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2 September 2021 A New Species of Hemidactylus Goldfuss, 1820 (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from Sri Lanka with Redescription of H. hunae Deraniyagala, 1937
A.A. Thasun Amarasinghe, Suranjan Karunarathna, Patrick D. Campbell, Majintha Madawala, Anslem de Silva
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Abstract

We describe a large gecko of genus Hemidactylus from the southern face peneplain foothills of the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka. It closely resembles Hemidactylus hunae but is distinguished by adult males reaching 121.2 mm snout–vent length; presence of 11 or 12 supralabials at the midorbit position; dorsal scalation of homogeneous granules intermixed with large, conical, carinate tubercles that form 12–14 irregularly arranged longitudinal rows at midbody; dorsal furrow distinct with a narrow space between medial parasagittal rows; 3 or 4 pairs of postmentals; no spine-like tubercles on nape; ventrals in 36–39 rows at midbody; 21–24 femoral pores on each side separated medially by 5–7 nonpored enlarged scales; scales on posterior thigh granular, not enlarged; lamellae divided, 12 or 13 below the fourth toe; tail segmented with whorls of lateral tubercles, with each whorl consisting of 6 enlarged, conical, carinate tubercles; median row enlarged and broad; single postcloacal tubercle (spur) on each side; and body dorsum with a series of black edged bright saddles from occiput to tail tip. Additionally, we provide a redescription for H. hunae based on its adult female holotype.

© 2021 by The Herpetologists' League, Inc.
A.A. Thasun Amarasinghe, Suranjan Karunarathna, Patrick D. Campbell, Majintha Madawala, and Anslem de Silva "A New Species of Hemidactylus Goldfuss, 1820 (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from Sri Lanka with Redescription of H. hunae Deraniyagala, 1937," Herpetologica 77(3), 259-272, (2 September 2021). https://doi.org/10.1655/Herpetologica-D-21-00003.1
Accepted: 2 June 2021; Published: 2 September 2021
KEYWORDS
biogeography
cryptic species
ecology
gecko
natural history
taxonomy
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