaw, six at midorbital position on left and five on right; infralabial I largest, infralabials decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 10 C). Body relatively slender (BW / AGL 0.52), trunk less than half of SVL (AGL / SVL 0.41) without ventrolateral folds; three spine-like scales on either side of flank. Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granular scales on the vertebral and paravertebral region, intermixed with about three irregularly arranged rows of large, weakly keeled, tubercles on each side of flank (Fig. 11 A-C). Scales on occiput and nape much smaller and weakly keeled than those on paravertebral rows; scales on flank slightly larger than those on dorsum, weakly keeled, conical or spine-like. Ventral scales much larger than granular scales on dorsum, those on belly smooth, subcircular subimbricate, equal from chest to vent except for those on precloacal region which slightly larger; mid-body scale rows across belly 29; 123 scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca (Fig. 11 B). Scales on throat slightly smaller than those on belly, imbricate; gular region with much smaller, flattened scales with those on chin bordering postmentals, enlarged, juxtaposed and flattened (Fig. 10 B). A single femoral pore on left thigh and two on right separated by eight poreless scales on left and 10 on right from a continuous series of three precloacal pores (Fig. 10 D). Scales on dorsal aspect of manus heterogenous, upper arm with scales much larger than dorsal granules, weakly keeled, imbricate; those near forelimb insertion much smaller than scales on upper arm; dorsal aspect of lower arm and elbow with scales much smaller than those on upper arm, weakly keeled, flat, roughly rounded; dorsal aspect of hand predominantly bearing large, flattened, smooth to weakly keeled, imbricate scales. Ventral aspect of upper arm with smooth, roughly rounded, subimbricate scales; scales on lower arm and wrist large, smooth, imbricate; scales on palm and sole smooth, flat and subcircular. Scales on anterodorsal aspect of thigh much larger than those on dorsal granules, weakly keeled, imbricate except those near hindlimb insertion which are granular, much smaller than dorsal granules, conical; scales on posterodorsal aspect smaller, smooth to weekly keeled, granular. Scales on dorsal aspect of knee and shank fairly smaller than those on dorsum of thigh, subimbricate, weakly keeled; dorsal aspect of foot predominantly bearing small, flattened, smooth to weakly keeled, imbricate scales; scales on ventral aspect of thigh and shank more or less equal to those on mid-body ventrals, smooth, subcircular, subimbricate on thigh and imbricate on shank (Fig. 9 A, B). Fore-limbs and hind-limbs moderately long, slender (LAL / SVL 0.14); (CL / SVL 0.17); digits long, with a strong, recurved claw, distinctly inflected, distal portions laterally compressed conspicuously. Series of unpaired lamellae on basal portion of digits, separated from unpaired, narrower distal lamellae by a single large scale at the inflection; basal lamellae series: 2 - 3 - 3 - 5 - 4 (right manus), 2 - 4 - 6 - 6 - 6 (right pes), 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 4 (left manus; Fig. 10 E), 2 - 5 - 6 - 6 - 5 (left pes; Fig. 10 F); distal lamellae series: 9 - 10 - 13 - 12 - 11 (right manus), 9 - 11 - 13 - 14 - 13 (right pes), 9 - 10 - 13 - 12 - 11 (left manus; Fig. 10 E), 9 - 11 - 13 - 14 - 13 (left pes; Fig. 10 F). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (2.7)> III (2.5)> II (2.3) = V (2.3)> I (1.7) (left manus); IV (3.7)> III (3.6)> V (3.2)> II (2.8)> I (1.8) (left pes). Tail entire except for extreme tip which is missing, original, subcylindrical, relatively slender, flattened beneath, marginally shorter than snout-vent length (TL / SVL 0.96) (Fig. 9 C-E). Dorsal scales at tail base granular, similar in size and shape to those on midbody dorsals, gradually becoming larger, flatter, subimbricate posteriorly, intermixed with much enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; six tubercles on first eight whorls. Scales on ventral aspect of original tail much larger than those on dorsal aspect, subimbricate, smooth, with a series of three enlarged subcaudal scales of which the median series is distinctly larger than adjunct two rows, covering almost entire portion of the tail; those on tail base much smaller, imbricate and smooth, a single enlarged, smooth postcloacal spur on each side (Fig. 9 D).	en	Khandekar, Akshay, Thackeray, Tejas, Kalaimani, Ayuthavel, Agarwal, Ishan (2023): Two new species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Gingee Hills, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 73: 887-913, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512
