Cnemaspis baueri Das & Grismer, 2003

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 : 112-113

Cnemaspis baueri Das & Grismer, 2003

Bauer’s Rock Gecko

Fig. 58

Holotype. ZRC 2.5291 . Type locality: “ Kampung Berhala (2°27.507 N, 104°30.163 E), Pulau Aur, Johor, West Malaysia ” at 50 m in elevation.

Diagnosis. Maximum SVL 67.4 mm; 11–13 supralabials; 8–12 infralabials; keeled ventral scales; no precloacal pores; 18–27 paravertebral tubercles; body tubercles randomly arranged, absent to weakly present on flanks; tubercles absent from lateral caudal furrows; ventrolateral and lateral caudal rows of tubercles present; caudal tubercles encircle tail; subcaudals keeled; a median row of enlarged, keeled subcaudals present; one or two postcloacal tubercles on each side of tail base; no enlarged femoral, subtibial or submetatarsal scales; subtibials keeled; 26–32 subdigital fourth toe lamellae; uniform brown dorsal ground color; thin, yellow reticulum on occiput and nape; large, black, round spots on nape and anterior portion of body; thin, yellow, caudal bands anteriorly; posterior portion of original tail black in males; anterior caudal tubercles white (Tables 6,7).

Color pattern in life ( Fig. 58 ). Ground color of dorsal surface of head, body, and limbs dark-brown to olive; thin, yellow reticulum on the top of head; dark, postorbital stripe extends onto nape; medial, dark marking on nape; black, shoulder patches absent; 5–7 dark, vertebral blotches flanked in shoulder region by elongate, dark blotches followed by dark spots extending onto midsection of body; limbs and body faintly mottled with slightly lighter coloration; posterior two-thirds of tail black; anterior one-third encircled by large, cream-colored tubercles; regenerated tail unicolor brown; ventral surfaces of head, body, limbs, and anterior one-third of tail dull beige, immaculate; sexual dimorphism absent.

Distribution. Cnemaspis baueri is known only from Pulau Aur, Johor and the nearby rocky island of Dayang ( Grismer 2011a; Fig. 4 ). Das (2010) erroneously reports this species as being endemic to Pulau Tulai, Johor.

Natural History. Grismer (2011a) reported that Cnemaspis baueri is a saxicolous gecko common on rocky outcroppings in primary and secondary, lowland, coastal forests where it is found almost exclusively on the vertical surfaces of large granite boulders, within deep crevices, and within cave-like microhabitats formed by the aggregation of large boulders ( Fig. 58 ). During the day, the activity of C. baueri is restricted to the shaded surfaces of large boulders under the forest canopy or within the cave-like environments wherein lizards can be found in surprisingly high densities. At night, lizards venture farther out into the open onto all surfaces of the rocks but are far less active. Das & Grismer (2003) estimated finding 200– 250 egg scars on the underside of a large boulder in a communal laying site. Females carrying two eggs have been observed during July ( Grismer 2011a).

Relationships. Cnemaspis baueri is the sister species of a monophyletic group containing C. mumpuniae sp. nov., C. bidongensis , and C. peninsularis sp. nov. ( Figs. 2 , 5 ).

Material examined. West Malaysia: Johor, Pulau Aur ZRC 2.5291 – 99 (type series). Material examined since Das and Grismer (2003): West Malaysia: Johor, Pulau Aur LSUHC 3921–24 , 4700–01 , 4717–23 , 4725 , 4727 , 4729 , 4744 , 4808 , 7272–74 , 7301–03 , 7319 , ZRC 2.5093, 2.5095 –96.

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 4. Distribution of the species in the Pattani and Southern Sunda clades. Stars indicate type localities.

FIGURE 5. Ecological parameters of activity period, elevation (upland species are> 600 m in elevation), substrate preference (microhabitat), and the presence or absence of ocelli (eyespots) mapped onto the molecular phylogeny (Fig. 2) of the species of Cnemaspis. Nodes lacking significant statistical support in Figure 2 are collapsed here. Morphological and color pattern synapomorphies are indicated at the appropriate nodes and considered as additional support of the molecular phylogeny. These character states were polarized following the methodology of Maddison et al. (1984) and were not simply mapped onto the tree. Branch lengths do not represent genetic distance.

FIGURE 58. Cnemaspis baueri from Pulau Aur, Johor, Peninsular Malaysia. Upper left: granite boulder microhabitat on Pulau Aur. Upper right: adult female (LSUDPC 958) in the dark color pattern phase. Middle right: juvenile male (LSUDPC 959) in the dark color pattern phase. Lower right: adult male (LSUDPC 961) in the dark color pattern phase. Lower left: adult male (LSUDPC 957) in the dark color pattern phase. Photographs by LLG.