Afroedura maripi, 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 : 477-481

Afroedura maripi sp. nov.

( Fig. 9 A)

Afroedura 'maripi' Jacobsen 1992a, 1997

Holotype. TM 81262, adult male, Mariepskop, 24°32' S, 30°53' E, Pilgrim's Rest District (2430DB), Limpopo Province, Republic of South Africa, collector R. E. Newbery, 25 June 1982.

Paratypes. (all from same locality as holotype) TM 81248–81249, 81251–81255, 81257–81259, 81261, 81263–81264, same data as holotype; TM 81250, 81256, 81260, 81265, collector N. H. G. Jacobsen, 29 October 1980; TM 58031–58032, collector R. E. Newbery, 5 June 1984; TM 58118, collector R. E. Newbery, 21 November 1984; TM 62907–62909, collector R. E. Newbery, 21 February 1985; TM 64021, collector R. E. Newbery, 1 June 1984.

Etymology. The species name refers to the local name for Mariepskop, the type locality.

Diagnosis. A large Afroedura (to 63 mm SVL) differing from all other congeners by the following combination of characters: two pairs of enlarged subdigital lamellae per digit; a single internasal granule between nasorostrals; tail not obviously verticillate, with 4–5 subcaudal rows and 6–8 supracaudal rows per verticil; dorsal scales smooth, in 96–108 rows at midbody; a single internasal scale; 11–13 precloacal pores in males.

Description. (based on holotype TM 81262) Adult male; SVL 57.0 mm; tail 61.0 mm (partly regenerated); mass in life 3.3 g. Head and body dorso-ventally depressed. Head oval and wider than neck, body broad and limbs relatively short, digits stout. Rostral twice as broad as high, more or less octagonal; nostril pierced between rostral, first upper labial and three nasal scales; nasorostrals separated by a single large granular scale. Scales on snout rounded to conical, larger than those on crown. Scales between nasals and anterior margin of eye 12, and from eye to ear 24. Four supraciliary spines at posterodorsal corner of eye. Supralabials 10. Mental wider than deep; postmentals three; infralabials eight.

Dorsals smooth, uniform, each scale raised posteriorly and juxtaposed; scales at midbody 107. Ventral scales smooth, flattened and imbricate. Digits stout with two pairs of enlarged scansors and five enlarged inferomedian scales under fourth toe, not reaching the base. Precloacal pores 13, arranged in a continuous ‘V’-shaped pattern. Tail regenerated and constricted at base. Two postcloacal spurs on either side of tail base.

Color. Olive-brown to olive-gray above with variable blackish crossbars extending from occiput to sacrum. Crown of head variably marked, filigreed to reticulate. Interstices between bars are reticulate laterally. Limbs barred or variegated. Tail with approximately 10 black bars, becoming more irregular and diffuse posteriorly. Chin, throat, chest and abdomen whitish. Underside of tail grayish brown, faintly barred.

Variation. Paratypes and other specimens agree with the holotype in most features of scalation ( Table 4). Endolymphatic sacs distended in adult female paratype TM 81260. Scales between nasals and eye 11–13, from eye to ear 20–23. Supraciliary spines 2–4. Rostral and mental scales variable in relative proportion and shape. Postmentals 2–3. Supralabials 9–10, infralabials 7–8.

Midbody scale rows 96–108. Inferomedian scales under the fourth toe 5–8. Precloacal pores in male paratypes 11–13, females lacking pores. Postcloacal spurs 2–3, rarely four. Original tails 52.1–53.9% of total length and tapered. Tail with 6–8 (mostly seven) dorsal and four (rarely five) ventral scale rows per indistinct verticil. Supracaudals subimbricate with a rounded to pointed posterior margin; subcaudals broad and imbricate.Caudal autotomy evident in 76.3 % of individuals.

Distribution. Restricted to the slopes of Mariepskop and God’s Window area of the Eastern Escarpment, in apparently two disjunct populations ( Fig. 6 ). Occurrence in the latter area is verified by a photo voucher.

Natural history. Usually associated with rocky outcrops on west-facing slopes of Mariepskop, frequently in the partial shade of pine plantations but also found on outcrops of Black Reef quartzites on top of the escarpment in the shade of indigenous montane forest. Preferred retreats include crevices under flakes of exfoliating rock and dark overhangs of large boulders. Found in Ohrigstad Mountain Bushveld (SVcb 26) and Northern Escarpment Quartzitic Sourveld (GM 23) ( Mucina & Rutherford 2006) at elevations of 1700–1900 m a.s.l.

data sample sizes, maxima and adult means ± 1 S.D. are given by sex fοr taxa newly described herein; maxima οnly (regardless οf sex) are prοvided fοr previοusly recοgnized taxa. Internasal

Pοstmenal cοunts shοw the character states recοrded and, parenthetically, the number οf specimens exhibiting each state. verticil cοunts are presented as supracaudal scale rοws fοllοwed

subcaudal scale rοws. All οther cοunts are presented as mean ±1 S.D. Sample sizes fοr scale cοunts are the same as listed fοr Internasal (Intern) and Pοstmental (Pοstm) cοnditiοns.

