44,922 research outputs found
A Survey-based Exploration of Users' Awareness and their Willingness to Protect their Data with Smart Objects
No full textA Survey-based Exploration of Users' Awareness and their Willingness to Protect their Data with Smart Objects
No full textCnemaspis retigalensis Mendis Wickramasinghe & Munindradasa 2007, sp. nov.
No full text<i>Cnemaspis retigalensis</i> sp. nov. <p> <b>Holotype</b>. NMSL 20061201, Adult male, 28.76 mm SVL, from Weweltenna, Retigala, Sri Lanka, (N 08º 06’ 40.3” E 080º 39’ 31.4”, elevation 710m), 30.10.2005, collected by L. J. Mendis Wickramasinghe and D. A. I. Munindradasa.</p> <p> <b>Paratypes</b>. NMSL 20061202, Adult female, 30.87 mm SVL; NMSL 20061203, Adult female, 26.56 mm; NMSL 20061204, Adult male 27.67 mm SVL. Date of Collection 27.08.2006, the same locality and collected by L. J. Mendis Wickramasinghe and Roshan Rodrigo.</p> <p> <b>Diagnosis.</b> A small-sized <i>Cnemaspis</i> (snout to vent length 26–31 mm in an adult males), which can be distinguished from all known congeners by the following combination of characters: postmentals separated by a small scale; nostrils are not in contact with first supralabial; six supra labials to angle of mid-orbit position and end of jaw at 7–8 supra labials; 30–32 interorbitals; throat scales smooth; dorsal tubercles 62–65; dorsal tubercles small, rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal; absence of groups of carinated large scales in dorsal body; presence of conical tubercles, larger than dorsal body scales on the lower part of flank; spine-like tubercles absent on flanks; scales on the thigh intermixed with the tricarinated form; gular scales smooth; midventrals 26–27; ventral smooth and imbricate; subcaudals slightly large; preanal pores absent; 3–4 femoral pores on each side; 11 subdigital lamellae and 3 basal lamellae in the 4 th finger; 11–12 subdigital lamellae and 6 basal lamellae in the 4 th toe.</p> <p> <b>Description of Holotype.</b> Adult male (figs. 5, 13B, 17B, 21B, 25B and 29B) snout to vent length 28.76 mm, head depressed and narrow (HD / HLJ 0.38), head elongated and large (HLJ / SVL 0.29), distinct from the neck. Snout long (SE / HW 0.76), longer than the eye width (EW / SE 0.43). Eye relatively large (EW / HLJ 0.20). Ear opening small (EL / HLJ 0.11), inter ear distance is greater than the width of the eye (EE / EW 2.87).</p> <p>Rostral is large with a groove penetrating 3/4 of the scale. There are three internasals, with the mid scale being large in size to the nostril, and the other two are larger. The supranasal and postnasal consist of one smooth circular scale each and are bigger than the nostril, but equal or smaller than internasal and larger than the mid one. The head is covered with elongated, round, pentagonal or hexagonal shaped tubercle scales from snout to posterior margin of interorbital area and with small granulated scales up to the neck. The size of tubercle scales becomes progressively smaller from the snout to interorbital area. However, a group of large scales (still smaller than that on the snout) is located on upper interorbital area, and a set of very small scales are located in the parietal area. There are 30 interorbital scales of which mid scales are shorter and smaller than that of outer. The supraciliaries are slightly larger than upper interorbital scales. The nostril is oval, and is not connected with the supralabials. The nostril and the first supralabial are separated by a postnasal. The loreal region is convex and is covered with 15 large, circular and elongated, smooth tubercle scales. There are seven supralabials at the base of the jaw, with six at the mid orbit point. The first supralabial is equal or small to the second and third. The rest becomes progressively small. The dorsal tubercles are smaller than the upper interorbitals and are rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal in shape, and all are of similar size. There are 62 dorsal tubercles at the mid region of the body. The spine-like tubercles are absent on flanks. The conical tubercles present on the lower part of flank are larger than dorsal body scales and the subconical scales present on the upper part of flank are slightly smaller than the above. The dorsal part of forelimb and hind limb is covered with a flushed and juxtaposed, comparatively large scales with a keel. The scales on the thigh are intermixed with the tricarinated form. The tail is covered with scales larger than the dorsal body and the ventrolateral margin possesses rounded tubercles larger than tail scales. The mental scale is large and sub-triangular. A pair of rounded and pentagonal or hexagonal postmentals (smaller than the mental) is present on either side. The first postmental pair is separated by a small scale, and is connected with the first infralabial. The second postmental pair is smaller, and is connected with the first and second infralabials. There are seven infralabials towards the jaw end, with six of them towards the mid orbit point. The infralabials become progressively smaller in size towards the anterior end. The ear holes are oval shaped, bigger than nostrils, but smaller than eyes. There are 24–26 scales between the eye and ear. The scales in the throat are smooth, rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal in shape, the anterior scales being larger than the posterior scales. The gular scales are smooth. The mid ventral area consists of 26 scales, which are smooth, imbricate and smaller than the postmentals. The scales in ventral portion of fore and hind limbs are smooth, with the scales in the hind limb being relatively larger than those of the forelimb. There are four femoral pores and no preanal pores present. The preanal is smaller than anal scales. There are 70 subcaudals. The mid subcaudals are slightly larger than the other scales in the tail or equal in size. Although the mid subcaudals are circular or overlapping diamond in shape, the lower border appears to be slightly elongated-diamond in shape. This feature becomes prominent towards the end of tail. The keels are absent in subcaudals. The digits are slender, elongated and clawed. The distal sub-digital formulae include 4>3>2>5>1 (fingers) and 4>3>5>2>1 (toes) (Fig.25.B.).</p> <p> <b>Colour in life.</b> The body colour in the dorsal side is light brown. There is a faded black transverse band on either upper interorbital area. A closed contour of black comprised of boundaries of internasal, loreal, upper interorbital and parietal areas and a ‘W’ shaped marking (with a light yellow patch in posterior ‘W’) on anterior neck is on the dorsal head. A black patch is present on the posterior neck. The supraciliaries are light yellow. The eye pupil is circular and black with the surrounding being luminous red. The lateral view of the head and neck consists of three black line segments (one from nasal to mid eye in loreal region, the other along lower parietal boundary – both dorsally seen as part of the closed contour and the third from back of eye to neck on temporal region) in a brownish yellow background with yellow spots in supralabial, lower jaw and lower neck areas. The ventral view of the throat is light grey with irregular yellow markings in ventral jaw. Three faded stripes are present on each lower and upper arm in a brownish yellow background. The black stripe formula of 2,3,3,4 and 3 is present on fingers in a brownish yellow background. The ventral view of lower and upper arm is light brown. The mid dorsal area of the body is light brown, with four faded ‘W’ marks between fore and hind limbs. The black spots in upper flank and yellow and back spots in lower flank are present in mid lateral view. The mid ventral view is light grey with yellow irregular markings on ventrolateral margin of mid body. Three faded stripe are present on each femur and tibia in a brownish yellow background. The black stripe formula of 2,3,4,5 and 4 is present on toes in a brownish yellow background. The ventral femur and tibia are light grey in colour with yellow scale boundaries. The original part of the tail is light grey, with 13 transverse marks of faded black, of which the mark at the base and the next are ‘W’ shaped, and next two are hourglass shaped, and the rest is straight. The ventral aspect of tail is grey.</p> <p> <b>Colour in alcohol.</b> All yellow in life is turned to white while the rest is conserved.</p> <p> <b>Etymology.</b> The species epithet <i>retigalensis</i> is derived from Latin for “Retigala” referring to the forest where the species nov. is discovered. The vernacular names assigned for the species nov. are <i>Retigala diva huna, Retigala pahal palli</i> and <i>Retigala day gecko</i> in native languages Sinhala, Tamil and in English respectively.</p> <p> <b>Remarks.</b> <i>C. retigalensis</i> sp. nov. is congener with <i>C. kandiana</i> and <i>C. kumarasinghei</i> sp. nov. from morphological characters. However, <i>C. retigalensis</i> can easily be distinguished from <i>C. kandiana</i> by the absence of preanal pores and having smooth gula scales and, from <i>C. kumarasinghei</i> by absence of preanal pores and presence of scales on the thigh intermixed with the tricarinated form, and also from morphometric analysis. Specimens with yellow vertebra line are found rarely. <i>C. retigalensis</i> is often found in hill tops, on the lower 2m of trees and rocks.</p>Published as part of <i>Mendis Wickramasinghe, L. J. & Munindradasa, D. A. I., 2007, Review of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Sauria: Gekkonidae) in Sri Lanka with the description of five new species, pp. 1-63 in Zootaxa 1490 (1)</i> on pages 10-12, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1490.1.1, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/5087387">http://zenodo.org/record/5087387</a>
Cnemaspis samanalensis Mendis Wickramasinghe & Munindradasa 2007, sp. nov.
