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JoTT Sh o r t Co m m u n i C a t i o n 3(8): 2023–2027
Discovery and rst description of male Cnemaspis
heteropholis Bauer, 2002 (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from Agumbe,
central Western Ghats, India
S.R. Ganesh
1
, Rachakonda Sreekar
2
, Saunak P. Pal
3
, Gautam Ramchandra
4
, C. Srinivasulu
5
&
Bhargavi Srinivasulu
6
1,2,4
Agumbe Rainforest Research Station, Agumbe, Shimoga, Karnataka 577411, India
1
Chennai Snake Park, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600022, India
2
Biodiversity Research and Conservation Society, G4, MRK Towers, Swarnadhamanagar, Old Bowenpally, Secunderabad, Andhra
Pradesh 500011, India
3
Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560012, India
5,6
Wildlife Biology Section, Department of Zoology, University College of Science, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
500007, India
Email:
1
snakeranglerr@gmail.com,
2
sreekar1988@gmail.com,
3
herps.saunak@gmail.com,
4
gautham1112@gmail.com,
5
hyd2masawa@gmail.com (corresponding author),
6
bharisrini@gmail.com
Abstract: Cnemaspis heteropholis Bauer, 2002 was hitherto
dened based only on its holotype, an adult female collected
from Gund hill range, Western Ghats, India. Recently we
observed adult male and juvenile specimens of this species at
Agumbe, ca. 200km south of its type locality and consequently
we recharacterize and expand the denition of this species by
providing information about intraspecic variation based on the
new specimens. Colouration in life and natural history data are
also provided.
Keywords: Agumbe, Cnemaspis heteropholis, expanded
characterization, juvenile, male, natural history, pores.
OPEN ACCESS | FREE DOWNLOAD
Date of publication (online): 26 August 2011
Date of publication (print): 26 August 2011
ISSN 0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print)
Editor: Aaron Bauer
Manuscript details:
Ms # o2614
Received 25 October 2010
Final received 13 June 2011
Finally accepted 01 August 2011
Citation: Ganesh, S.R., R. Sreekar, S.P. Pal, G. Ramchandra, C.
Srinivasulu & B. Srinivasulu (2011). Discovery and rst description of
male Cnemaspis heteropholis Bauer, 2002 (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from
Agumbe, central Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 3(8):
2023–2027.
Copyright: © S.R. Ganesh, Rachakonda Sreekar, Saunak P. Pal, Gautam
Ramchandra, C. Srinivasulu & Bhargavi Srinivasulu 2011. Creative
Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTT allows unrestricted use
of this article in any medium for non-prot purposes, reproduction and
distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of
publication.
Acknowledgements: We acknowledge The Gerry Martin Project for
nancial support. We thank Karnataka Forest Department for permission;
Romulus Whitaker, Gowri Shankar, Gerry Martin and colleagues at the
Agumbe Rainforest Research Station for their support and encouragement;
the Head, Osmania University, Hyderabad and Chennai Snake Park for
encouragement and facilities. This paper is part of CEPF-funded Reptile
Assessment of the Western Ghats Project and we duly acknowledge
the help from CEPF for publication of this article. We thank anonymous
referees for comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript.
Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 is one of the most
speciose paleotropical gekkonid genera with around
100 recognised species (Smith 1935). In India,
Cnemaspis species are recorded from the hilly regions
of southern India and from northeastern India (Smith
Western Ghats
Special Series
This article forms part of a special series on the Western Ghats of India,
disseminating the results of work supported by the Critical Ecosystem
Partnership Fund (CEPF), a joint initiative of l’Agence Française de
Développement, Conservation International, the Global Environment
Facility, the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the
World Bank. A fundamental goal of CEPF is to ensure civil society is
engaged in biodiversity conservation. Implementation of the CEPF
investment program in the Western Ghats is led and coordinated by the
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE).
1935; Sharma 2002). From Karnataka eight species
of Cnemaspis - C. heteropholis Bauer, 2002, C.
indica (Gray, 1846), C. indraneildasii Bauer, 2002,
C. jerdoni (Theobald, 1868), C. littoralis (Jerdon,
1854), C. mysoriensis (Jerdon, 1853), C. ornata
(Beddome, 1870) and C. tropidogaster sensu Smith,
(1935) (Boulenger, 1885) - have been reported (Smith
1935; Bauer 2002; Biswas 2006; Ganesh et al. 2007;
Manamendra-Arachchi et al. 2007). C. tropidogaster
sensu stricto is currently believed to be a Sri Lankan
Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | August 2011 | 3(8): 2023–2027
2023
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Male of Cnemaspis heteropholis S.R. Ganesh et al.
