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Handbook of Accounting and Development
No full text'Trevor Hopper and his colleagues provide a central point of reference for research into accounting and development. Definitive chapters from internationally recognised authors (including Marcia Annisette, Kerry Jacobs, Chris Poullaos, Brendan O'Dwyer, Chibuike Uche and Jeffrey Unerman) cover the full range of issues from the role of capital markets in development, through accounting professionalization, to taxation and transfer pricing. Contributions from authors working for donors and non-governmental organisations provide a useful practical dimension that builds on the more academic chapters.' - Christopher Napier, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. © Trevor Hopper, Mathew Tsamenyi, Shahzad Uddin and Danture Wickramasinghe 2012. All rights reserved
Aspidura desilvai Mendis Wickramasinghe & Bandara & Vidanapathirana & Wickramasinghe 2019, sp. nov.
No full textAspidura desilvai sp. nov. (Figures 1–7) Holotype. NMSL-NH 2019.01.0 2, adult male, 168 mm SVL (Figure 2), from Riverstone, Knuckles, Matale District, Central Province, Sri Lanka (07°31’39” N, 80°44’01” E, elevation 1420 m). Collected by L.J.M. W and D.R.V. on 0 7 July 2018. Paratypes. NMSL-NH 2019.01.0 1, adult female, 208 mm SVL, from Panwila in Knuckles Mountain Range, Kandy District, Central Province in Sri Lanka (07°22'00.36’’ N, 080°41'00.10’’ E, elevation 995 m). Collected by L.J.M. W and I.N.B. on 13 March 2011; DWC 2019.05.0 1, adult female, 157 mm SVL, from Dotulugala, Knuckles Mountain Range, Kandy District, Central Province, Sri Lanka (07°27'00.30” N, 080°45'00.20” E, elevation 1700 m). Collected by L.J.M. W and I.N.B. on 17 March 2011; DWC 2019.05.0 2, juvenile male, 93 mm SVL, from Gombaniya Mountain, Knuckles Mountain Range, Matale District, Central Province, Sri Lanka (07°27'51.76’’ N, 080°45'51.79’’ E, elevation 1375 m). Collected by L.J.M. W and I.N.B. on 13 March 2011. Diagnosis. SVL 94–216 mm; snout to eye distance 2.5 times the eye width (SE/EW); prefrontals touching eye; preocular small, does not touch supraocular; postoculars 2, lower one larger than the upper; temporal 1+2/1+2; supralabials 6/6, 4 th touching eye; infralabials 6/6, first pair in contact, progressively increasing in size from 1 st to 6 th; anterior chin shields 2, large, touching 1–4 infralabials; posterior chin shields 2, anterior half in contact while the posterior half separated by 1 st ventral; ventrals 124–139; subcaudals 16–29; dorsal scale rows 15–15–15; laterally spine like tubercles present on two scale rows nearest to the subcaudals of the ischiadic, anal and tail base regions in adult males, feeble in juvenile males, and absent in females; entire dorsum brown colour, much paler towards anterior; three irregular dotted lines on dorsum. Description of holotype. Adult male; SVL 168 mm; TaL 25.1 mm; TL 193.1 mm; TaL/TL 0.13; body elongate and cylindrical; head short (SVL/HL 18.3), elliptical, indistinct from thick neck; snout long, narrowing anteriorly, pointed in dorsal aspect, snout to nostril distance about 2.8 (EW/SN) times as long as nostril width; nasal divided; small, triangular nostril, touching divided nasal and first supralabial, not touching rostral; eye larger than horizontal diameter of nostril, distance between snout to eye about 2.6 (SE/EW) times the eye width, round pupil; snout to eye distance 0.3 times head length (SE/HL); tail short (TaL/SVL 0.1), robust at its base, tapering progressively to a single point. Head scalation. Head scalation includes 1 internasal, 2 prefrontals, 2 supraoculars, 1 frontal, and 2 parietals (Figure 3A). Rostral small, convex, wider than long and rounded in lateral, dorsal and ventral aspects. Nasal vertically divided by a groove above nostril (Figure 3B). Internasal large, irregular hexagonal; widely in contact with prefrontals. Two large prefrontals, longer and wider than internasals, largest distance along the longitudinal axis of prefrontals shorter than frontal (Figure 3A) in length, anterior-most corner of prefrontals touching nasal, bordered by 2 nd and 3 rd supralabial, preocular scale, eye, supraocular and frontal. Preocular small, not in contact with supraocular. Loreal and subocular scales absent. Supraocular smaller than frontal. Two postoculars, lower one larger than upper. Two parietals; largest scales on head. Temporals 1+2/1+2. Supralabials 6/6, 4 th touching eye, progressively increasing in size from 