No full text<i>Cnemaspis samanalensis</i> sp. nov. <p> <b>Holotype</b>. NMSL 20061501, Adult male, 36.91 mm SVL, from Samanala upper region, Ratnapura, Sri Lanka, (N 06º 45’ 47.1” E 080º 29’ 30.1”, elevation 1430m), 11.02.2005, collected by L. J. Mendis Wickramasinghe, Mahesh Chathuranga, D A I Munindradasa.</p> <p> <b>Paratypes</b>, NMSL 20061502, Adult male, 32.48 mm SVL; NMSL 20061503, Adult male, 34.37 mm; NMSL 20061504, Adult female 36.53 mm SVL; NMSL 20061505, Adult female 36.18 mm SVL, the same date, locality and collectors.</p> <p> <b>Diagnosis.</b> A medium-sized <i>Cnemaspis</i> (snout to vent length 32–37 mm in an adult males), which can be distinguished from all known congeners by the following combination of characters: postmentals separated by a small scale; nostrils are not in contact with first supralabial; 6–7 supra labials to angle of mid-orbit position and end of jaw at nine supra labials; 32 interorbitals; 3–4 prominent conical tubercles behind ear; throat scales keels; dorsal tubercles 62–64; dorsal tubercles small, rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal; intermixed with small groups of large tubercles (4–6 in a cluster) at the mid region of the body; lower part of flank with spinelike tubercles; upper part of flank with subconical-trihedral scales; gular scales keels; midventrals 32; ventral keels and imbricate; mid subcaudals small; 3–4 preanal pores; 3–4 femoral pores on each side; 11–12 subdigital lamellae and 4–5 basal lamellae in the 4 th finger; 12–13 subdigital lamellae and 7 basal lamellae in the 4 th toe.</p> <p> <b>Description of Holotype.</b> Adult male (figs. 6, 15A, 19A, 23A, 27A and 31A) snout to vent length 36.91 mm, head depressed and narrow (HD / HL 0.37), head elongated and large (HLJ / SVL 0.27), distinct from the neck. Snout long (SE / HW 0.73), longer than the eye width (EW / SE 0.39). Eye relatively large (EW / HLJ 0.18). Ear opening small (EL / HLJ 0.03), inter ear distance is greater than the width of the eye (EE / EW 3.27).</p> <p>Rostral is large with a groove penetrating 3/4 of the scale. There are three internasals, with the mid scale being large in size to the nostril, and the other two are larger. The supranasal and postnasal consist of one smooth circular scale each and are bigger than the nostril, but smaller than internasal and larger than the mid one. The head is covered with elongated, round, pentagonal or hexagonal shaped tubercle scales from snout to posterior margin of interorbital area and with small granulated scales up to the neck. The size of tubercle scales becomes progressively smaller from the snout to interorbital area. Similar sized scales are located in the upper and lower interorbital areas and, in the parietal area. There are 32 interorbital scales of which mid scales are shorter and smaller than that of outer. The supraciliaries are extremely larger than upper interorbital scales. The nostril is oval, and is not connected with the supralabials. The nostril and the first supralabial are separated by a postnasal. The loreal region is convex and is covered with 15 large, circular or elongated, smooth tubercle scales. There are nine supralabials at the base of the jaw, with six at the mid orbit point. The first, second, third and forth supralabials are usually equal. The rest becomes progressively small. The dorsal tubercles are smaller than the upper interorbitals and are rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal in shape, and are different in size. There are 64 dorsal tubercles, intermixed with small groups (4–6 in a cluster) of large, slightly carinated tubercles at the mid region of the body. The spine-like tubercles present on the lower part of flank are well prominent and larger than dorsal body scales and the subconical-trihedral scales present on the upper part of flank are slightly smaller than the above. The dorsal part of forelimb and hind limb is covered with flushed, comparatively large scales with a keel. The dorsal tail is covered with larger intermixed carinated and conical tubercles. The dorsal tail possesses a diminished grove. Two spine-like tubercles are present at the base of the tail. The mental scale is large and sub-triangular. A pair of pentagonal or hexagonal postmentals (smaller than the mental) is present on either side. The first postmental pair is separated by a small scale, and is connected with the first infralabial. The second postmental pair is smaller, and is connected with the first and second infralabials. There are eight infralabials towards the jaw end, with six of them towards the mid orbit point. The infralabials become progressively smaller in size towards the anterior end. The ear holes are oval shaped, bigger than nostrils, but smaller than eyes. Prominent 3–4 conical tubercles are present behind the ear. There are 20 scales between the eye and ear. The scales in the throat are having keels, rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal in shape, the anterior scales being larger than the posterior scales. The gular scales are having keels. The mid ventral area consists of 32 scales with keels, which are smaller than the postmentals. The scales in ventral portion of fore and hind limbs are having keels, with the scales in the hind limb being relatively larger than those of the forelimb. There are three femoral pores and three preanal pores present. The preanal are slightly larger than anal scales. There are 77 subcaudals. The mid subcaudals are equal in size with other scales in the tail. The mid subcaudals are elongated-overlapping-diamond in shape. The keels are present in subcaudals. The digits are slender, elongated and clawed. The distal sub-digital formulae include 4>3>5>2>1 (fingers) and 4>3>5>2>1 (toes) (Fig.27.A.).</p> <p> <b>Colour in life.</b> The body colour in the dorsal side is blackish brown. There is a yellow transverse band of which the anterior margin is black, on either upper interorbital area. A dark ‘W’ shaped marking with yellow bands on either arm is present in the anterior parietal area. A faded black ‘V’ shaped marking is present, originating from two angles of the ‘W’. A dark ‘W’ with a yellow patch penetrating in the middle, is present on the anterior neck. The supraciliaries are brown with yellow spots. The eye pupil is circular and black with the surrounding being yellow. The lateral view of the head and neck consists of three faded black line segments (one from nasal to mid eye in loreal region, the other along lower parietal and the third from back of eye to neck on temporal region) in a brown background with white spots in supralabial, lower jaw and lower neck areas. The ventral view of the throat is light grey with irregular yellow markings in ventral jaw. There are two segmented stripe on upper arm and three on lower arm of light brown in colour, in a brown background. The yellow stripe formula of 2,2,4,4 and 2 is present on fingers in a dark brown background. The ventral view of lower and upper arm is grey. The mid dorsal area of the body is dark brown, with an inverted heart-shaped and three hat-shaped white markings having a yellow tip each, between fore and hind limbs. There is a diminished dumbbell of white between fore limbs while diminished black ‘W’ between hind limbs with a white boarder. The white and yellow spots are present in the flank in mid lateral view. The mid ventral view is grey in colour. There are two segmented stripes on each femur and three on tibia of yellow in colour, in a dark brown background. The yellow stripe formula of 2,3,4,5 and 4 is present on toes in a dark brown background. The ventral femur and tibia is grey in colour with light brown scale boundaries. The original part of the tail is dark brown, with 11 transverse marks of white, of which the mark at the base is hat shaped with a yellow tip. The ventral tail is grey.