2024
endemic species known only from the type specimens
and C. littoralis (type lost) is treated as incertae sedis
(Manamendra-Arachchi et al. 2007).
Bauer (2002) described Cnemaspis heteropholis
based only on the holotype ZMH R06158 (Zoologisches
Museum Hamburg, Germany), an adult female,
40.19mm long, collected by G.A. von Maydell, on
20
January 1956 from Gund [hill range] (15
0
15’N &
74
0
36’E; 480m elevation), Uttara Kannada District,
Karnataka State, Western Ghats, India (Image 1).
Subsequently, Biswas (2006) observed this species
in Pushpagiri (12
0
40’N & 75
0
39’E; 833m), a locality
that is ca. 500km south of the type locality (Image
1). Unfortunately, no morphological data of the
individuals appeared in his work, therefore this species
is still relatively poorly characterized. Bauer (2002)
remarked “Comparisons of Cnemaspis indraneildasii
and C. heteropholis are hindered by the fact that
only females are known for the two new species.
The condition of preanal and femoral pores, useful
diagnostic characters that are present only in the males
in this genus (Smith 1935), are thus unknown. The
absence of the male also hinders the interpretations of
the possible afnities of the new species”. The present
Image 1. Distribution of
Cnemaspis heteropholis in
Karnataka, India, depicting
locations of 1. Gund, Uttara
Kannada (Type Locality);
2. Pushpagiri, Dakshina
Kannada; and 3. Agumbe,
Shimoga (from where the
male is described).
Characters
Juvenile 1
(yr. 2008)
Juvenile 2
(yr. 2010)
CESL 097
Adult
male 2
(yr. 2010)
Adult
male 1
(yr. 2008)
SVL 18.2 28.0 44.3 45.1
TL 19.8 19.86 +? 41.2 47.1
BW - 4.38 9.75 -
HL 8.9 9.26 13.1 14.0
HW 5.1 5.12 8.2 7.6
HD 3.2 2.82 - 5.9
ED 1.6 1.34 3.45 3.1
EL - 0.77 1.5 -
E-E 1.4 2.70 3.6 3.3
E-S 3.0 4.02 6.0 7.2
IN 0.8 1.28 1.7 2.1
IO 2.0 2.97 4.8 4.7
A-G 9.8 12.09 19.5 20.2
UAL 3.5 2.83 - 8.5
LAL 3.7 4.85 - 8.8
FEL 4.8 5.03 - 11.2
TBL 4.3 4.22 - 9.1
Table 1. Measurements (in mm) of the four newly
documented individuals, arranged in increasing size and
identied by their maturity, sex and year of sighting. ‘-’
indicates non availability of data; ‘?’ indicates missing part
of the tail.
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Male of Cnemaspis heteropholis S.R. Ganesh et al.
2025
communication expands the external morphological
characterization of this poorly known, endemic
species by providing intraspecic variations from
male conspecics observed in Agumbe, Karnataka,
Western Ghats, India.
Materials and Methods
Our observations are based on two live adult males
and two juvenile C. heteropholis sighted in the wild by
the rst four authors in Agumbe (13
0
50’N & 75
0
09’E;
557m) (Image 1) Karnataka State, Western Ghats, India
on 02 May 2008, 12 November 2008, 05 May 2010 and
09 July 2010. These live individuals were examined,
photographed in life in situ and released (Table 1).
Only one voucher specimen (CESL 097) was collected
by the third author (SP) and deposited in the collection
of the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute
of Science, Bengaluru, India. All measurements were
recorded using a slide vernier calliper and are given
to the nearest 0.1mm. Morphometric abbreviations
are as follows: SVL, snout to vent length; TL, tail
length; BW, maximum body width; HL, head length
from posterior axis of the jaw to the tip of the snout;
HW, head width at its widest point; HD, head depth at
its parietal region; ED, horizontal eye diameter; EL,
maximum ear diameter; E-E, distance from posterior
edge of eye to anterior edge of ear; E-S, anterior edge of
eye to snout tip; IN, internarial distance; IO, transverse
distance between anterior most supraciliaries; LAL,
lower-arm length measured as distance from elbow to
wrist; UAL, upper-arm length measured as distance
between axilla and angle of elbow; FEL, femur length
measured as distance between groin and knee; TBL,
tibia length measured as distance between knee and
heel; and A-G, axilla to groin distance. Sex was
determined on the basis of the presence of enlarged
hemipenal bulges and femoral pores.
