identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
03D56D6BFFA4FFC327F8FDEA1E9463D9.text	03D56D6BFFA4FFC327F8FDEA1E9463D9.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Cnemaspis basalticola Khandekar & Thackeray & Agarwal & Gangalmale & Kininge & Gaikwad 2024	<div><p>Cnemaspis basalticola sp. nov.</p><p>urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 92375AFA-59F6-4E70-8BFF-67C812B113E9</p><p>(Figs 3–7; Tables 3–5)</p><p>Holotype. NRC-AA-8414 (AK-R 2904), adult male, from Ratangad Fort (19.5035°N, 73.7013°E; ca. 1120 m asl.), <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=73.7013&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=19.5035" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 73.7013/lat 19.5035)">Ahmednagar District</a>, Maharashtra State, India; collected by Akshay Khandekar, Satpal Gangalmale, Saurabh Kininge and Swapnil Pawar on 2 nd October 2023.</p><p>Paratypes. NRC-AA-8415 (AK-R 2903), adult male and NRC-AA-8416 (AK-R 2905), adult female, same data as holotype .</p><p>Etymology. The specific epithet is an adjective formed from the Latin “ basaltes ” for basalt and the suffix “- cola ”, meaning inhabitant or dweller, as the species inhabits basalt rock formations.</p><p>Suggested English common name. Basalt dwarf gecko or Ratangad dwarf gecko.</p><p>Diagnosis. A small-sized Cnemaspis, snout to vent length less than 35 mm (n = 3). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granules intermixed with large, weakly keeled, irregularly arranged tubercles; enlarged tubercles gradually increasing in size towards flank, tubercles in lowest row short and spine-like; 6–8 rows of dorsal tubercles at midbody; paravertebral tubercles irregularly arranged; gular scales, smooth, subcircular, flattened, and subimbricate; ventral scales subequal from chest to vent, smooth, subcircular, subimbricate with rounded end; 24 or 25 midventral scales across belly, 127–134 ventral longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca; subdigital scansors smooth, basal three or four unpaired, distal mostly entire, unnotched; 11 or 12 lamellae under digit I of manus and pes, 18–20 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 21–24 lamellae under digit IV of pes; males with three or four femoral pores on each thigh separated medially by 25–27 poreless scales (n = 2); tail dorsum with weakly keeled, granular, similar in size and shape to granules on midbody dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flattened, imbricate posteriorly, intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; six tubercles each on first nine whorls, four in 10–15 th whorls; median row of subcaudals Type A. Dorsal colouration faded greenish-brown, distinct dark ocellus on neck followed by about five or six irregular dark crossbars up to tail-base, crossbars continue onto tail, fine yellow streaks on flanks, not strongly sexually dichromatic (Fig. 6).</p><p>Comparisons with members of the girii clade. Cnemaspis basalticola sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from all members of the girii clade by the presence of irregularly arranged paravertebral tubercles (versus more or less regular series of PVT except in C. mahabali: 18–23 in C. ajijae, 17–22 in C. amba, 17–21 in C. barkiensis, 13–19 in C. chandoliensis, 20–24 in C. flaviventralis, 18–23 in C. girii, 18–25 in C. koynaensis, 8–12 in C. limayei, 16–20 in C. maharashtraensis, 17–23 in C. rajgadensis, 17–19 in C. sahyadriensis, 7–10 in C. uttaraghati); 6–8 DTR (versus 12–13 in C. ajijae, 11–14 in C. amba, 11–13 in C. barkiensis, 12–13 in C. chandoliensis, 14–16 in C. flaviventralis, 14–15 in C. girii, 10–14 in C. koynaensis, 10 in C. maharashtraensis, 12–14 in C. rajgadensis, and 10–12 in C. sahyadriensis); 127–134 (mean 132.0) ventral scales (versus 110–129 (120.6) in C. mahabali); 18–20 (mean 18.5) TLAMF4 and 20–24 (22.2) TLAMT4 (versus 14–16 TLAMF4 and 16–19 TLAMT 4 in C. limayei, 15–17 (16.6) TLAMF4 and 16–19 (17.4) TLAMT 4 in C. mahabali); and body size SVL up to 35.0 mm (versus SVL up to 27.0 mm in C. fortis and up to 38.0 mm in C. flaviventralis); 24 or 25 MVSR (versus 33–35 in C. fortis). Cnemaspis basalticola sp. nov. is similar to C. uttaraghati, but can be distinguished based on the following characters: 24 or 25 MVSR (versus 27–32 in C. uttaraghati), 25–27 scales between femoral pores (versus 22–24 in C. uttaraghati) and small body size SVL up to 35.0 mm (versus SVL up to 38.9 mm in C. uttaraghati). Cnemaspis basalticola sp. nov. is diagnosed against the other new species as part of its description below.