@article {131924, title = {Hemidactylus paucifasciatus (Squamata: Gekkonidae), a new species of large-bodied, tuberculate gecko from Northern Odisha, India}, journal = {ZOOTAXA }, volume = {5301}, year = {2023}, month = {06/2023}, pages = {365-382}, abstract = {

A new Hemidactylus belonging to the H. prashadi group is described herein, based on a series of four specimens from the Chota Nagpur Plateau in northern Odisha. Hemidactylus paucifasciatus sp. nov. can be diagnosed from regional congeners by its large body size (SVL up to 117.7 mm), the number of dorsal tubercle rows at mid-body, three or four bands on the dorsum, the number of enlarged tubercles in paravertebral rows, the number of femoral pores and poreless scales separating the left and right series on the femoral-precloacal row in males, and the number of ventral scales across the belly at mid-body. A mitochondrial phylogeny demonstrates that the new species is nested within the H. triedrus complex of the northern clade within the H. prashadi group, with 16.2-16.5 \% pairwise divergence in ND2 sequence data from members of the H. triedrus complex and \> 21 \% from other members of the prashadi group. Hemidactylus paucifasciatus sp. nov. is the first endemic gecko to be described from the Chota Nagpur Plateau.

}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.5301.3.3}, author = {Mohapatra, Pratyush P. and Agarwal, Ishan and Mohalik, Rakesh Kumar and Dutta, Sushil K. and Khandekar, Akshay} } @article {83746, title = {A novel, diminutive Hemiphyllodactylus Bleeker, 1860 (Squamata: Gekkonidae from a sacred grove in Odisha, eastern India}, journal = {ZOOTAXA}, volume = {4852}, year = {2020}, month = {09/2020}, pages = {485-499}, abstract = {

We describe a distinct new species of Hemiphyllodactylus from a sacred grove near Humma in Ganjam District of Odisha state, eastern India. Hemiphyllodactylus minimus sp. nov. is the smallest member of the genus and can be diagnosed from all peninsular Indian congeners by its small body size (SVL \<= 32.2 mm, n=11), having 15-18 dorsal scales and eight or nine ventral scales at mid-body contained within one longitudinal eye diameter, nine or ten precloacal pores separated by 4-6 poreless scales from a series of six or seven femoral pores on each thigh in males, lamellar formula of manus 2222 and of pes 2332 \& 2333, as well as subtle colour pattern differences. Additionally, the new species is 16.0-22.7 \% divergent from all other peninsular Indian Hemiphyllodactylus in uncorrected ND2 sequence data. The new species is the first member of the genus described from Odisha state and also the first Hemiphyllodactylus known from \< 100 m asl. The discovery of Hemiphyllodactylus minimus sp. nov. from a low elevation coastal locality in the Eastern Ghats open ups the possibilities that the genus could be more widespread than currently understood and potentially harbour many more distinct undcscribcd lineages. Therefore, dedicated fine-scale sampling efforts are needed to uncover the true diversity and distribution of Hemiphyllodactylus in the region.

}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.4852.4.6}, author = {Mohapatra, Pratyush P. and Khandekar, Akshay and Dutta, Sushil K. and Mahapatra, Cuckoo and Agarwal, Ishan} }