1 st to 6 th (Figure 3B). Mental small and triangular, wider than long. Infralabials 6/6, first pair in contact, progressively increasing in size from 1 st to 6 th. Anterior chin shields 2, large, touching 1–4 infralabials. Posterior chin shields 2, anterior half in contact, posterior portion separated by 1 st ventral (Figure 3C). Body scalation. Ventrals 124, 1 st ventral longer than wide; subcaudals 24, all single; anal single and large; dorsal scale rows 15–15–15; laterally prominent spine like tubercles present on two scale rows nearest to the subcaudals, and its protrusion reducing towards upper scale rows in the ischiadic, anal and tail base regions (Figure 4); vertebral rows and first coastal not enlarged; no apical pit. Hemipenis morphology. Based on Holotype specimen: right everted hemipenis extends for length of 3 subcaudals. Everted organ single subcylindrical, globular, sulcus spermaticus simple. Basal to apex region bearing prominent spines which are evenly distributed and are in uniform length (Figure 5). Colour in life. Supralabials and infralabials light yellow, with dark margins separating each scale (Figure 6A). Entire dorsum reddish brown colour, much paler towards anterior and each scale having tiny dark spots (Figure 2). Three irregular dotted lines on dorsum (Figure 6B). These are symmetrically placed and continues from neck to tail end. Prominent light brown stripe continues dorsolaterally from neck to tail end, marked due to much darker regions which constitutes of dotted lines below and above this region. These lines continue from neck to tail end. Venter primarily peach, with black blotching all over; gular region yellow. Colour in alcohol. Colour pattern remains unchanged. Pupil changes to off white. Darker regions fades to a light brown. Variations in colour. In an unpreserved male specimen (Figure 7D) except the head region and ventre the entire body was black. Natural History. Aspidura desilvai sp. nov. have been observed commonly in its habitat (Figure 1). The species is confined to Knuckles conservation area, and is found in and above the lower montane forests of Knuckles. Authors have observed the snake from 995 m up to 1700 m above sea level (Figure 8). The habitat of A. desilvai sp. nov. is closed canopy forests dominated by Syzigium sp. (Figure 9). The moist-cooler habitat is densely occupied with large and medium sized trees which are heavily covered with epiphytes. No direct sunlight falls to the forest floor, and the undergrowth was not well established where the individuals were found. Relatively thin litter cover was observed in the habitat. Commonly observed under leaf litter and loose soil while they were also observed under rocks, boulders, and decaying logs. Individuals come out to the surface during the day time. Reddish brown latosolic soil in the locality is more or less similar to the body colour of the snake. Etymology. The species is named in honor of Pilippu Hewa Don Hemasiri de Silva (Dr. P. H. D. H. de Silva), a former Director (1965-1981) of the National Museums of Sri Lanka. In recognition of his tireless services to the country, while in service and through his many publications specially as the author of the book titled “ Snake Fauna of Sri Lanka, with special reference to skull, dentition and venom in snakes ”. The species epithet desilvai is a noun in the genitive case. Suggested common names. desilvage madilla, and de Silva’s Rough-Side Snake in native Sinhala language and English language respectively. Comparison. The new species was compared with all known congeners of the genus Aspidura and the species most closely resembles A. ravanai, and A. trachyprocta, due to the following combination of characters: one preocular, two postoculars, 1+2 temporals, supralabials 6, 4 th supralabial in contact with the eye, infralabials 6, coastals 15, single cloacal scale, and overlapping ventral and subcaudal counts, but can easily be distinguished by the following morphological characters: from A. ravanai: entire dorsum brown colour, much paler towards anterior and each scale having tiny dark spots in Aspidura desilvai sp. nov. (vs. entire dorsum jet black in Aspidura ravanai), ventrolaterally darker region which constitutes of irregular longitudinal dotted lines (vs. ventrolaterally an irregular longitudinal yellow stripe), laterally prominent spine like tubercles present on two scale rows nearest to the subcaudals, and its protrusion reducing towards upper scale rows (vs. entire coastal