</p><p>Description of the holotype. Adult male in good state of preservation except digit IV and V on right manus, and digit II on right pes are incomplete, tail tip slightly bent towards left and a ~ 2.1 mm long incision present on the abdominal region for tissue collection (Fig. 3A–E). SVL 34.8 mm, head short (HL/SVL 0.27), wide (HW/ HL 0.65), not strongly depressed (HD/HL 0.42), and distinct from neck. Loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent. Snout half of head length (ES/HL 0.45), more than twice as long as eye diameter (ES/ED 2.15); scales on snout and canthus rostralis large, roughly oval on snout and elongate on canthus rostralis; scales on snout weakly keeled, somewhat conical, much larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; occipital and temporal region with much smaller granules intermixed with slightly larger, weakly keeled, conical tubercles (Fig. 4A). Eye small (ED/HL 0.21); with round pupil; orbit with 14–16 extra-brillar fringe scales, largest scales on anterior side; supraciliaries not elongate; eight interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal; 28 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at mid-orbit (Fig. 4A, C). Ear opening deep, vertical, small (EL/HL 0.06); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE/ED 1.35) (Fig. 4C). Rostral two times wider (1.6 mm) than high (0.8 mm), incompletely divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove and by an enlarged internasal scales about more than half of its height; a single enlarged, roughly rectangular supranasal on each side, separated from each other on snout by a single slightly smaller internasal; two enlarged postnasals on each side, upper one slightly larger than lower; rostral in contact with supralabial I, lower postnasal, nasal, supranasal and internasal on either side; nostrils oval, surrounded by upper and lower postnasals, supranasal, and rostral on each side; a single row of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials (Fig. 4C). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, marginally wider (2.0 mm) than long (1.7 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair marginally larger (0.7 mm) than outer pair (0.6 mm), roughly rectangular, separated from each below mental by an enlarged chin shield; inner pair bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmentals, median chin shield and a single enlarged chin shield on left and two on right side; outer postmentals roughly rectangular, bordered by inner postmentals, infralabial I and II, and by four enlarged chin shields on either side; four enlarged gular scales prevent contact of left and right outer postmentals; chin shields bordering postmentals smaller than outermost postmentals, more or less flattened and juxtaposed, rest of the scales on gular even smaller, smooth, subcircular, flattened, and subimbricate (Fig. 4B). Infralabials bordered below by a row of slightly enlarged scales, decreasing in size posteriorly. Eight supralabials on left and nine on right side up to angle of jaw; six supralabials at mid-orbital position on either side; supralabial I largest, decreasing in size posteriorly; seven infralabials up to angle of jaw and five at midorbital position on either side; infralabial I largest, infralabials decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 4C).</p><p>Body relatively slender (BW/AGL 0.40), trunk less than half of SVL (AGL/SVL 0.42) with five short spine-like tubercles on left and six on right ventrolateral flank (Fig. 5A–C). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granules intermixed with irregularly arranged rows of enlarged, weakly keeled, conical tubercles; granules gradually increasing in size towards each flank, largest on mid-flank; enlarged tubercles on lowest row short, spine-like; paravertebral tubercles much smaller than enlarged tubercles on flanks, irregular; approximately eight rows of dorsal tubercles at midbody (Fig. 5A–C). Ventral scales much larger than granules on dorsum, subequal from chest to vent, smooth, subcircular, subimbricate with rounded end; scales above cloaca and thigh slightly larger than those on midbody ventral; 24 midventral scales across belly; 127 ventral scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca (Figs 3B, 5B). Femoral pores somewhat elongate, four on each thigh, separated medially by 25 poreless scales (Fig. 4D).