Afroedura rondavelica, Jacobsen, Niels H. G., Kuhn, Arianna L., Jackman, Todd R. & Bauer, Aaron M., 2014

Jacobsen, Niels H. G., Kuhn, Arianna L., Jackman, Todd R. & Bauer, Aaron M., 2014, A phylogenetic analysis of the southern African gecko genus Afroedura Loveridge (Squamata: Gekkonidae), with the description of nine new species from Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa, Zootaxa 3846 (4), pp. 451-501 : 482-483

Afroedura rondavelica sp. nov.

( Fig. 9 C)

Unnamed taxon, Jacobsen 1997

Holotype. TM 81238, adult male, Blyde River Nature Reserve, 24°34' S, 30°50' E, Pilgrim’s Rest District (2430DB), Mpumalanga Province, Republic of South Africa, collector N. H. G. Jacobsen, 18 December 1991.

Paratype. TM 81237, same data as for holotype.

Etymology. The name refers to the ‘Three Rondavels,’ prominent mountain peaks in the Blyde River Nature Reserve with the appearance of round thatch roofed huts (= rondavels). The specimens were collected on cliff faces of one of these.

Diagnosis. A mid-sized Afroedura (to 55 mm SVL) differing from all other congeners by the following combination of characters: two pairs of enlarged subdigital lamellae per digit; tail cylindrical, weakly verticillate, with four subcaudal rows and seven supracaudal rows per verticil; dorsal scales smooth, 99–100 scale rows at midbody; a single internasal scale separating the nasorostrals; 7–9 precloacal pores in males.

Description. (based on holotype TM 81238) Adult male; 51.0 mm SVL; TailL 61.0 mm; mass in life 2.4 g. Head and body elongated and dorsoventrally depressed. Tail slightly flattened at base, thereafter cylindrical and tapered. Head ovate and much broader than neck. Rostral approximately twice as broad as high. Nostril pierced between rostral, first upper labial and three nasal scales. Nasorostrals large, raised and separated by a single granular scale behind rostral. Scales on snout large, becoming smaller posteriorly. Eleven scales between nasals and eye and 23 between eye and ear. Two to three supraciliary spines. Supralabials eight. Mental wedge-shaped, much broader than deep and in contact with two postmentals. Infralabials seven.

Dorsal granules smooth, rounded and more or less homogeneous, juxtaposed but becoming oblique laterally and subimbricate. Midbody scales in 99 rows. Ventral scales smooth, imbricate and almost hexagonal, with thin margins. Limbs relatively slender; digits with two pairs of scansors; eight enlarged inferomedian scales under the fourth toe. Seven continuous precloacal pores arranged in a ‘V’-shape. Tail mostly cylindrical, only faintly verticillate with 7–8 dorsal and four ventral rows per verticil. Supracaudals square to rectangular and subimbricate; subcaudals imbricate, mostly squarish, with rounded to pointed posterior margins. Two postcloacal spurs on either side of tail base.

Color. Dorsally pale brown to gray-brown with six dark crossbands extending from the crown of the head to the sacrum. Posterior margin of crossbands edged with white. Crown of head similar to the back, bordered laterally by a dark brown stripe extending from the nostrils through the eye and continuous with the occipital bar. Limbs lightly barred with brown with irregular dorsal blotches between the crossbars. Eleven blackish dorsal crossbars extend down the length of the tail. Proximal bars posteriorly edged with white, fading distally. Venter pinkish off-white.

Variation. The sole paratype, TM 81237, another adult male is larger than the holotype (55.0 mm SVL; TailL 68.0 mm). It differs in having 23 scales between eye and ear, 3-4 supraciliary spines, nine supralabials, eight infralabials; 100 midbody scale rows; seven enlarged inferomedian scales under the fourth toe; nine precloacal pores in a shallow forward-directed curve (four left, five right), and three enlarged postcloacal spurs at base of tail.

Distribution. Apparently restricted to the Three Rondavels in the Blyde River Nature Reserve ( Fig. 6 ).

Natural history. This gecko appears to be a cliff dweller, inhabiting horizontal and vertical crevices in sandstone near the base of cliffs. Appears to be gregarious based on the amount of feces observed, but the two individuals collected were solitary in crevices along south-facing cliffs. Occurs in Northern Escarpment Quartzite Sourveld (GM 23) ( Mucina & Rutherford 2006) at an elevation of 1300 m a.s.l.

Remarks. Afroedura rondavelica sp. nov. was not sampled in our genetic analyses, chiefly because of the difficulty in accessing the type locality. Jacobsen (1997) noted the existence of the Three Rondavels population of Afroedura , but did not mention its assignment to species complex. However, its weakly verticillate tail, smooth dorsal scales, and internasal as well as its geographic position suggest that it is allied to A. marleyi , A. maripi sp. nov. and A. pongola sp. nov. It may be distinguished from these taxa by its much lower precloacal pore counts (see Remarks under A. pongola sp. nov.). It is also smaller and less stocky than its nearest neighbour, A. maripi sp. nov., and lacks the olive-brown, velvety appearance of that species.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Map of Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, South Africa and adjacent regions showing the distributions of previously described species of Afroedura endemic to this region and known localities of the nine new species described in this paper. For previously recognized forms an approximate outline of the range based on Bates et al. (2014) is shown; genetically sampled localities are marked by circles in Figure 4. For new species all known localities are plotted as dots (see relevant species accounts), with genetically sampled site marked by circles with a a red center, type locality marked by a star, and all other localities indicated by open circles colored to correspond to the key in the figure. The very restricted distributions of A. maripi sp. nov., A. rondavelica sp. nov., and A. rupestris sp. nov. are indicated by arrows and are labeled directly on the map.

FIGURE 9. New species in the Afroedura marleyi group. (A) Afroedura maripi sp. nov. from Mariepskop, Mpumalanga, South Africa (Photo Marius Burger). (B) Afroedura pongola sp. nov. from from west of Pongola, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (Photo Johan Marais). (C) Afroedura rondavelica sp. nov. from the Three Rondavels, Blyde River Nature Reserve, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa (24 ° 34 ' S, 30 ° 50 ' E) (Photo by N. H. G. Jacobsen).