rows coarsely keeled, with 1–3 peaks on each scale) in males (Figures 4 & 10 A–C), entire coastal rows of the ischiadic, anal and tail base regions smooth (vs. feebly keeled) in females, snout to eye distance about 2.5 times its eye width (vs. 3.2 times in A. ravanai) (Figures 3 & 10 D–E); from Aspidura trachyprocta: entire dorsum brown colour, much paler towards anterior and each scale having tiny dark spots in A. desilvai sp. nov. (vs. reddish-yellow to brown with a longitudinal black stripe on mid dorsum in Aspidura trachyprocta), ventrolaterally darker region which constitutes of irregular longitudinal dotted lines (vs. black stripe), laterally prominent spine like tubercles present on two scale rows nearest to the subcaudals, and its protrusion reducing towards upper scale rows (vs. bulging spine like tubercles prominent laterally which reduces towards dorsum) of the ischiadic, anal and tail base regions in males (Figures 4 & 11 A–C), entire coastal rows of the ischiadic, anal and tail base regions smooth (vs. feebly keeled) in females, snout to eye distance about 2.5 times its eye width (vs. twice in A. trachyprocta) (Figures 3 & 11 D–E); from A. brachyorrhos Boie, 1827, by having 15 coastals (vs. 17), preocular not in contact with supraocular (vs. contact), prefrontal contact with eye (vs. separate), single subcaudals (vs. paired); from A. copei Günther, 1864 by having coastals 15 (vs. 17), single subcaudals (vs. paired), single preocular (vs. absent); from A. deraniyagalae Gans & Fetcho, 1982 by having 15 coastals (vs. 17), ventrals 124–139 (vs. 117–122), single subcaudals (vs. paired); from A. drummondhayi Boulenger, 1904, by having single subcaudals (vs. paired), single preocular (vs. absent); from A. guentheri Ferguson, 1876 by having 15 coastals (vs. 17), ventrals 124–139 (vs. 100–127); from A. ceylonensis (Günther, 1858), by prefrontal touching eye (vs. not touching eye), preocular does not touch supraocular (vs. touches), lower postocular larger than the upper (vs. vise versa), mid body coastals not keeled (vs. coarsely keeled).Published as part of Mendis Wickramasinghe, L. J., Bandara, Imesh Nuwan, Vidanapathirana, Dulan Ranga & Wickramasinghe, Nethu, 2019, A new species of Aspidura Wagler, 1830 (Squamata: Colubridae: Natricinae) from Knuckles, World Heritage Site, Sri Lanka, pp. 265-280 in Zootaxa 4559 (2) on pages 266-272, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4559.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/262697
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
FIGURE 4 in Cnemaspis rammalensis sp. nov., Sri Lanka's largest day-gecko (Sauria: Gekkonidae: Cnemaspis) from Rammalakanda Man and Biosphere Reserve in southern Sri Lanka
No full textFIGURE 4. Cnemaspis rammalensis sp. nov., holotype male (NMSL 2013.25.01 NH), head; (A) dorsal aspect (B) lateral aspect (C) ventral aspect.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 page 280, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3755.3.5, http://zenodo.org/record/22775
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
FIGURE 8 in A new species of Dryocalamus (Serpentes: Colubridae) endemic to the rainforests of southwestern Sri Lanka
No full textFIGURE 8. Distinctive colour morphs of Dryocalamus nympha, in life (not collected) (A) the black and white form, from Girithale, (B) brown and off white form, from Vidataltivu, (C) brown and pale yellow form, from Mannar and (D) brown and yellow form, from Jaffna.Published as part of Vidanapathirana, L.J. Mendis Wickramasinghe Dulan Ranga, Pushpamal, Vishan & Wickramasinghe, Nethu, 2020, A new species of Dryocalamus (Serpentes: Colubridae) endemic to the rainforests of southwestern Sri Lanka, pp. 248-260 in Zootaxa 4748 (2) on page 256, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4748.2.2, http://zenodo.org/record/369875
Cnemaspis 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>
Annotated checklist of millipedes (Myriapoda: Diplopoda) of Sri Lanka
No full textDe Zoysa, H. K. S., Nguyen, Anh D., Wickramasinghe, S. (2016): Annotated checklist of millipedes (Myriapoda: Diplopoda) of Sri Lanka. Zootaxa 4061 (5): 451-482, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4061.5.
Recognition of falls using dense sensing in an ambient assisted living environment
No full textAbstract not availableAsanga Wickramasinghe, Roberto Luis Shinmoto Torres, Damith C. Ranasingh
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
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