</p><p>Scales on palm and soles smooth, subcircular, subimbricate and more or less flattened (Fig. 4E, F); scales on dorsal aspects of limbs heterogeneous in shape and size; scales on upper arm and thigh much larger than granules on body dorsum, elongate, subimbricate with pointed ends; scales on lower arm and shank slightly smaller than upper arm and thigh respectively, weakly keeled, subcircular and subimbricate with rounded end, gradually becoming larger, flattened and subimbricate anterolaterally and posteriorly, largest on anterolateral aspect of the hands and feet; scales on ventral aspect of upper arm smooth, granular, much smaller than granules on body dorsum, scales on ventral aspect of lower arm with much larger scales than those on upper arm, smooth, flattened subcircular and subimbricate scales with rounded end; ventral aspect of thigh and shank with enlarged, smooth, flattened, subimbricate scales, slightly larger than midventrals (Fig. 3A, B). Forelimbs and hindlimbs slightly long, slender (LAL/SVL 0.16); (CL/SVL 0.19); digits long, with a strong, recurved claw, distinctly inflected, distal portions laterally compressed conspicuously. Digits with both paired and unpaired lamellae, separated into a basal and narrower distal series by single enlarged lamella at inflection; first three or four basal lamellae paired; all lamellae unpaired above inflection; basal lamellae series: (2-4-5-5-5 right manus, 2-6-7-5-4 right pes), (2-4-5-5-6 left manus, Fig. 4E; 2-5-6-9-4 left pes, Fig. 4F);</p><p>distal lamellae series: (9-11-16-*-* right manus, 9-12-16-15-15 right pes; * = digit incomplete or missing), (9- 11-13-11-12 left manus, Fig. 4E; 9-11 -14-15-13 left pes, Fig. 4F). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (4.6)&gt; III (4.2)&gt; II (3.8)&gt; V (3.6)&gt; I (2.7) (left manus); IV (5.8)&gt; III (5.1)&gt; V (4.9)&gt; II (4.4)&gt; I (2.4) (left pes).</p><p>Tail original, entire, sub-cylindrical, relatively slender, flattened beneath, slightly longer than snout-vent length (TL/SVL 1.17) (Fig. 3C–E). Dorsal scales on tail base weakly keeled, granular, similar in size and shape to granules on midbody dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flattened, imbricate posteriorly, intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed and conical tubercles forming whorls; six tubercles each on first nine whorls, four on 10 th –15 th whorls (Fig. 3C, E). Scales on ventral aspect of tail much larger than those in dorsal profile, smooth, subimbricate; median series slightly larger than rest, with condition of 1–3 slightly enlarged scales alternating with a divided scale (Type A); scales on tail base slightly smaller, smooth, subimbricate; a single, enlarged, keeled postcloacal tubercle on either side (Figs 3D, 4D).</p><p>Colouration in life (Fig. 6A). Dorsal ground colour of head, body, limbs, and tail light greenish-brown; head mottled with light and dark markings, broken up criss-crossing dark lines on occiput and nape, brille dirty yellow. Dark brown preorbital streak from orbit forming an indistinct preorbital streak on snout; yellow and dark grey alternating bands on upper labials; two dark brown postorbital streaks, upper one small, half the length of lower, which continues until ear-opening. Dorsum with dark ocellus just anterior to forelimb insertions followed by six irregular cross bars, last on tail base posterior to hindlimb insertions; dark markings formed of black, brown, orange and some yellow markings linked by a faint yellowish vertebral streak; yellow streaks on lower flanks including spine-like tubercles. Dorsum of limbs with irregular dark bands; digits with alternating dark and light yellow-brown markings; dorsum of original portion of tail with ~13 alternating dark and ashy bands, dark brown bands speckled with orange (Fig. 6A, B). Gular, pectoral, abdominal region, and underside of limbs and tail off white with no dark markings; a few yellow scales near yellow streaks of the flank; postcloacal spur and conical tubercles in lateral and ventrolateral rows on tail close to the cloacal opening light yellow. Pupil black, iris bronze with a copper ring.</p><p>Variation and additional information from the paratype series. Mensural, meristic, and additional character data for the type series are given in Tables 3–5 respectively. The single adult male and female range between 31.7–35.0 mm in SVL (Fig. 7). Both Paratypes resemble the holotype except for the following characteristics: inner postmental scale bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmental, and by an enlarged median chin shield in both paratypes. In addition, the postmental is bordered by two enlarged chin shields on the left side and a single chin shield on right side in NRC-AA-8415. NRC-AA-8415 also has an original and complete tail, whereas NRC-AA-8416 has a regenerated tail tip. The tail is slightly longer than body in both specimens (TL = 1.15 and 1.14 respectively). NRC-AA-8415 has a fold of skin on either side of the dorsolateral flank (Fig. 7A, B). Both paratypes closely agree with the holotype in overall colouration and lack any strong sexually dichromatism (Fig. 6A, B).