Cnemaspis omari, Grismer & Wood & Anuar & Riyanto & Ahmad & Muin & Sumontha & Grismer & Onn & Quah & Pauwels, 2014

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 : 54-58

Cnemaspis omari sp. nov.

Omar’s Rock Gecko

Fig. 26

Cnemaspis chanardi Grismer et al. 2010a:24 (in part)

Cnemaspis roticanai Grismer 2011a:367 (in part)

Holotype. Adult male ( LSUHC 9978 ) collected by Evan S. H. Quah and M. A. Muin on 11 March 2011 at Wang Kelian , Perlis, Peninsular Malaysia (06°41.805 N, 100°10.751 E) at 150 meters above sea level.

Paratypes. Adult female ( LSUHC 9979 ) bears the same data as the holotype. Adult females ( LSUHC 9564–65 ) collected by Kirati Kunya from the Phuphaphet Cave , Muang District, Satun Province, Thailand on 6 October 2009. LSUHC 9564 was previously considered a paratype of C. chanardi ( Grismer et al. 2010a:17) .

Diagnosis. Maximum SVL 41.3 mm; eight or nine supralabials; seven or eight infralabials; keeled ventral scales; four contiguous pore-bearing precloacal scales with round pores; body tuberculation strong; 22–29 paravertebral tubercles; dorsal tubercles bear weak linear arrangement; tubercles present on flanks; no tubercles in lateral caudal furrows; ventrolateral caudal tubercles absent; caudal tubercles encircling tail; lateral caudal tubercle row present; subcaudals keeled, no enlarged median row; one postcloacal tubercle on each side of tail base; no enlarged femoral or subtibial scales; subtibials keeled; no enlarged submetatarsal scales on first toe; and 25–28 subdigital fourth toe lamellae; light colored prescapular crescent; gular region, belly, underside of hind limbs, and subcaudal region yellow in males (Tables 6,7).

Description of holotype. Adult male; SVL 41.3 mm; head oblong in dorsal profile, moderate in size (HL/SVL 0.27), somewhat narrow (HW/SVL 0.17), flat (HD/HL 0.41), distinct from neck; snout short (ES/HL 0.50), concave in lateral profile; postnasal region constricted medially, raised; scales of rostrum weakly keeled, larger than similarly shaped scales on occiput; moderate, supraorbital ridges; shallow frontonasal sulcus; canthus rostralis smoothly rounded; eye large (ED/HL 0.23); extra-brillar fringe scales small in general but largest anteriorly; pupil round; ear opening oval, taller than wide; rostral concave dorsally, dorsal 75% divided by longitudinal groove; rostral bordered posteriorly by two supranasals and one smaller azygous scale, laterally by first supralabials and nostrils; 8R,L raised supralabials of similar size; 7R,L infralabials, decreasing gradually in size posteriorly; nostrils small, oblong, oriented dorsoposteriorly, bordered posteriorly by small, granular, postnasal scales; mental large, triangular, medially concave, extending to level of second infralabial, bordered posteriorly by three postmentals, lateral postmentals largest; gular and throat scales raised, smooth, somewhat pointed; throat scales larger.

Body slender, elongate (AG/SVL 0.50); small, weakly keeled, dorsal scales equal in size throughout body, intermixed with numerous, large, multi-keeled, semi-longitudinally arranged tubercles; tubercles extend from occiput to base of tail and are smallest anteriorly; 29 paravertebral tubercles; pectoral and abdominal scales flat, keeled, subimbricate, equal in size, much larger than dorsals; four pore-bearing, precloacal scales arranged in a 2(R)–2(L) chevron, separated medially by two non-pore-bearing scales; forelimbs moderately long (FL/SVL 0.17), slender, dorsal scales keeled; ventral scales of forearm smooth, juxtaposed to subimbricate; palmar scales smooth, juxtaposed, raised; digits long with an inflected joint; claws recurved; subdigital lamellae unnotched; subdigital lamellae wide throughout proximal portion of digits to inflection, more granular after inflection, bearing a larger scale at the digital inflections; interdigital webbing absent; fingers increase in length from first to fourth with fifth slightly shorter than fourth; hind limbs longer and thicker than forelimbs (TBL/SVL 0.21); dorsal scales keeled, raised, juxtaposed; ventral scales of thigh, raised, keeled; subtibials keeled, larger than dorsal tibials; plantar scales smooth, slightly raised, juxtaposed; no enlarged submetatarsal scales beneath first metatarsal; digits elongate with an inflected joint; claws recurved; subdigital lamellae unnotched; lamellae wide throughout length of digits except at base where scales are more granular; enlarged, scale at the digital inflections; interdigital webbing absent; toes increase in length from first to fourth with fourth being longest; 27R,26L subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; caudal scales arranged in segmented whorls; caudal scales raised, keeled, juxtaposed anteriorly; moderate, middorsal furrow; deep, single, lateral furrow; subcaudals keeled, no enlarged median row of scales; opposing paravertebral, dorsolateral, and lateral rows of large, keeled, equally sized, caudal tubercles; no ventrolateral caudal tubercles; caudal tubercles encircle tail, absent from lateral furrow; 1R,L postcloacal tubercle on lateral surface of hemipenal swellings at base of tail; anterior 11.9 mm original, reamainder 17.0 mm regenerated.

