Bunopus Blanford, 1874

Fathinia, Behzad, Karamiani, Rasoul, Darvishnia, Hamid, Heidari, Naghi & Rastegar-Pouyani, Nasrullah, 2011, A new species of Carinatogecko (Sauria: Gekkonidae) from Ilam Province, western Iran, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 5 (1), pp. 61-74 : 71

Comparison with the genus Bunopus Blanford, 1874

The new species described here, at first glance, is similar to Bunopus tuberculatus Blanford, 1874 in the absence of postmentals and, to some extent, in overall body pattern ( Figs. 9-10a ). In order to reveal distinguishing characters separating C. ilamensis sp. nov. from B. tuberculatus , some photographs from different body parts of both taxa were taken and compared ( Fig. 10 ). For this purpose, specimens of B. tuberculatus deposited in the RUZM were analyzed and photographed.

In both compared species, postmentals are absent and the mental has an irregular rear edge, bordered by 3-7 smooth granular scales in B. tuberculatus and 6-7 keeled granular scales in C. ilamensis sp. nov. ( Fig. 10a ); dorsum covered by small, juxtaposed, smooth scales intermixed with enlarged, keeled, trihedral tubercles in B. tuberculatus , and tubercles are much larger than surrounding scales, while dorsum is covered by keeled scales intermixed with strongly keeled tubercles in C. ilamensis sp. nov., and dorsal scales are approximately half the size of tubercles ( Fig. 10b ); belly is covered with small, smooth, subcircular, juxtaposed scales in B. tuberculatus and by small, keeled, approximately subimbricate scales in C. ilamensis sp. nov. ( Fig. 10c ); preanal pores present in males of both species and separated from ventrals by several rows of scales, weekly developed in C. ilamensis sp. nov. and lower in number than those of B. tuberculatus ( Fig. 10d ); upper caudal scales smooth in B. tuberculatus and keeled in C. ilamensis sp. nov.; caudal tubercles more prominent in C. ilamensis sp. nov. than in B. tuberculatus ( Fig. 10e ); ventral part of tail in B. tuberculatus covered by smooth scales and some scales are more or less platelike and larger than adjacent ones, while in C. ilamensis sp. nov. scales of ventral part of tail are keeled, not plate-like, and almost the same size ( Fig. 10f ). Table 1 represents comparison of some major morphological characters between these two taxa.

Figures

Figure 9. Comparison of dorsal pattern in a) Carinatogecko aspratilis, b) C. heteropholis, c) C. ilamensis sp. nov., and d) C. stevenandersoni (d from Torki 2011).

Figure 10. Comparison of mental shape and postmental region in all four species of Carinatogecko. a) C. stevenandersoni, b) C. aspratilis, c) C. heteropholis, and d) C. ilamensis sp. nov. (a and b from Torki 2011).