</p><p>Distribution and Natural history. Cnemaspis basalticola sp. nov. is only known from its type locality, Ratangad Fort, Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra (Fig. 1). The type locality is dominated by basaltic rock cliffs surrounded by semi-evergreen forests, at an elevation of 1000 m asl. (Fig. 8A). During our surveys in the post-monsoon season, individuals of the new species were observed active during the daytime (930–1300 hrs) in low abundance (n ≤ 5/hr), only on basalt rock walls &lt;2 m height above ground and inside a man-made cave (Fig. 8B). A female paratype (NRC-AA-8416) was observed to be gravid with a pair of fully developed eggs visible from the belly, suggesting the post-monsoon could be the breeding period of the new species. Hemidactylus cf. aaronbaueri and Hemidactylus cf. murrayi were the only sympatric lizards we recorded during our survey.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03D56D6BFFA4FFC327F8FDEA1E9463D9	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Khandekar, Akshay;Thackeray, Tejas;Agarwal, Ishan;Gangalmale, Satpal;Kininge, Saurabh;Gaikwad, Sunil M.	Khandekar, Akshay, Thackeray, Tejas, Agarwal, Ishan, Gangalmale, Satpal, Kininge, Saurabh, Gaikwad, Sunil M. (2024): Two new species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the far northern peaks of the Western Ghats, India. Zootaxa 5463 (4): 451-478, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5463.4.1, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5463.4.1
03D56D6BFFAFFFD827F8FF651BE9613A.text	03D56D6BFFAFFFD827F8FF651BE9613A.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Cnemaspis kalsubaiensis Khandekar & Thackeray & Agarwal & Gangalmale & Kininge & Gaikwad 2024	<div><p>Cnemaspis kalsubaiensis sp. nov.</p><p>urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 52F50040-E7B3-455C-8BD8-6AF08F160E47</p><p>(Figs 9–12; Tables 3–5)</p><p>Holotype. NRC-AA-8417 (AK-R 2921), adult male, from <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=73.7101&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=19.6011" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 73.7101/lat 19.6011)">Kalsubai Mountain</a> (19.6011°N, 73.7101°E; ca. 1400 m asl.), Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra State, India; collected by Akshay Khandekar, Satpal Gangalmale, Saurabh Kininge and Swapnil Pawar on 3 rd October 2023.</p><p>Paratypes. NRC-AA-8422 (AK-R 2911), adult female, same data as holotype; NRC-AA-8418 (AK-R 2908) and NRC-AA-8419 (AK-R 2909), adult males, from <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=73.7149&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=19.6013" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 73.7149/lat 19.6013)">Kalsubai Mountain</a> (19.6013°N, 73.7149°E; ca. 1300 m asl.), same data as holotype ; NRC-AA-8420 (AK-R 2986) and NRC-AA-8421 (AK-R 2994), adult males, NRC-AA-8423 (AK-R 2996), adult female, from <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=73.6586&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=19.5748" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 73.6586/lat 19.5748)">Alang Fort</a> (19.5748°N, 73.6586°E; ca. 1100 m asl.), same data as holotype except collected on 10 th October 2023.</p><p>Etymology. The specific epithet is a toponym for the type locality of the new species, Kalsubai in Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra, the highest peak of the State at 1646 m asl.</p><p>Suggested English common name. Kalsubai dwarf gecko.</p><p>Diagnosis. A medium-sized Cnemaspis, snout to vent length up to 43 mm (n = 7). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granules intermixed with large, weakly keeled, irregularly arranged tubercles; enlarged tubercles gradually increasing in size towards flank, tubercles in lowest row short and spine-like; 8–11 rows of dorsal tubercles at midbody; paravertebral tubercles irregularly arranged; gular scales, smooth, subcircular, flattened, and subimbricate; ventral scales subequal from chest to vent, smooth, subcircular, subimbricate with rounded end; 20–22 midventral scales across belly, 123–138 ventral longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca; subdigital scansors smooth, basal three or four unpaired, distal mostly entire, unnotched; 12 or 13 lamellae under digit I of manus and 11–13 lamellae under digit I of pes, 19–22 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 22–26 lamellae under digit IV of pes; males with four or five femoral pores on each thigh separated medially by 19–21 poreless scales (n = 5); tail dorsum with weakly keeled, granular, similar in size and shape to granules on midbody dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flattened, imbricate posteriorly, intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; six tubercles each on first seven whorls, four in 8–11 th whorls; median row of subcaudals Type A. Dorsal colouration greenish-brown with indistinct vertebral chevrons that continue onto tail, distinct dark ocellus on neck, not strongly sexually dichromatic but shows ontogenetic colour variation. (Fig. 12A–C).