B5ABB39848BF5F9AB08E1ED46CC81460.taxon	distribution	Distribution and natural history. Cnemaspis cavernicola sp. nov. is known only from its type locality (Pak-kamalai Reserve Forest, Gingee Hills in Viluppuram district, Tamil Nadu), at elevations of ca. 400 - 480 m asl. (Fig. 1). Cnemaspis cavernicola sp. nov. was encountered during a single day of fieldwork each on two different fieldtrips in Pakkamalai. Individuals were observed in small numbers (> 10 in 2 hrs) and only in the higher reaches of Pakkamalai in shaded and relatively cooler areas among very large granite boulders. A few individuals were seen moving around in the morning (0930 - 1130 hrs) on granite rocks ≥ 2 m above the ground and NRC-AA- 1287 and a juvenile specimen were seen inactive in a small rock crevice located inside a granite cave in the evening (Fig. 8 A, B). Sympatric lizards recorded by us at the type locality include Cnemaspis pakkamalaiensis sp. nov. Calodactylodes aureus, Hemidactylus frenatus, H. pakkamalaiensis, H. whitakeri, Eutropis carinata, and Psammophilus dorsalis.	en	Khandekar, Akshay, Thackeray, Tejas, Kalaimani, Ayuthavel, Agarwal, Ishan (2023): Two new species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Gingee Hills, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 73: 887-913, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512
25438AE3AE535D499CE6F87B67DFFD22.taxon	description	Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7	en	Khandekar, Akshay, Thackeray, Tejas, Kalaimani, Ayuthavel, Agarwal, Ishan (2023): Two new species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Gingee Hills, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 73: 887-913, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512
25438AE3AE535D499CE6F87B67DFFD22.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The specific epithet is a toponym for Pakkamalai, Gingee Hills in Viluppuram district of Tamil Nadu state, the type and only known locality for this species.	en	Khandekar, Akshay, Thackeray, Tejas, Kalaimani, Ayuthavel, Agarwal, Ishan (2023): Two new species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Gingee Hills, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 73: 887-913, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512
25438AE3AE535D499CE6F87B67DFFD22.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. A small-sized Cnemaspis, snout to vent length less than 29 mm (n = 6). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granular scales intermixed with a few scattered enlarged keeled tubercles on vertebral and paravertebral region and about three irregularly arranged rows of large, weakly keeled, tubercles on each side of flank, tubercles in lowest row largest, spine-like; six rows of dorsal tubercles; ventral scales smooth, subcircular, subimbricate, 25 - 27 scales across belly, 100 - 112 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca; subdigital scansors smooth, entire, unnotched; 8 - 11 total lamellae under digit I of manus and pes, 14 - 16 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 17 - 21 lamellae under digit IV of pes; males (n = 5) with two femoral pores on each thigh separated on either side by 8 - 11 poreless scales from two continuous precloacal pores; tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; a median row of subcaudals smooth, slightly enlarged. Dorsal colouration straw brown with a broad, light mid-dorsal streak formed by five or six fused elongate chain-links from occiput to tail base, single medial dark spot on nape, dark paired spots on either side of mid-dorsal streak, four pairs between forelimb insertions and tail base, tail with nine alternating light and dark markings.	en	Khandekar, Akshay, Thackeray, Tejas, Kalaimani, Ayuthavel, Agarwal, Ishan (2023): Two new species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Gingee Hills, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 73: 887-913, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512
