@article {36275, title = {The curious case of Hemidactylus gujaratensis (Squamata: Gekkonidae).}, journal = {Zootaxa}, volume = {4388}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 Feb 28}, pages = {137-142}, abstract = {

Hemidactylus Oken, 1817 is one of the most speciose genera of the family Gekkonidae with more than 140 described species (Uetz et al. 2016). While this genus naturally occurs across the tropics and subtropics, a substantial part of its distribution also results from human-mediated dispersal. Carranza Arnold (2006) retrieved five broad clades in a global phylogeny of Hemidactylus, one of which has species distributed in tropical Asia. Subsequent work by Bauer et al. (2010) and Bansal Karanth (2010) revealed that the species from tropical Asia fell into two deeply divergent and potentially non-sister sub-clades-one comprising a large radiation confined to peninsular India and Sri Lanka (the Indian radiation, IR), and the other comprising species largely distributed in Southeast (SE) Asia.

}, keywords = {Animals, India, Lizards, Phylogeny, Sri Lanka}, issn = {1175-5334}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.4388.1.11}, author = {Lajmi, Aparna and Datta-Roy, Aniruddha and Vyas, Raju and Agarwal, Ishan and Karanth, Praveen} } @article {26574, title = {On the taxonomic status of Eurylepis poonaensis (Squamata: Scincidae): resolving a long-standing conundrum}, journal = {SALAMANDRA}, volume = {53}, year = {2017}, month = {08/2017}, pages = {389-397}, abstract = {

The scincid genus Eurylepis was split off from the cosmopolitan genus Eumeces sensu lato, with Eurylepis taeniolatus
being the type species, which is taxonomically poorly understood. The other nominate species in this genus is
Eurylepis poonaensis, which was known only from its type locality and original description, and is the only known member
of the subfamily Scincinae from near the Western Ghats. However, earlier studies raised doubts about its specific validity,
often without examining type or other specimens. We collected fresh samples of this species from the type locality
and nearby areas. Based on the examination of the holotype and the new material, we provide a detailed redescription of
E. poonaensis, additional data on its skeletal structure, habitat, and natural history. We also provide a detailed redescription
of E. taeniolatus based on the holotype to avoid further taxonomic ambiguity.

}, author = {Datta-Roy, Aniruddha and Deepak, V. and Chaitanya, R and Murthy, Channakeshva and Harshal Bhosale and Lajmi, Aparna and Karanth, K. Praveen and Kunte, Krushnamegh and Giri, Varad} } @article {8352, title = {The role of wet-zone fragmentation in shaping biodiversity patterns in peninsular India: insights from the caecilian amphibian Gegeneophis }, journal = {JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY }, volume = {43}, year = {2016}, month = {06/2016}, pages = {1091-1102 }, abstract = {

Aim Indian biodiversity is concentrated in the wet zone, which is disjunctly distributed in the north-east and in the peninsular Western and Eastern Ghats. The Eastern Ghats region is smaller and less well explored biologically and the affinities and origins of its biota poorly understood. Our aim was to assess whether divergence between east and west lineages might have been caused by fragmentation of the wet zone during Pleistocene climatic fluctuations, by Late Miocene wet-zone contraction or by more ancient events. We present the first dated phylogenetic test of these alternatives by inferring relationships and dating divergences within a wet-zone-restricted lineage endemic to the Eastern and Western Ghats.

}, doi = {10.1111/jbi.12710 }, author = {Gower, David J. and Agarwal, Ishan and Karanth, K. Praveen and Datta-Roy, Aniruddha and Giri, Varad B and Wilkinson, Mark and San Mauro, Diego} }