</p><p>Comparisons with members of the girii clade. Cnemaspis kalsubaiensis sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from all members of the girii clade by the presence of irregularly arranged paravertebral tubercles (versus more or less regular series of PVT except in C. mahabali: 18–23 in C. ajijae, 17–22 in C. amba, 17–21 in C. barkiensis, 13–19 in C. chandoliensis, 20–24 in C. flaviventralis, 18–23 in C. girii, 18–25 in C. koynaensis, 8–12 in C. limayei, 16–20 in C. maharashtraensis, 17–23 in C. rajgadensis, 17–19 in C. sahyadriensis, 7–10 in C. uttaraghati); and a medium body size up to 42.5 mm (versus &lt;36.0 mm in C. ajijae, C. amba, C. barkiensis, C. basalticola sp. nov., C. chandoliensis, C. fortis, C. koynaensis, C. limayei, C. mahabali, C. maharashtraensis, C. rajgadensis, C. sahyadriensis); 8–11 DTR (versus 14 or 15 in C. girii); 20–22 midventral scales across belly (versus 30–34 in C. flaviventralis, 33–35 in C. fortis, and 23–31 in C. mahabali). Cnemaspis kalsubaiensis sp. nov. is similar to C. uttaraghati and C. basalticola sp. nov., but can be distinguished based on the following characters: 20–22 midventral scales across belly (versus 24–25 MVSR in C. basalticola sp. nov. and 27–32 in C. uttaraghati); 19–22 TLAMF4 and 22–26 TLAMT4 (versus 17–18 TLAMF4 and 20–22 TLAMT 4 in C. uttaraghati); and 19–21 scales between femoral pores (versus 25–27 in C. basalticola sp. nov. and 22–24 in C. uttaraghati).</p><p>Description of the holotype. Adult male in good state of preservation, except tail tip slightly bent towards right and a ~ 3.9 mm long incision in abdomen region for tissue collection (Fig. 9A–E). SVL 38.7 mm, head short (HL/ SVL 0.25), wide (HW/HL 0.70), not strongly depressed (HD/HL 0.45), distinct from neck. Loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent. Snout half the head length (ES/HL 0.45), two and half times more than diameter (ES/ED 2.50); scales on snout and canthus rostralis large, roughly oval on snout and elongate on canthus rostralis; scales on snout weakly keeled, somewhat conical, much larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; occipital and temporal region with much smaller granules intermixed with slightly larger, weakly keeled, conical tubercles (Fig. 10 A). Eye small (ED/HL 0.20) with round pupil; orbit with 13 or 14 extra-brillar fringe scales, largest scales on anterior side; supraciliaries not elongate; eight interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal; 26 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at mid-orbit (Fig. 10A, C). Ear opening deep, vertical, small (EL/HL 0.04); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE/ED 1.50) (Fig. 10C). Rostral two times wider (1.7 mm) than high (0.8 mm), incompletely divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove and by an enlarged internasal scales about more than half of its height; a single enlarged, rectangular supranasal on each side, separated from each other on snout by a single slightly smaller and roughly rectangular internasal; two enlarged postnasals on each side, upper one marginally larger than lower; rostral in contact with supralabial I, lower postnasal, nasal, supranasal and internasal on either side; nostrils oval, surrounded by upper and lower postnasals, supranasal, and rostral on each side; a single row of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials (Fig. 10C). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, marginally wider (2.2 mm) than long (1.8 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair marginally larger (0.8 mm) than outer pair (0.5 mm), roughly rectangular, separated from each below mental by an enlarged chin shield; inner pair bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmentals, median chin shield and a single enlarged chin shield on either side; outer postmentals roughly rectangular, bordered by inner postmentals, infralabial I and II, and by three enlarged chin shields on either side; three enlarged gular scales prevent contact of left and right outer postmentals; chin shields bordering postmentals smaller than outermost postmentals, more or less flattened and juxtaposed, rest of the scales on gular even smaller, smooth, subcircular, flattened, and subimbricate (Fig. 10B). Infralabials bordered below by a row of slightly enlarged scales, decreasing in size posteriorly. Ten supralabials on left side and nine on right side up to angle of jaw; six supralabials at mid-orbital position on either side; supralabial I largest, decreasing in size posteriorly; seven infralabials up to angle of jaw and five at midorbital position on either side; infralabial I largest, infralabials decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 10C).