25438AE3AE535D499CE6F87B67DFFD22.taxon	description	Description of the holotype. Adult male in good state of preservation except for tail tip slightly bent towards the right, partially everted hemipenis on the left, tail mar-gi-nally detached just posterior to tail base on the left (Fig. 3 A-E )). SVL 29.0 mm, head short (HL / SVL 0.26), wide (HW / HL 0.70), not strongly depressed (HD / HL 0.42), distinct from neck. Loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent. Snout marginally less than half the head length (ES / HL 0.48), more than twice eye diameter (ES / ED 2.31); scales on snout and canthus rostralis large, subcircular, smooth to weakly keeled; much larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; occipital and temporal region with much smaller, weakly keeled granules (Fig. 4 A). Eye small (ED / HL 0.20); with round pupil; orbit with extra-brillar fringe scales that are largest anteriorly; supraciliaries not elongate; six interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal; 25 or 26 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at mid-orbit (Fig. 4 A, C). Ear-opening deep, oval, small (EL / HL 0.05); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE / ED 1.60; Fig. 4 C). Rostral twice as wide (1.3 mm) than long (0.6 mm), incompletely divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove for more than half its length; a single enlarged supranasal on each side, marginally larger than postnasals, separated from each other by a single enlarged internasal; rostral in contact with nostril, supralabial I, supranasal and internasal; nostrils oval, each surrounded by postnasals, supranasal, rostral and supralabial I; two rows of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials (Fig. 4 A, C). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, marginally wider (1.6 mm) than long (1.2 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair slightly larger than outer pair, roughly rectangular, in median contact with each other below mental; inner pair bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmental and three enlarged chin shields on either side; outer postmentals roughly square, bordered by inner postmentals, infralabial I and II, and three enlarged chin shields on either side; three enlarged gular scales prevent contact of left and right outer postmentals; chin shields bordering postmentals flat, smooth, smaller than outermost postmentals, rest flattened, smooth, even smaller (Fig. 4 B). Infralabials bordered below by a row or two of slightly enlarged scales, decreasing in size posteriorly. Seven supralabials up to angle of jaw on either side, and six at midorbital position on each side; supralabial I largest, decreasing in size posteriorly; seven infralabials up to angle of jaw, five at midorbital position on left and six on right side; infralabial I largest, infralabials decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 4 C). Body relatively slender (BW / AGL 0.52), trunk less than half of SVL (AGL / SVL 0.42) without ventrolateral folds; three spine-like scales on left flank and two on right flank. Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granular scales intermixed with a few scattered enlarged keeled tubercles on vertebral and paravertebral region and about three irregularly arranged rows of large, weakly keeled, tubercles on each side of flank (Fig. 5 A-C). Scales on occiput and nape slightly smaller than those on paravertebral rows and weakly keeled; scales on flank slightly larger than those on dorsum, weakly keeled, conical or spine-like. Ventral scales much larger than granular scales on dorsum, those on belly smooth, subcircular subimbricate, equal from chest to vent except for those on precloacal region which slightly larger; mid-body scale rows across belly 25; 112 scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca (Fig. 5 B). Scales on throat slightly smaller than those on belly, imbricate; gular region with much smaller, flattened scales with those on chin bordering postmentals, enlarged, juxtaposed and flattened (Fig. 4 B). Two femoral pores on each thigh separated by 11 poreless scales on left and nine on right (count incomplete due to injury) from two continuous precloacal pores (Fig. 4 D). Scales on dorsal aspect of manus heterogenous, upper arm scales much larger than dorsal granules, strongly keeled, imbricate; those near forelimb insertion much smaller than scales on upper arm; dorsal aspect of lower arm and elbow with scales much smaller than those