</p> <p> <b>Colour in alcohol.</b> All dark brown in life is turned in to light brown, diminished black has become prominent and yellow has turned in to white while the rest is conserved.</p> <p> <b>Etymology.</b> The species epithet <i>samanalensis</i> is derived from the Latin for “Samanala region” referring to the forest where the species nov. is discovered. The vernacular names assigned for the species nov. are <i>Samanala kandu diva huna, Sivanolipathamalai pahal palli</i> and <i>Samanala day gecko</i> in native languages Sinhala, Tamil and in English respectively.</p> <p> <b>Remarks.</b> <i>C. samanalensis</i> sp. nov. is congener with <i>C. tropidogaster</i> from morphological characters. However, <i>C. samanalensis</i> can easily be distinguished from <i>C. tropidogaster</i> by the SVL, presence of prominent conical tubercles (3–4) behind ear, presence of groups of large tubercles in clusters (4–6 in a cluster) in dorsal body, presence of well prominent spine-like tubercles on flank, the intraorbital, dorsal tubercle and ventral counts, and also from morphometric analysis.</p>Published as part of <i>Mendis Wickramasinghe, L. J. & Munindradasa, D. A. I., 2007, Review of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Sauria: Gekkonidae) in Sri Lanka with the description of five new species, pp. 1-63 in Zootaxa 1490 (1)</i> on pages 12-14, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1490.1.1, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/5087387">http://zenodo.org/record/5087387</a>
Cnemaspis rammalensis Rajeev, Fernando & Wickramasinghe, 2014, sp. nov.
No full textCnemaspis rammalensis sp. nov. Holotype. NMSL 2013.25.0 1 NH, Adult male, 52.9 mm SVL (Figure 2), from Rammalakanda, Hambanthota District, Sri Lanka, (06° 14 ' 26.66 "N, 80 ° 38 ' 4.19 "E, elevation 470 m), 23 December 2011, collected by Dulan Ranga Vidanapathirana, Gehan Rajeev, and L. J. Mendis Wickramasinghe. Paratype. DWC 2013.05.0 0 1, Adult female, 53.8 mm SVL (Figure 3), 13.01. 2012, the same data as holotype. Diagnosis. A large-sized Cnemaspis (adult snout to vent length 52–54 mm) (Table 1), which can be distinguished from all known congeners by the following combination of characters: Postmentals separated by a small scale; nostrils not in contact with first supralabial; supralabials (to mid orbital position) 8; supralabials (to angle of jaws) 10; interorbital scales across midpoint 48–50;throat scales smooth; dorsal tubercles 94–96; spinelike tubercles present on flanks; ventral scales smooth and imbricate; ventrals across mid body 28; ventrals 186– 207; mid-subcaudals large; no precloacal pores; 15 femoral pores on each side; 22–23 and 23–25 subdigital lamellae on finger IV and on toe IV respectively; tail dorsum bearing smooth scales. Cnemaspis rammalensis sp. nov., was compared with all 21 extant species of the genus Cnemaspis known from Sri Lanka and the species can be readily distinguished from the diagnostic characteristics, especially by its large size and the number of ventral scales, which is the highest amongst members of the genus (Table 2). Description of Holotype. Adult male, snout to vent length 52.94 mm, body elongate and depressed; head large (HL/SVL 0.3) (Figure 4), distinct from the neck (Figure 4 A & C); head depressed and narrow (HD/HL 0.3), snout long (SE/HW 0.8), longer than the eye width (EW/SE 0.4) (Figure 4 B); eye relatively small (EW/HL 0.2); ear opening small (EL/HL 0.1), bigger than nostrils, smaller than eyes, eye to ear distance is greater than the width of the eye (EE/EW 1.6) (Figure 4 B). Rostral large, with a groove extending ½ of the scale; nostril separated by two enlarged supranasals (2) and a single internasal scale (1); two postnasals (2), smooth, larger than the nostril;scales on snout and forehead granular, and flattened, larger than those in interorbital region, much larger than those on occiput; interorbital scales across midpoint 48 (50), mid-interorbital scales long, larger than the outer ones; supraciliaries large, rectangular anterior to midpoint of orbit; scales around ear smooth, smaller and granular; nostrils oval, each surrounded by two postnasals, one supranasal, and rostral; several rows of scales separate orbit from supralabials; loreal region convex and covered with large scales; supralabials (to midorbital position) 8 (8); supralabials (to angle of jaws) 10 (10); infralabials (to angle of jaws) 9 (9), infralabials (to midorbit) 6 (6); Mental large, sub-triangular, wider than long, concave medially; two pairs of postmentals, smaller than the mental, anterior pair separated by one small scale, in contact with the first infralabial, posterior postmentals in contact with the 1 st and 2 nd infralabials, bounded by three juxtaposed, smooth scales (Figure 4 C); dorsal scales tiny, conical, with pointed, slightly enlarged tubercles scattered on the lateral and dorsolateral surfaces, where they form short spines; tubercles not in regular rows (Figure 5 A); scales on dorsum across mid body 94 (96), spine-like tubercles scattered on lower and upper flanks (Figure 5 B); scales on dorsal forelimb and hind limb granular; ventrally, scales decrease in size from chin to anterior gular region; ventrals 186 (207), ventrals across mid body 28 (28), ventral scales smooth, imbricate and smaller than the postmentals (Figure 5 C); scales in ventral portion of fore and hind limbs smooth, scales in the hind limb larger than forelimb; femoral pores (left: right) 15: 15 (0:0); precloacal pores absent; preanal scale larger than the anal scale (Figure 6); scales on dorsal and lateral tail, imbricate, large, and smooth, edges truncate or circular (Figure 7 A & B); a groove on mid dorsal tail (from base to mid region);few spine-like tubercles at the base of tail; mid subcaudals very large (Figure 7 C); 20 rows of small scales between the 1 st large subcaudal and cloaca, mid subcaudals hexagonal, without keels; tip of the tail shows signs of regeneration; subcaudals between cloaca and tip of tail 78 (89); digits slender, elongate and clawed, inter-digital webs absent; basal lamellae entire and enlarged than distal series; distalmost of basal series largest, basalmost lamellae of distal series sometimes fragmented; basal and distal series of lamellae separated by a single scale of intermediate width; total subdigital lamellae (left: right), finger I 17: 16 (16: 16), II 18: 20 (18: 21), III 21: 21 (21: 21), IV 22: 23 (22: 22), V 21: 21 (22: 22), toe I 15: 15 (17: 3 broken), II 20: 20 (21: 20), III 23: 22 (24: 22), IV 25: 23 (24: 23), V 24: 23 (23: 24), relative length of digits IV>V>III>II>I (fingers) (Figure 8 A), and IV>V>III>II>I (toes) (Figure 8 B). Colour in life. Dorsum dark brown with five prominent cream colour markings from neck to vent, which are trilobate shaped pointing towards head and all of them having a zigzag band below the base of the trilobate marking. The gap between the band and the base of the trilobate marking gradually decreases towards the vent which has resulted in a digitated appearance on the fourth one (Figures 2, 5 A). Nine cream coloured cross bands from vent to tail tip (Figure 2). Dorsum of head with cream coloured blotching (Figure 4 A). Lateral side of body with faint yellowish bars (Figure 5 B). Infralabials yellow (Figure 4 B). Venter of head white (Figure 4 C), of body and tail golden yellow (Figure 5 C & 7 C). Limbs dark brown with irregular cream cross bars dorsally, ventrally golden yellow except forearm, which is yellowish-white (Figure 6). Colour in alcohol. Colour pattern in preservative similar to that in life with some fading, but dorsal background colour darker and all yellow areas faded to white. Etymology. The species epithet rammalensis is derived from “Rammalakanda” referring to the forest where the species was discovered. The specific name is an adjective derived from the geographical name. Suggested vernacular names. The vernacular names assigned for the species are Rammale diva huna, Rammale pahalpalli and Rammale day gecko in Sinhala, Tamil and in English, respectively. Natural history. Cnemaspis rammalensis sp. nov., is a cave and crevice dweller, and can only be found within well shaded caves, on rock surfaces and inside rock crevices. The species was well camouflaged in lichen rich rock surfaces. It was found to inhabit only the primary rain forest in its type locality and was not observed in adjacent secondary forest or well wooded home gardens and was not seen in association with trees. Two eggs were observed in live gravid females. Eggs were seen in clusters of 10–20, possibly belonging to several individuals.Published as part of Gehan Rajeev, Dulan Ranga Vidanapathirana M. D., Fernando, Nethu Wickramasinghe Samantha Suranjan & Mendis Wickramasinghe, L. J., 2014, Cnemaspis rammalensis sp. nov., Sri Lanka's largest day-gecko (Sauria: Gekkonidae: Cnemaspis) from Rammalakanda Man and Biosphere Reserve in southern Sri Lanka, pp. 273-286 in Zootaxa 3755 (3) on pages 275-280, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3755.3.5, http://zenodo.org/record/22775
Cnemaspis alwisi Mendis Wickramasinghe & Munindradasa 2007, sp. nov.
No full textCnemaspis alwisi sp. nov. Holotype. NMSL 2004.9.1, Adult male, 39.92 mm SVL, from Dolukanda, Kurunegala, Sri Lanka, (N 07º 37' 07.8" E 80º 24' 50.3", elevation 152m), 23.12.2003, collected by L. J. Mendis Wickramasinghe and D. A. I. Munindradasa. Paratypes. NMSL 2004.9.2, Adult female, 37.84 mm SVL; NMSL 2004.9.3, Adult male, 32.99 mm, the same date, locality and collectors. Diagnosis. A medium-sized Cnemaspis (snout to vent length 33–40 mm in adults), which can be distinguished from all known congeners by the following combination of characters: Postmentals separated by a small scale; nostrils are not in contact with first supralabial; 15 supra labials to angle of mid-orbit position and end of jaw at nine supra labials; 32 interorbitals; throat scales smooth; dorsal tubercles 90–92 small, rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal; absence of groups of carinated large scales in dorsal body; spine-like tubercles absent on flanks; 28 midventrals; ventral scales smooth and imbricate; mid-subcaudals large; no preanal pores; 7–8 femoral pores on each side; 13 subdigital lamellae and 3 basal lamellae in the 4 th finger; 15 subdigital lamellae and 3 basal lamellae in the 4 th toe; segmented tail; dorsal part of tail with flushed and smooth scales, rarely intermixed with large semicircular prominent tubercles. Description of Holotype. Adult male (Fig.2, 12A, 16A, 20A, 24A and 28A) snout to vent length 39.92 mm, head depressed and narrow (HD / HLJ 0.37), head elongated and large (HLJ / SVL 0.27), distinct from neck. Snout long (SE / HW 0.72), longer than eye width (EW / SE 0.41). Eye relatively large (EW / HLJ 0.19). Ear opening small (EL / HLJ 0.09), inter ear distance is greater than width of eye (EE / EW 3.27). Rostral is large with a groove penetrating 3/4 of the scale. There are two internasals of the same size. Supranasal and postnasal consist of one smooth circular scale each and are bigger than the nostril, but smaller than the internasal. Head is covered with large circular, pentagonal or hexagonal shaped tubercle scales from snout to posterior margin of interorbital area, and are rarely intermixed with elongated scales and with small granulated scales up to neck. The size of tubercle scales becomes progressively smaller from the snout to interorbital area. Similar scales (still smaller than that on the snout) are located in lower and upper interorbital areas and, a set of very small scales are located in the parietal area. There are 32 interorbital scales of which mid scales are an intermix of rounded and elongated scales of different sizes. Supraciliaries are slightly larger than lower interorbital scales. Nostril is oval and not connected with supralabials. Nostril and the first supralabial are separated by a postnasal. The loreal region is convex and is covered with 18 large, circular (rarely intermixed with pentagonal or hexagonal scales) and smooth tubercle scales. There are 15 supralabials at the base of the jaw, with 9 at the mid orbit point. The first supralabial is larger than the others. The rest becomes progressively small. Dorsal tubercles are smaller than lower interorbitals. Those are rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal in shape and of similar size. There are 92 dorsal tubercles at the mid region of the body which are rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal in shape. Spine-like tubercles are absent on flanks. Smooth and conical subimbricates present on lower and upper parts of the flank are larger than dorsal body scales. Dorsal parts of forelimb and hindlimb are covered with rounded, pentagonal and hexagonal shaped scales slightly larger than that of the body. Dorsal part of tail is covered with flushed and smooth scales larger than dorsal body, rarely intermixed with large semicircular prominent tubercles. Tail is segmented with a dorsal groove. Mental scale is large and sub-triangular. A pair of rounded and pentagonal or hexagonal postmentals (smaller than the mental) is present on either side. The first postmental pair is separated by a small scale, and is connected with the first infralabial. The second postmental pair is smaller, and is connected with the first and second infralabials. There are seven infralabials towards the jaw end, with six of them towards the mid orbit point. Infralabials become progressively smaller in size towards the anterior end. Ear holes are oval shaped, bigger than nostrils, but smaller than eyes. There are 26–27 scales between eye and ear. Scales in the throat are smooth, pentagonal or hexagonal in shape. Anterior scales are larger than the posterior scales. Gular scales are smooth. Mid ventral area consists of 28 scales, which are smooth, imbricate and smaller than postmental scales. Scales in ventral portion of fore and hind limbs are smooth, with scales on hind limb being relatively larger than that of forelimb. There are 7–8 femoral pores and no preanal pores present. Preanal scales are equal or smaller than anal scales. There are 64 subcaudals where mid subcaudals are hexagonal in shape and larger than the other scales on the tail. The lower border appears to be elongated-diamond in shape. Keels absent in subcaudals. Digits are slender, elongated and clawed. Distal sub-digital formulae include 4>5>3>2>1 (fingers) and 4>3>5>2>1 (toes) (Fig.24.A.). Colour in life. Body colour in the dorsal side is dark grey. There are irregular yellowish white dots in the interorbital area. A segmented transverse line and an 'M' mark, yellowish white in colour are present