</p><p>Body relatively slender (BW/AGL 0.45), trunk less than half of SVL (AGL/SVL 0.42) with five short spine-like tubercles on each side of the ventrolateral flanks (Fig. 11A–C). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granules intermixed with irregularly arranged rows of enlarged, weakly keeled and conical tubercles; granules gradually increasing in size towards each flank, largest on mid-flank; enlarged tubercles in lowest row short spine-like; paravertebral tubercles much smaller than enlarged tubercles on flanks, irregular; approximately 10 rows of dorsal tubercles at midbody (Fig. 11A–C). Ventral scales much larger than granules on dorsum, subequal from chest to vent, smooth, subcircular, subimbricate with rounded end; scales above cloaca and thigh slightly larger than those on midbody ventral; 21 midventral scales across belly; 125 ventral scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca (Figs 9B, 11B). Femoral pores somewhat elongate, five on each thigh, separated medially by 20 poreless scales (Fig. 10D).</p><p>Scales on palm and soles smooth, subcircular, subimbricate and more or less flattened (Fig. 10E, F); scales on dorsal aspects of limbs heterogeneous in shape and size; scales on upper arm and thigh much larger than granules on dorsum, elongate, subimbricate with pointed ends; scales on lower arm and shank slightly smaller than upper arm and thigh respectively, weakly keeled, subcircular and subimbricate with rounded end, gradually becoming larger, flattened and subimbricate anterolaterally and posteriorly, largest on anterolateral aspect of the hands and feet; scales on ventral aspect of upper arm smooth, granular, much smaller than granules on body dorsum, scales on ventral aspect of lower arm with much larger scales than those on upper arm, smooth, flattened subcircular and subimbricate scales with rounded end; ventral aspect of thigh and shank with enlarged, smooth, flattened, subimbricate scales, slightly larger than midventrals (Fig. 9A, B). Forelimbs and hindlimbs slightly long, slender (LAL/SVL 0.13); (CL/SVL 0.18); digits long, with a strong, recurved claw, distinctly inflected, distal portions laterally compressed conspicuously. Digits with both paired and unpaired lamellae, separated into a basal and narrower distal series by single enlarged lamella at inflection; first three or four most basal lamellae paired, all lamellae unpaired above the inflection; basal lamellae series: (2-5-5-7-5 right manus, 2-5-7-9-6 right pes), (2-5-6-7-5 left manus, Fig. 10E; 2-6- 8-9-6 left pes, Fig. 10F); distal lamellae series: (11-12-15-14-13 right manus, 11-12-16-17-15 right pes), (11-12-14- 14-13 left manus, Fig. 10E; 11-13 -16-16-15 left pes, Fig. 10F). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (4.9)&gt; III (4.5)&gt; V (4.1) = II (4.1)&gt; I (2.9) (left manus); IV (6.1)&gt; III (5.4)&gt; V (5.0)&gt; II (4.2)&gt; I (2.8) (left pes).</p><p>Tail original, entire, sub-cylindrical, relatively slender, flattened beneath, slightly longer than snout-vent length (TL/SVL 1.21) (Fig. 9C–E). Dorsal scales on tail base weakly keeled, granular, similar in size and shape to granules on midbody dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flattened, imbricate posteriorly, intermixed with enlarged, weakly keeled, weakly pointed and conical tubercles forming whorls; six tubercles each on first seven whorls, four in 8 th –11 th whorls (Fig. 9C, E). Scales on ventral aspect of original tail much larger than those on dorsal aspect, smooth, subimbricate; median series slightly larger than rest, with condition of 1–3 slightly enlarged scales alternating with a divided scale (Type A); scales on tail base slightly smaller, smooth, subimbricate; a single, enlarged, weakly keeled postcloacal tubercle on either side (Figs 9D, 10D).