Carinatogecko ilamensis, Fathinia & Karamiani & Darvishnia & Heidari & Abstract.-A & Township & Province, 2011

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 : 62-70

Carinatogecko ilamensis sp. nov. ( Figs. 2-7 , 9b , 10 a-d, 11c, 12d)

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2E9C0362-DCA6-481B-B9BB-26C60FCE7D5F

Holotype

An adult male ( RUZM-GC 120.1), collected by Hamid Darvishnia on 8 August 2011, 500-600 m above sea level, on the western gypsum foothills of the Zagros Mountains, Zarin-Abad region, Dehloran Township,

A new species of Carinatogecko

Ilam Province, southwestern Iran at the coordinates of 32°57′51″ N and 47°03′23″ E .

Paratype

A subadult specimen ( RUZM-GC120.2 ), collected by Behzad Fathinia on 9 August 2011 at the same locality as holotype .

Diagnosis

Snout-vent length (SVL) in holotype and paratype 36.5 and 29.3 mm respectively. As in all congeners, scales and tubercles all over the body strongly keeled (except upper and lower labials, nasals, rostral, and mental); dorsal scales heterogeneous, blunt; enlarged blunt tubercles on dorsum; mucronate tubercules on tail more prominent than tubercles on dorsum; homogeneous scales on forelimbs smaller than those on hindlimbs; tubercles on hindlimb few in number and all smaller than those on dorsum; polyhedral, multi-keeled scales on the head including rostral, prefrontal, and postfrontal regions; no postmental; mental bordered by 6-7 small keeled scales; scales on the ventral surface of head multi-keeled and morphologically different from those on ventral region of body and tail; ventrals equal to dorsals in length; ventral side of tail without large plate-like scales, but with keeled mucronate scales; 10-11 regular longitudinal rows of tubercles on back; 30-32 ventral and ventrolateral scales from side to side.

Dorsal regions brownish, ventral regions whitish; complete regular chocolate crossbars across dorsum, limbs, digits, and tail; dorsal side of head spotted; occiput with a transverse dark bar; supra- and infralabials with dark spots; subdigital lamellae keeled.

Description of holotype

Snout-vent length (SVL) 36.5 mm.

a) head ( Fig. 3 ): scales of frontal and supraocular regions toward snout are multi-keeled (in some scales up to six keels) and polyhedral, the keels meeting towards the tip of the scale; rostral smooth and semidivided posteriorly; nine smooth supralabials; nostril surrounded by five smooth scales including: rostral, first supralabial, and three postnasals; five scales between nostrils (first and fifth are smooth, the others keeled); mental smooth; no postmental; mental surrounded by seven small keeled scales posteriorly; seven smooth infralabials.

b) trunk ( Fig. 4 ): all tubercles and scales of dorsum keeled, mostly blunt, a few mucronate; dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; tubercles of dorsum extending to nape but absent in occiput; 11 longitudinal rows of tubercles on dorsum; dorsal tubercles surrounded by 8-10 smaller scales; 32 uniform ventrolateral and ventral keeled scales in a single transverse row to the point where they are distinguished from dorsolaterals by different color and size; ventral scales approximately equal to dorsals in length (0.5 mm); five preanal pores.

c) fore- and hindlimbs ( Fig. 5 ): scales on dorsal side of forelimbs homogeneous and smaller than those on hindlimbs; no tubercle on forelimbs; few tubercles on hindlimbs; 17 keeled lamellae under the fourth toe.

d) tail ( Fig. 6 ): caudal tubercles mucronate and more prominent than tubercles on dorsum; six tubercles at the middle of each whorl; tubercles in each whorl are in contact or separated by a small scale; tubercle of each whorl separated from preceding and succeeding whorls by three rows of scales; ventral side of tail without large plate-like scales, smaller blunt, keeled scales at the base of tail just behind the vent, but becoming strongly mucronate and keeled distally.

Figures

Figure 2. The holotype of Carinatogecko ilamensis sp. nov. in natural habitat.

Figure 3. Carinatogecko ilamensis sp. nov. a) polyhedral and multi-keeled scales on snout, b) semidivided rostral and five scales between nostril, c) smooth supra- and infralabials, d) absence of postmentals.

Figure 4. Carinatogecko ilamensis sp. nov. a) keeled scales and tubercles on dorsum, b) juxtaposed, blunt, keeled ventral scales, c) extending of dorsal tubercles onto nape and postorbital regions, but not onto occiput.

Figure 5. Carinatogecko ilamensis sp. nov. a-b) relatively homogenous scales on upper arm and forearm, respectively, c-d) larger dorsal scales and tubercles on thigh and shank, respectively.

Figure 6a. Carinatogecko ilamensis sp. nov. a) mucronate, prominent tubercles on tail, b) comparison of tubercles on sacral region and proximal part of tail.

Figure 7. The paratype of Carinatogecko ilamensis sp. nov. Dorsal view (left), ventral view (right).

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).