on the dorsal head between internasal and interorbital areas. A black patch is present on the neck. Four dots and two 'M' mark, of yellowish white colour are present in a line along the vertebra from mid neck to hind limbs. The supraciliaries are yellow. The eye pupil is circular and black with the surrounding being yellow. The lateral view of head and neck consists of three black line segments—one from nasal to mid eye in loreal region, the other along lower parietal boundary and the third from back of eye to neck on temporal region which is prominent than the other two, in a grey background with spots in supralabial, lower neck and jaw lower areas, while spots in lower jaw being more prominent. The ventral view of the throat is light yellow. Three faded white stripes are present on each lower and upper arm in a dark grey background. The black stripe formula of 2,3,4,5 and 3 is present on fingers in a yellowish white background. The ventral view of lower and upper arm is greyish white. The yellowish white spots in upper flank and white spots in lower flank are present in mid lateral view. The mid ventral view is greyish white. Three segmented stripes are present on each femur and tibia in a brownish yellow background. The black stripe formula of 2,3,3,4 and 4 is present on toes in a yellowish white background. The ventral aspect of femur and tibia is greyish white in colour. The original part of the tail is dark grey, with 9 irregular white patches. The ventral side of tail is greyish white. Colour in alcohol. The background colour changes from brownish grey and yellow to white. Etymology. The species is an eponym in the Latin genitive singular honouring Lyn De Alwis, for his initiative in igniting a research culture in the country leading to Conservation of Wildlife resources. The vernacular names assigned for the species nov. are Alwisge diva huna, Alwisin pahal palli and Alwis's day gecko in native languages Sinhala, Tamil and in English respectively. Remarks. C. alwisi sp. nov. is congener with C. ranwellai and C. scalpensis from morphological characters. However, C. alwisi can easily be distinguished from both by having two internarsals and low count of lamella in forth finger and toe, and femoral pores, and from C. ranwellai by the separated postmental (more than 90% of C. ranwellai population in the type locality shows contacted postmental), the dorsal tubercle count and ventral scale count, and from C. scalpensis by the intraorbital count, dorsal tubercle count and ventral count, and also from the morphometric analysis. In different specimens the ventral body colour varies from white to yellow. Often C. alwisi is found among boulders and the body colour takes the colour pattern of lichens that are abundant on these wet boulders to blend with the environment where they live. In addition to the type locality C. alwisi is found in Retigala and Maragala mountains, and Nilgala area of Sri Lanka.Published as part of Mendis Wickramasinghe, L. J. & Munindradasa, D. A. I., 2007, Review of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Sauria: Gekkonidae) in Sri Lanka with the description of five new species, pp. 1-63 in Zootaxa 1490 (1) on pages 5-6, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1490.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/508738
FIGURE 2 in Review of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Sauria: Gekkonidae) in Sri Lanka with the description of five new species
No full textFIGURE 2. Holotype male of C. alwisi sp. nov. 39.92 mm SVL (NMSL2004.9.1)Published as part of Mendis Wickramasinghe, L. J. & Munindradasa, D. A. I., 2007, Review of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Sauria: Gekkonidae) in Sri Lanka with the description of five new species, pp. 1-63 in Zootaxa 1490 (1) on page 38, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1490.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/508738
Dendrelaphis sinharajensis Wickramasinghe, 2016, sp. nov.
No full textDendrelaphis sinharajensis sp. nov. Holotype. NMSL 2016.06.0 1 NH, adult female, SVL 672 mm, TL 323 mm, Mideripitiya, Sinharaja Forest, Deniyaya, Matara District, Southern Province (N 06º 21' 24.72’’, E 080º 29' 21.63’’), 285 m (Figure 1). Coll. L. J. M. Wickramasinghe. Diagnosis. I assign the new species tentatively to the genus Dendrelaphis because it possesses the following characteristics: slender body; rounded pupil; enlarged vertebral scales; head distinct from body; diurnal; predominantly arboreal. Within the genus, Dendrelaphis sinharajensis has a unique colour pattern of prominent cross bars in black and white and a red neck; black bars are paired, and create the margins of the white cross bars from neck to tail; vertebral stripe, postocular stripe, and ventrolateral stripe absent; prominent white patch on lateral head over eye region and neck, upper margin outlined by a black zigzag line; parietal stripe present; throat white with black blotches; venter off-white with irregular black spots all over. It further differs from all other species of this genus in the combination of the red neck and the conspicuous red/white cross bars. In addition to its colouration, the species can be readily distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characteristics: loreal scales absent; prefrontals large, contacting 2nd and 3rd supralabials; postoculars three, central scale smallest; anterior temporal large, contacts all three postaculars; posterior temporals three, central one largest, larger than anterior temporal, dorsally contacts parietal and ventrally contacts 8th supralabial; dorsal scale rows 13 at midbody, a small apical pit on each costal scale; ventral scales 174; subcaudal scales 139; vertebral scales slightly longer than the first costal row. Description of holotype. Body slender, SVL 672 mm; tail long, (TL/SVL 48.1%; TL/ToL: 32.5%); head long (HL/SVL 3.36%), distinct from the neck. Eye large, ED/HL 22.6%. Pupil round. Nostril small, (ND/ED 5.88%); snout moderate (NE/HL 20.8%) (Figure 2 A). The dark purplish tongue is protruded. Internasals two; prefrontals large (Figure 2 B), contacting nasal, 2nd and 3rd supralabials and preocular; postoculars three, central one smallest; supraocular single; loreal absent. Preocular single, not reaching dorsal surface of head; postoculars three; temporals 1:3 (anterior temporal large, contacts all three postoculars; posterior temporals three, central one largest, larger than anterior temporal, dorsally contacts parietal and ventrally contacts 8th supralabial); supralabials eight, 4th and 5th contacting eye (Figure 2 A); infralabials 11, first pair in medial contact at the mental groove; 1st to 5th contacting anterior chin shield; 5th and 6th contacting posterior chinshield, 6th the largest; first sublabial short, touches infralabials 6 and 7 (L), or infralabials 6, 7 and 8 (R) (Figure 2 C); dorsals 13:13:09; dorsal scales oblique (Figure 3 A), smooth and with a single apical pit; vertebral scales enlarged (Figure 3 B), slightly larger or equal to first row of dorsals, hexagonal in shape and with clearly concave posterior margin; ventrals 174 (+2 preventrals), laterally sharply keeled with a notch on each side; anal shield divided; subcaudals 138 divided, plus one terminal scale. Measurements (to the nearest 0.1 mm): CL 4.1; ED 5.1; HD 7.3; HL 22.6; HW 9.4; IN 4.9; IO 10.6; NE 4.7; ND 0.3; SE 7.5; SS 19.3; SN 2.6. Colour in alcohol (holotype). Head dorsum brown, with a prominent black line between parietals. A prominent