Τaxοn SvL (mm) Mass (g) Intern (n) Pοstm (n) Supralabials Infralabials Eye-Ear Midbοdy Scale verticils Preclοacal

Rοws supra⁄sub Pοres

transvaalica grοup

transvaalica 64.0 5.4 0(35) 2(28) 9.60 ± 0.80 8.81±0.70 18.13± 0.81 109.13±3.83 7-8 6.20±0.83

1(2) 3(9) 5

nivaria grοup

pondolia 58.0 - 1(8) 1(2) 9.27 8.30 23.86 102.92 6-7 14.50 2(5) 2(14) 4 3(4)

multiporis grοup

haackei 52.0 2.3 0(3) 2(16) 9.06± 0.68 8.38± 0.62 16.86± 0.86 90.36± 4.27 6-7 25.83±1.64

1(13) 3-4

major 76.0 - 2(3) 2(3) 11.00 9.33 22.17 106.50 8 18.50 4

multiporis 66.5 5.5 1(11) 1(1) 9.10± 0.70 8.60±0.67 20.60±1.51 99.60±4.33 6-7 16.67±0.58

2(10) 3-4

rupestris sp. nov. 9♂,3♀ 8♂,3♀ 0(1) 1(1) 9.79±1.05 8.36±0.63 18.77±1.17 90.14±4.90 6-7 22.12±1.96

62.0♂,56.0♀ 5.8♂,3.9♀ 1(11) 2(10) 3 54.5 + 4.0 ♂ 3.5 + 1.1♂ 2(2) 3(3)

54.7 + 1.5♀ 3.0 + 1.0♀

marleyi grοup

marleyi 36.0 1.2 1(17) 2(14) 8.47±0.87 8.18±0.64 19.1±1.68 88.77±3.00 6-7 13.40±0.89

3(3) 4-5

maripi sp. nov. 7♂,9♀ 7♂,9♀ 1(13) 2(13) 9.59±0.67 8.18±0.73 21.81±1.38 102.56±3.81 7-8 12.29±0.95

63.0♂,63.0♀ 3.8♂,6.5♀ 3(8) 4-5 56.7 + 5.2 ♂ 3.0 + 0.5♂

56.7 + 5.1♀ 3.3 + 1.4♀

pongola sp. nov. 5♂,5♀ 5♂,3♀ 1(12) 2(8) 9.00± 0.58 8.08±0.28 20.77±1.42 98.22±3.07 6-7 22.40±0.89

35.0♂,40.0♀ 1.0♂,0.9♀ 2(1) 3(5) 4-5 34.1 + 0.6 ♂ 0.8 + 0.2♂

38.0 + 1.4♀ 0.8 + 0.1♀

…… continued on the next page Two eggs are laid at a time during August–October. They are soft when laid, adhering to the rock and hardening, as has been reported for A. halli ( Power 1939) . The eggs measure 9.5–10.9 x 7.8–9.3 mm and take approximately two months to hatch. Neonates measure 23.0 mm SVL, 21.0 mm TailL, with a mass of 0.25-0.30 g.

Remarks. Afroedura maripi sp. nov. was included by Jacobsen (1990, 1992a, 1997) in his A. pondolia complex, but our molecular results suggest that while other members of this proposed complex— A. marleyi , A. pongola sp. nov., and presumably A. rondavelica sp. nov. (also unsampled genetically), as well as A. maripi sp. nov. —do form a monophyletic group, referred to as the A. marleyi group, A. pondolia is only distantly related. It may be distinguished from A. pongola sp. nov. and especially A. marleyi on the basis of its greater number of midbody scale rows (mean of 102.56 versus 98.22 and 88.77, respectively) and larger size (maximum SVL 63 mm versus 40 mm and 36 mm, respectively) and has substantially fewer precloacal pores than A. pongola sp. nov. (11–13 versus 21–23). It also has significantly more supralabial scales than A. marleyi (p <0.001, t37 d.f.).It is larger (60 mm versus 55 mm maximum SVL) and has more precloacal pores (11–13 versus 7–9) than A. rondavelica sp. nov.

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).