R. Chaitanya

Tel Aviv University | TAU

In a recent paper, Shameer et al. (2021) erected a new species of gecko, referred to the genus Dravidogecko Smith, 1933 from the Nilgiris mountains in the southern Western Ghats of India. Regrettably, the specific nomen coonoorenis/coonoorensis, which they provided for this species, is nomenclaturally unavailable and cannot be valid unless and unti...

Aim In the absence of topographic barriers to dispersal, spatial boundaries of species are largely governed by the environmental regimes they occupy. Flying lizards (Agamidae: Draco) from peninsular India have surmounted prominent geographic barriers, but their northern distribution abruptly ends at the ‘Goa gap’, a latitudinal boundary separating...

In 2020, the Reptile Database (RDB) and AmphibiaWeb (AW) celebrated their 25th and 20th anniversaries, respectively. Here, we briefly review their history and highlight the biodiversity informatics context in which AmphibiaWeb and the Reptile Database have grown for a quarter century. More specifically, we outline the similarities and differences o...

The monotypic genus Dravidogecko, represented by its type-species D. anamallensis, is singular amongst peninsular Indian gekkonid lineages in its endemism to the Western Ghats. Molecular species delimitation approaches reveal at least seven species-level lineages within the genus from its distribution range across the mid–high elevations of the sou...

A new rupicolous gecko from the Hemidactylus brookii complex is described from the forests and plateaus of Amboli, in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra. This medium sized (average adult SVL 56.2±5.0 to at least 62 mm), nocturnal species is superficially similar to other congeners from the 'H. brookii' clade, but can be distinguished from them in hav...

The montane agamid lizard genus Oriocalotes is currently considered monotypic, represented by the species, O. paulus. The systematic status of this taxon has remained questionable since its initial descriptions in the mid-1800s. A detailed molecular and morphological study was carried out to assess the validity of this genus, and its systematic pos...

Herpetofaunal surveys were conducted in the Meghamalai Wildlife Sanctuary in southern Tamil Nadu, India, over a period of two years, to assess species richness in this landscape. Sixty-four species of reptiles from 15 families and 31 species of amphibians from nine families were recorded. Eight species of reptiles and five species of amphibians are...

We use mitochondrial sequence data to identify divergent lineages within the gekkonid genus Cyrtodactylus in northeast India and use morphological data to describe six new species from within the Indo-Burma clade of Cyrtodactylus. The new species share an irregular colour pattern but differ from described species from the region in morphology and m...

Two new cryptic species of the agamid genus Sitana Cuvier, 1829 from Peninsular India are described herein. Sitana gokakensis sp. nov. from Gokak, Karnataka closely resembles Sitana thondalu sp. nov. from Nagarjuna Sagar, Andhra Pradesh. The two species can be distinguished based on their subtle morphological differences, genetic difference and geo...

Two new species of the genus Cyrtodactylus are described based on collections from Northeast India, and descriptions and diagnoses of previously described species and synonyms from the region are provided. One of the new species from lowland habitats in Tripura is medium sized, with a continuous series of precloacal pores, and is allied to C. ayeya...

A distinct new gecko of the genus Hemidactylus is described from the Meghamalai massif in Tamil Nadu, India. This large sized (average SVL 88.2±16.0 to at least 112.2 mm), cryptic, rock-dwelling species is superficially similar to its tuberculate South Asian congeners of comparable size, but can be distinguished from them in having 17–19 longitudin...

Calotes versicolor (Daudin, 1802) is a widespread species of agamid lizard found commonly in the Indian subcontinent and the Indo-Chinese region with a complicated taxonomic history (Uetz & Hosek, 2016). The type locality of this species has been debatable (Smith, 1935, Amarasinghe et al. 2009) and the recent designation of a neotype from Pondicher...

The occurrence of 2 ichthyophiid caecilians, Ichthyophis khumzhi Kamei, Wilkinson, Gower & Biju, 2009 and Ichthyophis moustakius Kamei, Wilkinson, Gower & Biju, 2009 in the state of Mizoram in northeast India is reported for the first time. These records significantly increase the known distribution range of these striped forms of Ichthyophis which...

The scincid genus Eurylepis was split off from the cosmopolitan genus Eumeces sensu lato, with Eurylepis taeniolatus being the type species, which is taxonomically poorly understood. The other nominate species in this genus is Eurylepis poonaensis, which was known only from its type locality and original description, and is the only known member of...

A new species of Sitanato the ponticeriana group is described herein from southern Tamil Nadu, India. Sitana marudhamneydhal sp.nov.is most similar to Sitana visiri,from which it differs in body scalation and dewlap size. Much like Sitana visiri, the breeding of this species coincides with the North-East monsoon rains (October to December), an adap...