white patch on lateral head over eye region and neck, with upper margin outlined by a black zigzag line. Background body colour brown, with prominent paired narrow black cross bands (about one costal scale wide) throughout body, with a light brown band (1–2 costal scales wide) between them. Venter off-white with irregular black spots all over. Colour in life (based on photographed unpreserved specimen). Kudawa, Sinharaja Forest, Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province (N 06º 26' 52.07’’, E 080º 24'58.33’’). Head dorsum brown, with a prominent black line between parietals (Figure 4). A prominent white patch on lateral head surrounding eye region and neck, with its upper margin outlined by a black zigzag line (Figure 5). Tongue dark purple. Dorsum background red anteriorly (Figure 6) and earthy brown posteriorly, with prominent cross bars in black and white. The black bars are paired, and create the margins of the white cross bars from neck to tail (Figure 7). Venter off-white with irregular black spots all over. Etymology. The species epithet sinharajensis is derived from “ Sinharaja ”, referring to the forest where the species was discovered. The specific name is an adjective from the geographical name. Suggested vernacular names. The vernacular names recommended for the species are Sinharaja haldanda, Sinharaja komberi muken, and Sinharaja tree snake in the languages Sinhala (native), Tamil, and English respectively. Comparison. The new species can clearly be distinguished from all known congeners of the genus Dendrelaphis by the presence of a large central posterior temporal scale, and from all except D. oliveri (Taylor, 1950) by the absence of a loreal scale; prefrontals contacting 2nd and 3rd supralabials. Dendrelaphis sinharajensis sp. nov. additionally differs from D. oliveri by its prefrontals contacting the 2nd and 3rd supralabials only (vs 2nd, 3rd and 4th), three postoculars (vs two), temporals 1:3 (vs 1:1) (Figure 8 A); parietal stripe present (vs absent) (Figure 8 B), and throat white with black blotches (vs blotching absent) (Figure 8 C), ventrolateral stripe absent (vs ventrolateral stripe present) (Figure 9 & 10). Although the new species is sympatric with D. caudolineolatus, and can be confused due to; similar dorsal scale rows at midbody 13, and fairly similar body colouration (Figure 11), D. sinharajensis sp. nov. can readily be distinguished from D. caudolineolatus, by the absence of a loreal scale (vs present), prefrontals contacting 2nd and 3rd supralabials (vs prefrontals and supralabials separated by a loreal scale), three postoculars (vs two) (Figure 12 A); temporals 1:3 (vs 1:1 or 1:2) (Figure 12 A & 13B); posteriormost point of frontal and posteriormost points of supraoculars not aligning in a straight line (vs aligning) (Figure 12 B), infralabials 1st to 5th contacting anterior chin shield (vs 1st to 4th), 5th and 6th contacting posterior chinshield (vs 4th and 5th), 6th the largest (vs 5th) (Figure 12 C), combination of the red neck and the conspicuous red/white cross bars (vs oblique black stripes on anterior bronze body, that meets mid dorsally forming a ‘V’ shape) (Figure 13 A), postocular stripe absent (vs present) (Figure 13 B), parietal stripe present (vs absent) (Figure 13 C), throat with black blotches (vs blotching absent) (Figure 13 D). Dendrelaphis sinharajensis sp. nov. can clearly be distinguished from all other Sri Lankan congeners in colour pattern, since this is the only species in the genus characterized by conspicuous red/white cross bars around its body, where the black bands appear to be paired, and with a distinct white patch on lateral head covering eye region and neck, with its upper margin outlined by a black zigzag line on all individuals. Habitat, ecology and conservation. Dendrelaphis sinharajensis sp. nov. was first discovered from Sinharaja World Heritage Site, located in the lowland wet zone of the island. Four additional individuals of this species have been sighted, from Horagasmandiya, Palenda, Kalutara District, Western Province (N 06º 33' 51.11’’, E 080º 15' 44.23’’), Kukuleganga, Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province (N 06º 34' 27.84’’, E 080º 19' 44.28’’), Athwelthota, Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province (N 06º 32' 38.39’’, E 080º 16' 53.77’’), and Rusigala- Mannawaththa, Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province (N 06º 30' 21.89’’, E 080º 19' 00.34’’), all to the north-west of the type locality, but still in the vicinity of the Sinharaja WHS. All four individuals were identified on the basis of both its unique colour pattern, and the presence of the diagnostic features specially the absence of a loreal scale. The known localities for the species cover an area of 57.96 km 2, of which 49.25 km 2 is dense forest, 6.33 km 2 is moderately dense forest, 0.91 km 2 is pine plantation, 0.37 km 2 is scrub-land, and 1.10 km 2 is sparse open forest and tea plantation (Figure 1). The species is rarely sighted, and may be rare. The first specimen collected was a road kill. The photographed individual was found in the canopy at around 15 m above ground level. The rarity of sightings may be due to a highly arboreal nature in the higher canopy of the lowland wet zone. Probable threats to this species are habitat loss and forest fragmentation through deforestation. The species is sympatric with D. caudolineolatus and D. schokari. Remarks. Absence of loreal scales sometimes (but rarely) occurs as an anomaly in Dendrelaphis. However the lack of a loreal scale was consistently observed in all live individuals sighted as well as in the photographed live individual, of the new species. This suggests that it is an important characteristic feature of the species and not an anomaly of the holotype of D. sinharajensis sp. nov.. The holotype and only known specimen of Dendrelaphis oliveri (Taylor, 1950) is deposited in the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. Although Dendrelaphis oliveri (Taylor, 1950) lacks a loreal scale (Figure 8 A), similar to the new species, they are geographically well separated with the type locality of D. oliveri, 12 miles north of Trincomalee, Eastern Province, in the dry zone of the island. In addition to the characters mentioned above that distinguish it from D. sinharajensis, the holotype of D. oliveri has a pale ventrolateral line bordered by black lines (Figure 9 & 10), a character absent in all other known species found in Sri Lanka. Taylor’s handwritten specimen catalog (pg. 115, EHT-HMN No: 30388) notes that the original field tag on the holotype was missing (Figure 14), but has clearly mentioned in the same catalog as, “Certainly 12 km N Trincomalee Ceylon E H T Coll”. The species has not been recorded since Taylor’s 1950 description, and our studies at this locality and in its vicinity over a period of two years have also failed to locate the species. Hence, it is possible that the holotype of D. oliveri was not collected at the stated type locality, and may not even be from Sri Lanka. Further studies of this enigmatic species are needed.Published as part of Mendis Wickramasinghe, L. J., 2016, A new canopy-dwelling species of Dendrelaphis (Serpentes: Colubridae) from Sinharaja, World Heritage Site, Sri Lanka, pp. 504-518 in Zootaxa 4162 (3) on pages 506-513, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4162.3.5, http://zenodo.org/record/26452
Cnemaspis kumarasinghei Mendis Wickramasinghe & Munindradasa 2007, sp. nov.