</p><p>Colouration in life (Fig. 12A). Dorsal ground colour of head, body, limbs, and tail dark brown; head mottled with light and dark markings, brille brown. Dark brown preorbital streak from orbit forming an indistinct preorbital streak on snout; yellow and dark grey alternating bands on upper labials; two dark brown postorbital streaks, upper one small, half the length of lower, which continues until ear-opening. Dorsum with indistinct dark ocellus just anterior to forelimb insertions followed irregular, wavy cross bars of dark and light markings; dull yellow streaks on lower flanks including spine-like tubercles. Dorsum of limbs with irregular light and dark bands; digits with alternating dark and light yellow-brown markings; dorsum of original tail with black and ashy bands (Fig. 12A, C). Gular, pectoral, abdominal region, and underside of limbs and tail off white with dark markings along edges of throat, neck and belly, forelimbs, and hindlimbs; a few yellow scales near yellow streaks of the flank; postcloacal spur and conical tubercles in lateral and ventrolateral rows on tail close to the cloacal opening off white to light yellow. Pupil black, iris bronze with a golden ring.</p><p>Variation and additional information from the paratype series. Mensural, meristic, and additional character data for the type series is given in Tables 3–5 respectively. There are four adult males and two adult females ranging in size from 36.9–42.5 mm (Fig. 7). All specimens resemble the holotype except for the following characteristics: inner postmental bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmental, and by an enlarged median chin shield in both the paratypes. The postmental is bordered by two enlarged chin shields on left side and a single shield on right side in NRC-AA-8418, NRC-AA-8419, NRC-AA-8421; a single enlarged chin shields on left side and two on right side in NRC-AA-8420; and two on either side in NRC-AA-8423. Outer postmental bordered by inner postmental and infralabial I &amp; II in all paratypes, additionally bordered by three enlarged chin shields on left side and four on right side in NRC-AA-8419 and NRC-AA-8423, four on either side in NRC-AA-8420, four on left side and five on right side in NRC-AA-8421, five on left side and four on right side in NRC-AA-8422; outer postmentals separated from each other by four enlarged chin shields in NRC-AA-8418, NRC-AA-8419, NRC-AA-8421, and five in NRC-AA-8423. Three paratypes (NRC-AA-8418, NRC-AA-8421, and NRC-AA-8422) have original complete tails, marginally longer than body (TL = 1.18, 1.19, and 0.99 respectively); NRC-AA-8419 and NRC-AA-8423 have partially regenerated tails that are equal or marginally shorter than the body (TL = 0.99 and 0.83 respectively); NRC-AA-8420 has a complete but fully regenerated tail that is much shorter than body (TL = 0.76) (Fig. 7). A dark ‘W’ shaped band on nape followed by light grey band in subadults; dorsal ground colouration light greenish brown to brown, dark markings on dorsum rust to dark brown; spot on nape usually distinct; five or six light grey vertebral blotches alternating with dark wavy bands or sets of spots; regenerated portion of tail brown; not strongly sexually dichromatic (Fig. 12 A–C).</p><p>Distribution and Natural history. Cnemaspis kalsubaiensis sp. nov. is only known from its type locality, (Kalsubai) and paratype locality (Alang Fort), in Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra; both located in the same mountain complex and are approximately six km apart in straight line distance (Fig. 1). The type locality is dominated by basaltic rock cliffs surrounded by semi-evergreen forests, at an elevation of 1100–1400 m asl. (Fig. 13A). During our surveys in the post-monsoon season, individuals of the new species were observed active during the daytime (0830–1400 hrs) in high abundance (n =&gt; 20/hr), on basalt rock walls &lt;2 m height above ground, inside man-made caves as well as on rocks along the seasonal stream located inside semi-evergreen forest patches (Fig. 13B). We also observed a communal egg laying site having both hatched and unhatched eggs attached on horizontal rock wall inside one of the man-made cave at Alang Fort (Fig. 13C). A few gravid females were observed active in close proximity to the communal egg laying site, suggesting the post-monsoon season could be the breeding period of the new species. Hemidactylus cf. aaronbaueri and Hemidactylus cf. murrayi were the only sympatric lizards we recorded during our survey.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03D56D6BFFAFFFD827F8FF651BE9613A	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Khandekar, Akshay;Thackeray, Tejas;Agarwal, Ishan;Gangalmale, Satpal;Kininge, Saurabh;Gaikwad, Sunil M.	Khandekar, Akshay, Thackeray, Tejas, Agarwal, Ishan, Gangalmale, Satpal, Kininge, Saurabh, Gaikwad, Sunil M. (2024): Two new species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the far northern peaks of the Western Ghats, India. Zootaxa 5463 (4): 451-478, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5463.4.1, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5463.4.1
