Cnemaspis kumpoli Taylor, 1963

Grismer, Lee, Wood, Perry L., Anuar, Shahrul, Riyanto, Awal, Ahmad, Norhayati, Muin, Mohd A., Sumontha, Montri, Grismer, Jesse L., Onn, Chan Kin, Quah, Evan S. H. & Pauwels, Olivier S. A., 2014, Systematics and natural history of Southeast Asian Rock Geckos (genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887) with descriptions of eight new species from Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, Zootaxa 3880 (1), pp. 1-147 : 38-40

Cnemaspis kumpoli Taylor, 1963

Kumpol’s Rock Gecko

Fig. 14

Holotype. FMNH 178268 . Type locality: “ Khao Chong , Forestry Experimental Station, Trang province, Thailand.”

Diagnosis. Maximum SVL 63.0 mm; 7–9 supralabials; 6–8 infralabials; ventral scales smooth; 1–8, discontinuous, pore-bearing precloacal scales with round, poorly developed pores; 28–35 paravertebral tubercles; body tubercles randomly arranged, present on flanks; tubercles in lateral caudal furrows anteriorly; no ventrolateral caudal tubercles; no lateral caudal row of tubercles; caudal tubercles not encircling tail; subcaudals smooth bearing a median row of enlarged scales; two or three postcloacal tubercles on each side of tail base; no enlarged femoral, subtibial or submetatarsal scales; subtibials smooth; 34–41 subdigital fourth toe lamellae; single ocellus in shoulder region in males; red bands on forelimbs and hind limbs in males; and reddish blotches on dorsum and tail in males (Tables 6,7).

Color pattern ( Fig. 14 ). Adult males: dorsal ground color lime-green to yellow, overlain by red blotches on head (usually), body, limbs, and tail; round, red to brownish, paravertebral markings extend from just posterior to forelimb insertions to base of tail alternating with smaller, yellow, paravertebral blotches; smaller, more irregularly shaped, red blotches occur on flanks and limbs, those on tail tend to form bands; poorly defined, black markings occur on anterior margin of nape highlighting a white, nuchal band between it and large, black, shoulder patches; a single, whitish, longitudinal bar enclosed in each shoulder patch; shoulder patches narrowly meet on midline of body; ventral surfaces beige, immaculate; subcaudal region faintly mottled. Adult females and juveniles: ground color dull yellow; no red or brownish markings on head or limbs; no black shoulder patches enclosing ocelli; yellow markings on head anteriorly; paired, symmetrical dark and light markings on occiput; a series of white, vertebral blotches alternating with paired, dark vertebral blotches extend from nape to base of tail then transforming into indistinct, caudal bands; regularly shaped, dark and light markings on flanks and limbs; ventral surfaces beige, immaculate; faint, subcaudal mottling pattern present. The illustration of Cnemaspis kumpoli in Das (2010:57) is misleading and the description of this species’ color pattern ( Das 2010:202) does not take into account its marked sexual dimorphism.

Distribution. Cnemaspis kumpoli ranges from southern Thailand south of the Isthmus of Kra from the Khao Chong Forest Reserve, Trang, Satun, and Songkhla provinces, southwestern to extreme northwestern Malaysia where it is known only from Kaki Bukit, Perlis and Perlis State Park along the Thai-Malaysian border ( Grismer 2011a; Grismer et al. 2010a; Fig. 4 ).

Natural history. In Peninsular Malaysia, Cnemaspis kumpoli occurs in rocky areas composed of granite boulders within primary, lowland dipterocarp forest and has not been observed on nearby karst formations ( Grismer 2011a). Lizards are seen at night on large boulders of granite outcroppings on steep hillsides that often border streams. They are quite active, remain wary, and do not venture far from safe retreats between the rocks, within rock cracks, or from near burrows at the base of the rocks. Grismer (2011a) reported finding a pair of adults on the base of a large tree near granite boulders. No specimens have been observed abroad during the day and females carrying two eggs have been reported during June and September ( Grismer 2011a).