No full textCnemaspis kumarasinghei sp. nov. Holotype. NMSL 20061301, Adult male, 31.61 mm SVL, from Maragala, Monaragala, Sri Lanka, (N 06º 52' 55.8" E 081º 23' 09.7", elevation 910m), 27.04.2004, collected by L. J. Mendis Wickramasinghe and R. H.S.S. Fernando. Paratypes. NMSL 20061302, Adult male, 28.96 mm SVL, the same date, locality and collectors. Diagnosis. A small-sized Cnemaspis (snout to vent length 28–32 mm in an adult males), which can be distinguished from all known congeners by the following combination of characters: Postmentals separated by a small scale; nostrils are not in contact with the first supralabial; six or seven supra labials to angle of mid-orbit position and end of jaw at eight supra labials; 26 interorbitals; throat scales smooth; dorsal tubercles 61–68; dorsal tubercles small, rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal; absence of groups of carinated large scales in dorsal body; spine-like tubercles absent on flanks; midventrals 22; ventral scales smooth and imbricate; subcaudals slightly large; 2–3 preanal pores; 3–4 femoral pores on each side; 11–12 subdigital lamellae and 4 basal lamellae in the 4 th finger; 12 subdigital lamellae and 6 basal lamellae in the 4 th toe; dorsal tail with carinated tubercles and subimbricate scales.. Description of Holotype. Adult male (Fig.3, 13A, 17A, 21A, 25A and 29A) snout to vent length 31.61 mm, head depressed and narrow (HD / HLJ 0.34), head elongated and large (HLJ / SVL 0.30), distinct from the neck. Snout long (SE / HW 0.74), longer than eye width (EW / SE 0.37). Eye relatively large (EW / HLJ 0.17). Ear opening small (EL / HLJ 0.06), eye to ear distance is greater than the width of the eye (EE / EW 3.12). Rostral is large with a groove penetrating 3/4 of the scale. There are three internasals, with the mid scale being equal or large in size to the nostril, and the other two are larger. The supranasal and postnasal consist of one smooth circular scale each and are bigger than the nostril, but slightly smaller than internasal and lager than the mid one. The head is covered with elongated, round, pentagonal or hexagonal shaped tubercle scales from snout to posterior margin of interorbital area and with small granulated scales up to the neck. The size of tubercle scales becomes progressively smaller from the snout to interorbital area. However a group of large scales (still smaller than that on the snout) is located on either upper interorbital area. There are 26 interorbital scales of which mid scales are shorter and smaller than that of outer. The supraciliaries are large. The nostril is round or oval, and is not connected with the supralabials. The nostril and the first supralabial are separated by a postnasal. The loreal region is flat and slightly rounded and is covered with 15 large, circular, pentagonal or hexagonal shaped smooth tubercle scales. There are eight supralabials at the base of the jaw, with six at the mid orbit point. The first supralabial is relatively large, while the second and third are elongated than the others. The forth, fifth and sixth become progressively small. The rest becomes even smaller in size towards the posterior end. The dorsal tubercles are smaller than the upper interorbitals and are rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal in shape, and all are of similar size. There are 58 dorsal tubercles at the mid region of the body. The spine-like tubercles are absent on flanks. The subconical tubercles present on the lower part of flank are a little larger than dorsal body scales and the conical imbricates present on the upper part of flank are slightly larger than the above. The dorsal part of forelimb and hind limb is covered with a flushed and juxtaposed, comparatively large scales with a keel. The dorsal part of tail is covered with slightly large, carinated tubercles as well as large subimbricate scales. The subimbricates are prominent in the dorsal side than the lateral side. The dorsal area of tail (from the base to mid region) consists of a diminished groove. The mental scale is large and sub-triangular. A pair of rounded and pentagonal or hexagonal postmentals (smaller than the mental) is present on either side. The first postmental pair is separated by a small scale, and is connected with the first infralabial. The second postmental pair is smaller, and is connected with the first and second infralabials. There are eight infralabials towards the jaw end, with six of them towards the mid orbit point. The infralabials become progressively smaller in size towards the anterior end. The ear holes are oval shaped, bigger than nostrils, but smaller than eyes. There are 22 scales between the eye and ear. The scales in the throat are smooth, rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal in shape, the anterior scales being larger than the posterior scales. The gular scales are smooth. The mid ventral area consists of 36 scales, which are smooth, imbricate and smaller than the postmental scales. The scales in ventral portion of fore and hind limbs possess keels, with the scales in the hind limb being relatively larger than those of the forelimb. There are three femoral pores and two preanal pores present. The preanal is larger than anal scales. There are 68 subcaudals. The mid subcaudals are slightly larger than the other scales in the tail. Although the mid subcaudals are circular or overlapping diamond in shape, the lower border appears to be slightly elongated-diamond in shape. This feature becomes prominent towards the tail. The keels are absent in subcaudals. The tip of the tail shows signs of regeneration. The digits are slender, elongated and clawed, while inter-digital webs are absent. The distal sub-digital formulae include 4>3>2>5>1 (fingers) and 4>3>5>2>1 (toes) (Fig.25.A.). Colour in life. The body colour in the dorsal side is yellowish brown. There is a black transverse band in interorbital area. A closed contour of black comprised of boundaries of internasal, loreal, upper interorbital and parietal areas and a marking of the shape of 'W' (with a light yellow patch in posterior end of the 'W') on the anterior neck is on the dorsal head. A black patch is present on the posterior neck. The supraciliaries are light yellow. The eye pupil is oval and black with the surrounding being yellow. The lateral view of the head and neck consists of three black line segments (one from nasal to mid eye in loreal region, the other along lower parietal boundary – both dorsally seen as part of the closed contour and the third from back of eye to neck on temporal region) in a yellow background with faded black spots in supralabial, lower jaw and lower neck areas. The ventral view of the throat is light yellow with randomly distributed, irregular faded black markings, and irregular black lines in lower infralabial margin. Three faded stripes are present on each lower and upper arm in a yellow background. The black stripe formula of 2,3,4,4 and 3 is present on fingers in a yellow background. The ventral view of lower and upper arm is light brown. The mid dorsal area of the body is brownish yellow, with three faded 'W' shaped markings between fore and hind limbs and in-between 'W's there are segmented transverse lines. The black spots in upper flank and yellow and back spots in lower flank are present in mid lateral view. The mid ventral view is yellow in colour with randomly distributed irregular black markings. Three faded stripes are present on each femur and tibia in a yellow background. The black stripe formula of 2,3,4,5 and 4 is present on toes in a yellow background. The ventral femur and tibia is light brown. There is a black line in a yellow background in the back lateral view of femur. The original part of the tail is light yellow in colour, with 13 transverse marks of faded black, of which the mark at the base is 'W' shaped (since the tail of the holotype was regenerated, observation were made from the paratype as well). The ventral tail is brownish yellow in colour. Colour in alcohol. All yellow in life is turned to greyish white and black to dark brown. Etymology. The species is an eponym in the Latin genitive singular honouring Siril Kumarasinghe, for his sacrifices towards conserving the wildlife in the country, eventually giving away his own life to the very cause. The vernacular names assigned for the species nov. are Kumarasinhage diva huna, Kumarasinghevin pahal palli and Kumarasinghe's day gecko in native languages Sinhala, Tamil and in English respectively. Remarks. C. kumarasinghei sp. nov. is congener with C. kandiana and C. retigalensis sp. nov. from morphological characters. However, C. kumarasinghei can easily be distinguished from C. kandiana by having smooth gula scales and, from C. retigalensis by having preanal scales, and also from morphometric analysis. C. kumarasinghei is found on trees in hill tops, often in male-female pairs.Published as part of Mendis Wickramasinghe, L. J. & Munindradasa, D. A. I., 2007, Review of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Sauria: Gekkonidae) in Sri Lanka with the description of five new species, pp. 1-63 in Zootaxa 1490 (1) on pages 7-8, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1490.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/508738
Cnemaspis molligodai Mendis Wickramasinghe & Munindradasa 2007, sp. nov.