on upper arm, weakly keeled, flat, roughly rounded; dorsal aspect of hand predominantly bearing large, flattened, weakly keeled, imbricate scales. Ventral aspect of upper arm with smooth, roughly rounded, subimbricate scales; scales on lower arm and wrist large, smooth, imbricate; scales on palm and sole smooth, flat and subcircular. Scales on anteriodorsal aspect of thigh much larger than enlarged scales on body dorsum, strongly keeled, and imbricate except those near hindlimb insertion which are granular, much smaller than dorsal granules and conical; scales on posteriodorsal aspect smaller, weekly keeled, granular. Scales on dorsal aspect of knee and shank smaller than those on dorsum of thigh, subimbricate, weakly keeled; dorsal aspect of foot predominantly bearing small, flattened, strongly keeled, imbricate scales; scales on ventral aspect of thigh and shank larger than those on mid-body ventrals, smooth, subimbricate on thigh and imbricate on shank (Fig. 3 A, B). Fore-limbs and hind-limbs long, slender (LAL / SVL 0.14); (CL / SVL 0.17); digits long, with a strong, recurved claw, distinctly inflected, distal portions laterally compressed conspicuously. Series of unpaired lamellae on basal portion of digits, separated from unpaired, narrower distal lamellae by a single large scale at the inflection; basal lamellae series: 1 - 3 - 3 - 4 - 4 (right manus), 3 - 4 - 4 - 7 - 4 (right pes), 1 - 3 - 3 - 4 - 4 (left manus; Fig. 4 E), 3 - 4 - 4 - 6 - 4 (left pes; Fig. 4 F); distal lamellae series: 8 - 9 - 12 - 11 - 9 (right manus), 8 - 10 - 12 - 12 - 12 (right pes), 8 - 9 - 12 - 11 - 9 (left manus; Fig. 4 E), 8 - 10 - 12 - 11 - 12 (left pes; Fig. 4 F). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (2.5)> III (2.4)> II (2.2)> V (2.1)> I (1.6) (left manus); IV (3.2)> V (3.1)> III (2.9)> II (2.7)> I (1.6) (left pes). Tail entire and original except for extreme tip which is regenerated, subcylindrical, relatively slender, flattened beneath, slightly longer than snout-vent length (TL / SVL 1.18) (Fig. 3 C-E). Dorsal scales at tail base granular, similar in size and shape to those on midbody dorsals, gradually becoming larger, flatter, subimbricate posteriorly, intermixed with much enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; six tubercles on first nine whorls. Scales on ventral aspect of original tail much larger than those on dorsal aspect, subimbricate, smooth, with a series of three enlarged subcaudal scales of which the median series is slightly larger than adjunct two rows, roughly pentagonal; those on tail base much smaller, imbricate and smooth, a single enlarged, smooth postcloacal spur on each side (Fig. 3 D).	en	Khandekar, Akshay, Thackeray, Tejas, Kalaimani, Ayuthavel, Agarwal, Ishan (2023): Two new species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Gingee Hills, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 73: 887-913, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512
25438AE3AE535D499CE6F87B67DFFD22.taxon	distribution	Distribution and natural history. Cnemaspis pakkamalaiensis sp. nov. is known only from its type locality (Pakkamalai Reserve Forest, Gingee Hills in - Viluppuram district, Tamil Nadu), at elevations of ca. 200 - 400 m asl., though all specimens were collected at ~ 400 m asl. (Fig. 1). Cnemaspis pakkamalaiensis sp. nov. was encountered during a single day of fieldwork each on two different fieldtrips in Pakkamalai. Individuals were observed active in large numbers (> 50 in 2 hrs) in the morning (0730 - 0930 hrs) and late evening (1700 - 1930 hrs), in shaded and relatively cooler areas among large granite boulders (<2 m high) in tropical dry evergreen forest (Fig. 8 A, B). A few individuals (<10) were also observed moving in the leaflitter on the ground just after dark. Sympatric lizards recorded by us at the type locality include Calodactylodes aureus (Beddome, 1870), Hemidactylus frenatus Dumeril and Bibron, 1836; H. pakkamalaiensis Narayanan et al., 2023, H. whitakeri Mirza et al., 2018, Eutropis carinata (Schneider, 1801), Psammophilus dorsalis (Gray, 1831), and a second new species of Cnemaspis, described below.	en	Khandekar, Akshay, Thackeray, Tejas, Kalaimani, Ayuthavel, Agarwal, Ishan (2023): Two new species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Gingee Hills, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 73: 887-913, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e110512