Relationships. Cnemaspis kumpoli is a member of the Pattani clade and the sister species of C. niyomwanae ( Fig. 2 ).

Remarks. Despite the fact that Cnemaspis kumpoli is a large, nocturnal, granite dwelling species embedded in a clade of small, diurnal karst-dwellers it bears none of the characteristics seen in most other large granite dwelling species (i.e., C. argus , C. limi , C. mcguirei and C. perhentianensis ) such as keeled ventrals, keeled subtibials, and keeled subcaudal scales and strong dorsal tuberculation. Instead, it is weakly tubreculated and has smooth ventrals, subtibtials, and subcaudal scales bearing a median row of enlarged scales, as do many other karst-dwelling species.

Material examined. Malaysia: Perlis: Perlis State Park LSUHC 8846–49 , 8990–95 , 9035 . Thailand: Songkhla Province, Had Yai Disrict, Nga Chang Waterfall near the Ton Nga Waterfall MS 393–94 .

Northern Sunda clade

The Northern Sunda clade is a lineage containing 28 species within four species groups (the chanthaburiensis , siamensis , argus , and affinis groups) that collectively frame the northern and western borders of the South China Sea from southern Vietnam to central Peninsular Malaysia (Figs. 2,3).

Chanthaburiensis group. The chanthaburiensis species group is composed of six species that range across southern Indochina from southern Vietnam to Thailand along the mountainous coastline bordering the northern shores of the Gulf of Thailand. The basal lineage of this group is composed of the sister species Cnemaspis chanthaburiensis Bauer & Das from eastern Thailand and southwestern Cambodia and C. neangthyi Grismer, Grismer & Chav from southwestern Cambodia ( Fig. 3 ). The sister lineage of this group is composed of the geographically proximate, microendemic, granite-dwellers C. aurantiacopes Grismer & Ngo ; C. caudanivea Grismer & Ngo ; C. nuicamensis Grismer & Ngo ; and C. tucdupensis Grismer & Ngo from continental and insular southern Vietnam ( Fig. 3 ). This is a well-supported lineage that is further supported here in that they are the only species of Cnemaspis that have a dark, mid-gular line, which we hypothesize to be a synapomorphy based on its absence from all other Cnemaspis and outgroups and thus constitutes further evidence of their monophyly. Their close, circumscribed, geographic proximity across a previously connected range of mountain tops ( Grismer & Ngo 2007) is consistent with this hypothesis.

This group is diagnosed by having a maximum SVL of 40.9–58.4 mm; 7–13 supralabials; 7–12 infralabials; smooth ventral scales; 0–9 pore-bearing precloacal pores; 16–31 paravertebral tubercles; smooth subcaudals bearing a slightly enlarged to enlarged median row; 0–4 postcloacal tubercles; no enlarged femoral or subtibial scales; and 22–33 subdigital lamellae on the fourth toe.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Maximum-likelihood phylogram (–InL 73957.608688) of the species of the genus Cnemaspis with Bayesian posterior probabilities (BPP) and maximum-likelihood (ML) bootstrap values, respectively based on the concatenated 3 gene dataset. Black circles are nodes supported by BBP and ML values greater than 0.95 and 70, respectively. Gray circles are nodes supported only by ML values greater than 70. White circles are nodes supported only by BPP values greater than 0.95. The distribution maps on the right delimit the ranges of the four major clades.

FIGURE 3. Distribution of the species and species groups in the Ca Mau and Northern Sunda clades. Stars indicate type localities.

FIGURE 4. Distribution of the species in the Pattani and Southern Sunda clades. Stars indicate type localities.

FIGURE 14. Cnemaspis kumpoli. Upper left and right: adult female (LSUDPC 4222) and adult male (LSUDPC 4220), respectively, from Perlis State Park, Perlis, Peninsular Malaysia in the dark color pattern phase. Lower left: granite boulder microhabitat at Perlis State Park. Photographs by LLG. Lower right: adult male (LSUDPC 8271) from Songkhla, Songkhla Province, Thailand in the light color pattern phase. Photograph by MS.