No full textCnemaspis molligodai sp. nov. Holotype. NMSL 20061401, Adult male, 26.62 mm SVL, from Waratalgoda, Rathnapura, Sri Lanka, (N 06º 32' 19.4" E 080º 18' 27.4", elevation 387m), 10.04.2000, collected by L. J. Mendis Wickramasinghe. Paratypes. NMSL 20061402, Adult male, 27.77 mm SVL; NMSL 20061403, Adult male, 25.82 mm SVL; NMSL 20061404, Adult male, 27.21 mm SVL; NMSL 20061405, Adult female, 27.11 mm SVL; the same date, locality and collector. Diagnosis. A small-sized Cnemaspis (snout to vent length 25–28 mm in an adult males), which can be distinguished from all known congeners by the following combination of characters: postmentals separated by a small scale; nostrils are in contact with first supralabial; 7–8 supralabials to angle of mid-orbit position and end of jaw at 9–11 supralabials; 30–37 interorbitals; throat scales smooth; 78–80 dorsal tubercles; dorsal tubercles granulated; absence of groups of carinated large scales in dorsal body; spine-like tubercles absent on flanks; 20 midventrals; ventral smooth and subimbricate; subcaudals extremely large; 5 preanal pores; 8 femoral pores on each side; 11–13 subdigital lamellae and 4–5 basal lamellae in the 4 th finger; 12 subdigital lamellae and 6–7 basal lamellae in the 4 th toe; slightly large, smooth and segmented scales intermixed with subconicals in dorsal tail. Description of Holotype. Adult male (figs. 4, 14A, 18A, 22A, 26A and 30A) snout to vent length 26.62 mm, body slender, elongated and depressed, head depressed and narrow (HD / HLJ 0.31), head elongated and large (HLJ / SVL 0.28), distinct from the neck. Snout long (SE / HW 0.77), longer than the eye width (EW / SE 0.40). Eye relatively large (EW / HLJ 0.18). Ear opening small (EL / HLJ 0.09), inter ear distance is greater than the width of the eye (EE / EW 2.98). Rostral is large with a groove penetrating 3/4 of the scale. There are three internasals, with the mid scale being large in size to the nostril, and the other two are small and equal in size. The supranasal and postnasal consist of one smooth circular scale each and are bigger than the nostril, and bigger or equal than internasal. The head is covered with smooth, round, pentagonal or hexagonal shaped tubercle scales from snout to posterior margin of interorbital area and with small granulated scales up to the neck. The size of tubercle scales becomes progressively smaller from the snout to interorbital area. However a group of large scales (still smaller than that on the snout) is located on lower interorbital area. There are 34 interorbital scales of which mid scales are equal or smaller than that of outer. The supraciliaries are large. The nostril is oval, and is connected with the supralabials. The loreal region is convex and is covered with 12 large, circular, elongated, pentagonal or hexagonal shaped smooth tubercle scales. There are ten supralabials at the base of the jaw, with seven at the mid orbit point. The first supralabial is relatively large, and the rest becomes progressively small. The dorsal tubercles are smaller than the upper interorbitals and are rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal in shape, and different in size. There are 80 dorsal granulated tubercles at the mid region of the body. The spinelike tubercles are absent on flanks. The smooth tubercles present on the lower and upper parts of flank are a little larger than dorsal body scales. The dorsal part of forelimb and hindlimb is covered with large, circular, pentagonal or hexagonal scales. The dorsal part of tail is covered with slightly large, smooth and segmented scales. The slightly large subconicals are intermixed in the dorsal and lateral tail. The dorsal area of tail (from the base to mid region) consists of a groove. The mental scale is large and sub-triangular. A pair of rounded and pentagonal or hexagonal postmentals (smaller than the mental) is present on either side. The first postmental pair is separated by a small scale, and is connected with the first infralabial. The second postmental pair is smaller, and is connected with the first and second infralabials or only with the first infralabial. There are nine infralabials towards the jaw end, with six of them towards the mid orbit point. The infralabials become progressively smaller in size towards the anterior end. The ear holes are oval shaped, bigger than nostrils, but smaller than eyes. There are 24 scales between the eye and ear. The scales in the throat are smooth, elongated, pentagonal or hexagonal in shape, the anterior scales being larger than the posterior scales. The gular scales are smooth. The mid ventral area consists of 20 scales, which are smooth, subimbricate and smaller than the postmental scales. The scales in ventral portion of fore and hind limbs are smooth, with the scales in the hind limb being relatively larger than those of the forelimb. There are 8 femoral pores and five preanal pores present. The preanal is smaller than anal scales. There are 44 subcaudals. The mid subcaudals are very larger than the other scales in the tail, and hexagonal in shape. Although the mid subcaudals are hexagonal in shape, the lower border appears to be slightly elongated-diamond in shape. This feature becomes prominent towards the tail. The keels are absent in subcaudals. The digits are slender, elongated and clawed. The distal sub-digital formulae include 4>5>3>2>1 (fingers) and 4>3>5>2>1 (toes) (Fig.26.A.). Colour in life. The body colour in the dorsal side is reddish brown. The dorsal head is randomly scattered with yellow and black dots. A yellow patch and a black patch are present on the anterior and posterior neck respectively. The supraciliaries are dark brown with intermittent yellow dots. The eye pupil is circular and black with the surrounding being reddish brown. The lateral view of head and neck consists of a broad black band from snout to end of neck through mid eye, while the portion from back of eye to end of neck being prominent, in a reddish brown background scattered with yellow and black dots and also yellow spots in supralabial. The ventral view of throat is grey with yellow dots, brown and black dots in ventral jaw. Two faded stripes are present on each lower and upper arm in a reddish brown background. The black stripe formula of 2,3,4,4 and 3 is present on fingers in a brownish yellow background. The ventrolateral margin of upper arm is luminous blue under day light conditions. The ventral view of lower and upper arm is heavily dotted with black spots and scattered yellow spots in a grey background. The mid dorsal area of the body is reddish brown, scattered with black dots and irregular white patches, and with four black 'W' shaped marks having a yellow spot penetrating to the middle of each, between fore and hind limbs. The mid lateral view of the flank consists of scattered black spots in upper flank and a segmented black line between fore and hind limbs. The mid ventral view is grey with black spots on ventrolateral margin of mid body. Two faded stripes are present on each femur and tibia in a reddish brown background. The black stripe formula of 2,3,4,5 and 4 is present on toes in a reddish brown background. The ventrolateral margin of femur is luminous blue under day light conditions. The ventral femur and tibia is light grey in colour with black and yellow scales in anterior and posterior boundaries of the femur respectively. The original part of the tail is reddish brown in colour, with 13 transverse marks of black, of which the mark at the base is 'W' shaped. The ventral tail is greyish yellow with light brown scale boundaries (Fig.26.A.). Colour in alcohol. All reddish brown in life is turned to light brown while the black to dark brown. Etymology. The species is an eponym in the Latin genitive singular honouring Hayasith Molligoda, for his commitment towards conserving the reptile fauna in the country. The vernacular names assigned for the species nov. are Molligodage diva huna, Molligodavin pahal palli and Molligoda's day gecko in native languages Sinhala, Tamil and in English respectively. Remarks. C. molligodai sp. nov. is congener with C. podihuna from morphological characters. However, C. molligodai can easily be distinguished from C. podihuna by having narsal connected to first supralabial, intraorbital count, preannal pores count, dorsal tubercle count and snout to eye distance, and also from morphometric analysis. C. molligodai is found in split bark of large isolated trees up to canopy, often in colonies of 30–40 members, distributed in lowland wet zone. In addition to the type locality C. molligodai can be found also in Kalugala, Kukule ganga, Kanneliya-Nakiyadeniya, Kottawa, Oliyagankele, Gileemale, Hunuwela, Sinharaja-Kudawa and Sinharaja-East areas of Sri Lanka.Published as part of Mendis Wickramasinghe, L. J. & Munindradasa, D. A. I., 2007, Review of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Sauria: Gekkonidae) in Sri Lanka with the description of five new species, pp. 1-63 in Zootaxa 1490 (1) on pages 9-10, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1490.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/508738
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