Coloration in life ( Fig. 26 ). Dorsal ground color of head, body, limbs and tail pale-yellow; rostrum bearing diffuse, faint brown spots; single, diffuse, black, postorbital stripe extending to occiput; diffuse, light yellow, oblong, vertebral marking on nape; paired, brown nape spots followed by pair of brown, paravertebral spots on neck followed by five small, irregularly shaped, brown, spots terminating at base of tail; original portion of tail faintly banded; regenerated portion of tail uniform pale gray; butterfly-shaped, pale-yellow, vertebral markings between paired, brown spots; yellow prescapular crescent followed by faint, semi-transversely arranged, yellow bars on flanks; forelimbs bearing yellowish blotches and scattered faint, dark markings; hind limbs bearing yellowish blotches and dark markings resembling a reticulate pattern; digits bearing dark bands; gular region yellowish orange; throat beige; abdomen, ventral surface of hind limbs, and subcaudal region yellow; ventral surface of forelimbs beige; all ventral scales bearing small, black stippling.

Variation. The paratypes resemble the holotype in coloration ( Fig. 26 ). The difference is that the Thai specimens are generally darker and more boldly patterned. The light nape marking on LSUHC 9979 is particularly apparent. Meristic and mensural differences are presented in Table 8 .

Comparisons. Cnemaspis omari sp. nov. is one of five confirmed species in the siamensis group ( Fig. 2 ). Within this group, it forms a monophyletic lineage with C. chanardi and its sister species C. roticanai . This lineage is diagnosed by the presence of a light colored prescapular crescent. Cnemaspis omari sp. nov. most closely resembles C. roticanai but differs from it in being smaller (max SVL 41.3 vs 47.0); having a lateral row of caudal tubercles; caudal tubercles that encircle the tail; and having a sequence divergence of 7.2% from C. roticanai ( Table 4 ). It differs from C. chanardi in having four as opposed to 6–8 pore-bearing precloacal scales; and lacking a median row of enlarged subcaudal scales. From C. siamensis , C. omari is separated by having as opposed to lacking precloacal pores; having caudal tubercles that encircle the tail; lacking a row of enlarged median subcaudal scales; having a light colored pre-scapular crescent; and lacking dark, gular blotches. Form C. huaseesom , C. omari sp. nov. differs in having keeled as opposed to smooth ventral scales; having four pore-bearing scales with round pores as opposed to 5–8 pore-bearing scales with elongate pores; having keeled as opposed to smooth subcaudal and subtibial scales; having caudal tubercles that encircle the tail; having a light-colored pre-scapular crescent; and lacking a yellow head, forelimbs, and tail in adult males.

Etymology. We name this species in honor of the current Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Professor Dato’ Omar Osman. This is a sign of appreciation for all the support and funding from the university and for accelerating the research of biodiversity and wildlife studies in Peninsular Malaysia for many years.

Natural history. At the Phuphaphet Cave area in Satun, Thailand at 220 m in elevation, Grismer et al. (2010a) reported lizards being collected and observed during the day on the buttresses of trees and within tree holes between 1.5–2 m above the ground along a footpath in old, secondary forest. All the trees upon which the lizards were observed had holes into which the lizards would retreat upon provocation. Several rock outcrops were nearby but no lizards were observed on them. We have made similar observations on lizards from Perlis, Malaysia ( Fig. 27 ), observing them at night on the trunks of large trees. LSUHC 9564 from the Phuphaphet Cave area was carrying two eggs indicating that the reproductive season extends through October .

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 26. Cnemaspis omari sp. nov. Upper left: adult male holotype (LSUHC 9978) from Perlis State Park, Perlis, Peninsular Malaysia in the light color pattern phase. Middle left: adult female paratype (LSUHC 9979) from Perlis State Park, Perlis, Peninsular Malaysia in the light color pattern phase. Photographs by ESHQ. Upper and middle right: adult female paratype (LSUHC 9564) and subadult (LSUDPC 8299), respectively, from Phuphapet Cave, Satun Province, Thailand in dark color pattern phase. Photographs by MS. Lower: type series of C. omari sp. nov. Photograph by LLG.

FIGURE 27. Lowland dipterocarp forest of Cnemaspis omari sp. nov. at Perlis State Park, Perlis, Peninsular Malaysia. Photograph by LLG.