@article {99940, title = {Diversifying on the Ark: multiple new endemic lineages of dwarf geckos from the Western Ghats provide insights into the systematics and biogeography of South Asian (Reptilia: Squamata).}, journal = {Zool Res}, volume = {42}, year = {2021}, month = {2021 Nov 18}, pages = {675-691}, abstract = {

The highly speciose gekkonid genus Strauch, 1887 is polyphyletic, with three distantly related and geographically isolated clades from Africa, South Asia (SA), and Southeast Asia. At present, there are 85 known species within SA , although the number continues to increase rapidly with focused surveys and rigorous taxonomic work. Recent studies have provided valuable insights into the diversity and evolutionary history of SA ; however, most of these studies lack sufficient sampling in the Western Ghats (WG), where the genus has its greatest diversity. We addressed this research gap by conducting extensive sampling across the WG and re-examining museum specimens, thus providing a systematic account of various extant species along with their distribution and natural history. We described 12 new species and a southern WG endemic clade of SA Ten of the newly described species are endemic to the forests of the southern WG. We also identified 10 well-supported subclades that can be separated across morphological, geographic, and phylogenetic axes. A time-calibrated phylogeny and ancestral area reconstructions confirmed the Paleocene origin of SA in the WG and provide insights into its evolutionary history and biogeography. The discovery of multiple endemic and deeply divergent lineages further highlights the evolutionary significance of the WG for lizards.

}, issn = {2095-8137}, doi = {10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2021.074}, author = {Pal, Saunak and Mirza, Zeeshan A and Dsouza, Princia and Shanker, Kartik} } @article {84065, title = {A new large-bodied, rupicolous Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) allied to Cnemaspis heteropholis Bauer, 2002 from the Central Western Ghats of Karnataka, India.}, journal = {Zootaxa}, volume = {4801}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 Jun 17}, pages = {zootaxa.4801.1.2}, abstract = {

We describe a new large-bodied, rupicolous Cnemaspis from near Sakleshpur in the Central Western Ghats of Karnataka, India. Cnemaspis magnifica sp. nov. is allied to C. heteropholis and can be diagnosed from all other Indian Cnemaspis by the absence of spine-like scales on flank; heterogeneous dorsal pholidosis, presence of only femoral pores in males, homogenous dorsal pholidosis of tail with small, smooth, regularly arranged, flattened, subimbricate scales, without whorls of enlarged tubercles, median row of sub-caudals enlarged and smooth. The new species differs from its closest congener C. heteropholis in body size, the number of longitudinal ventral scales, number of lamellae under digit I and IV of manus and pes, and subtle colour pattern differences; besides 9.1 \% uncorrected ND2 sequence divergence. We provide the first description of topotypic male of C. heteropholis along with data on its distribution and natural history. The discovery of Cnemaspis magnifica sp. nov. with minimal field survey effort indicates the need for further herpetological exploration in the region.

}, issn = {1175-5334}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.4801.1.2}, author = {Khandekar, Akshay and Thackeray, Tejas and Pal, Saunak and Agarwal, Ishan} } @article {78093, title = {Two more new Hemiphyllodactylus Bleeker, 1860 (Squamata: Gekkonidae)~from Tamil Nadu, India.}, journal = {Zootaxa}, volume = {4729}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 Jan 29}, pages = {zootaxa.4729.2.6}, abstract = {

Two new species of the gekkonid genus Hemiphyllodactylus are described from mountains of the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu, southern India. Hemiphyllodactylus nilgiriensis sp. nov. and H. peninsularis sp. nov. are \> 5 \% divergent in the mitochondrial ND2 gene from each other and members of the H. aurantiacus complex and differ from each other and members of the H. aurantiacus complex in several meristic characters and colouration. The description of these two new species takes the number of Indian Hemiphyllodactylus to six and the number of endemic geckos from Tamil Nadu to 15.

}, keywords = {Animals, Genes, Mitochondrial, India, Lizards, Phylogeny, Records}, issn = {1175-5334}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.4729.2.6}, author = {Agarwal, Ishan and Bauer, Aaron M and Pal, Saunak and Srikanthan, Achyuthan N and Khandekar, Akshay} } @article {67826, title = {"Endangered or an artifact of unsound taxonomy? Case of the critically~endangered bush frog Philautus sanctisilvaticus Das and Chanda, 1997".}, journal = {Zootaxa}, volume = {4683}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 Oct 10}, pages = {zootaxa.4683.4.6}, abstract = {

We investigated the phylogenetic relationship of the Critically Endangered bush frog Philautus sanctisilvaticus Das and Chanda, 1997 and other species distributed across the fragmented forests of Deccan Peninsula and the northern Eastern Ghats. A short fragment of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene was employed to assess phylogenetic relationships across Philautus sanctisilvaticus Das and Chanda, 1997, Raorchestes terebrans (Das and Chanda, 1998) and Philautus similipalensis Dutta, 2003. All sequenced specimens, including material from near the type localities of P. sanctisilvaticus (Amarkantak) and P. similipalensis (Simlipal) were genetically extremely similar, with pairwise uncorrected distances 1\% in the 16S gene, and were phylogenetically placed within the genus Raorchestes. The results based on morphology are ambiguous and do not go hand in hand with molecular data, which however do not provide support for a three species hypothesis either. our findings advocate the need for making nomenclatural amendments. Philautus sanctisilvaticus Das and Chanda, 1997, is the first available nomen for this taxon, and we propose to include this species in Raorchestes as Raorchestes sanctisilvaticus (Das and Chanda, 1997), and to consider the nomina Philautus terebrans Das and Chanda, 1998 syn. nov. and Philautus similipalensis Dutta, 2003 syn. nov. as junior subjective synonyms for this nomen following the Principle of Priority in article 23.1 of the ICZN. The findings are notable from the point of conservation of the species and present a novel case with remarkable genetic homogeneity across the fragmented forests of Deccan Peninsula and Eastern Ghats.

}, keywords = {Animals, Anura, Fishes, Phylogeny, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S}, issn = {1175-5334}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.4683.4.6}, author = {Mirza, Zeeshan A and Warekar, Priya and Mohapatra, Pratyush P and Raju, David and Patil, Pranad and Dutta, Sushil K and Pal, Saunak} } @article {8759, title = {A new species of the Cyrtodactylus (Geckoella) collegalensis (Beddome, 1870) complex (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Western India.}, journal = {Zootaxa}, volume = {4170}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Sep 23}, pages = {339-354}, abstract = {

A new species of Cyrtodactylus (Geckoella) from the C. collegalensis complex is described based on a series of specimens from western and central India. Morphological and molecular data support the distinctiveness of the new form, which can be diagnosed from other Cyrtodactylus (including other Geckoella) species by its small body size (snout to vent length to 56 mm), the absence of precloacal and femoral pores, no enlarged preanal or femoral scales, and a dorsal scalation consisting wholly of small, granular scales. The new species is most closely related to C. collegalensis, C. speciosus and C. yakhuna, from which it differs by the presence of a patch of enlarged roughly hexagonal scales on the canthus rostralis and beneath the angle of jaw, its relatively long limbs and narrow body, and a dorsal colour pattern of 4-6 pairs of dark spots.

}, issn = {1175-5334}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.4170.2.7}, author = {Agarwal, Ishan and Mirza, Zeeshan A and Pal, Saunak and Maddock, Simon T and Mishra, Anurag and Bauer, Aaron M} }