Post by Ceratodromeus on Feb 29, 2016 3:38:00 GMT 5
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Lacertilia
Family: Gekkonidae
Subfamily: Gekkoninae
Genus: Cyrtodactylus
Species: C.equestris
Description
The bent toed geckos(members of the Cyrtodactylus genus) are a very sucessful group of geckos with a widespread geographic radiation with multiple species have been described within the last year. The largest of which, New Guinea bow-fingered gecko(C.novaeguinae), is widespread in its own right -- being found throughout most of New Guinea. Morphological analysis on this species conducted on museum specimens this year have shown that there are mitochondrial DNA divergences, as well as differences in morphology, have split the C.novaeguinae complex into multiple species{1}. The holotype for C.equestris is an adult male(catalogue number AMS R135520), collected from the Sandaun Province of New Guinea in 1990 and preserved. Six paratype animals are now known, collectively from the same and surrounding areas as the holotype. The color of these animals in life is a brown mixed with grey and some lighter colorations, which helps them blend into the bark of trees. Rows of tubercles can be found on the nape of the neck and posterior region of the throat. The holotype animal measured 113mm(4.4in)in snout-ventral length, and the largest animal, an adult female, measured 129mm(5.0in)in snout-vent length.
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{1}The Knight and the King: two new species of giant bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus, Gekkonidae, Squamata) from northern New Guinea, with comments on endemism in the North Papuan Mountains
Abstract
The diverse biota of New Guinea includes many nominally widespread species that actually comprise multiple deeply divergent lineages with more localised histories of evolution. Here we investigate the systematics of the very large geckos of the Cyrtodactylus novaeguineae complex using molecular and morphological data. These data reveal two widespread and divergent lineages that can be distinguished from each other, and from type material of Cyrtodactylus novaeguineae, by aspects of size, build, coloration and male scalation. On the basis of these differences we describe two new species. Both have wide distributions that overlap extensively in the foothill forests of the North Papuan Mountains, however one is seemingly restricted to hill and lower montane forests on the ranges themselves, while the other is more widespread throughout the surrounding lowlands. The taxon endemic to the North Papuan Mountains is related to an apparently lowland form currently known only from Waigeo and Batanta Island far to the west – hinting at a history on island arcs that accreted to form the North Papuan Mountains.
link to paper