Observations
Cnemaspis heteropholis Bauer, 2002
Description: Snout-vent length 18.2–45.1 mm.
Head oblong, large (HL/SVL ratio 0.33), wide (HW/
SVL ratio 0.19) and distinct from neck. Snout long
(E-S/HW ratio 0.77), much longer than eye-diameter
(ED/E-S ratio 0.46). Scales on the canthus-rostralis
larger than the scales on the forehead and dorsum. Eye
small (ED/HL ratio 0.20). Ear-opening oval and small
(EL/HL ratio 0.09). Eye-ear distance slightly larger
than eye diameter (EE/ED ratio 1.16). Rostral wide
as long, completely divided by the rostral groove.
Nostrils oval, not in contact with the rst supralabial,
three postnasals. Mental enlarged, triangular, longer
and wider than rostral; the rst pair of postmentals
separated by three enlarged scales (Image 2d); outer
postmentals smaller than the inner. Supralabials to
the angle of jaws 9, infralabials to the angle of jaws
8 (Image 2c). Body relatively wide (BW/SVL ratio
0.11) not elongate (A-G/SVL ratio 0.45), ventro-lateral
fold absent. Six femoral pores on either side separated
by 16–18 non pore-baring scales (Image 2b). Pore-
bearing scale enlarged relative to the adjacent scales.
Original as well as regenerated tail oval in cross-
section, almost equal to snout-vent length (TL/SVL
ratio 0.95). No enlarged post-cloacal spurs. Scales
on post-cloacal region slightly larger than those on
the rest of the dorsum of the tail. Upper arm slightly
shorter than lower arm (UAL/LAL ratio 0.95). Femur
shorter than tibia (FEL/TBL ratio 1.17).
Colour in life: Dorsum of head, limbs and vertebral
region mottled light brown with dark blotches along
the dorsal midline larger than those on the head, either
side of this dorsal midline are an additional dorsolateral
row of light brown spots. Flanks dark brown with
light yellow spots (tubercles; Image 2). Digits with
alternating white and black bands, white at joints.
Original and regenerated tail brown with dark spots.
Throat buff interspersed with yellow, unpigmented
abdomen and bright yellow on the scales between the
femoral pores. Two yellowish-white stripes on the
dorsolateral side of the head from the rostrum to the
eye, and three stripes running after the eye to the ear.
Difference between the sexes: No variation in
meristic characters was observed among the sexes
except for the presence of six femoral pores on
either side in males. Though there are variations in
the measurements between the sexes, they should
be treated with caution as a live specimen is being
compared with a preserved specimen. Shrinkage
commonly occurs in geckos following xation and
preservation.
Natural History: During May 2008, a juvenile
was observed at 1630hr on a drying stream-bed,
among moss-clad rocks, carpeted with thick leaf litter.
During October 2008, an adult male was observed at
1120hr inside the upper arch of a small cave within a
forest patch. Several (n > 5) individuals were sighted
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Male of Cnemaspis heteropholis S.R. Ganesh et al.
2026
Image 2. Cnemaspis heteropholis adult male.
a - dorsal view; b - portraying the number of femoral pores; c - head prole; d - gular; e - venter (juvenile); f - entire - adult
male; g - entire - juvenile; h - preserved juvenile specimen with incomplete tail.
a b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | August 2011 | 3(8): 2023–2027
Male of Cnemaspis heteropholis S.R. Ganesh et al.
2027
together and darted inside small crevices at the least
sign of our approach. During May 2010, an adult male
was found resting on a mesh fence in the Agumbe
Rainforest Research Station at 2100hr. Opportunistic
sightings since 2008 suggest that the lizard is not
common and is somewhat crepuscular in habit and
were observed foraging in the night. Other lizard
species found syntopic were Hemidactylus cf. brookii,
Hemidactylus frenatus, Ristella beddomii, Calotes
rouxii and Cnemaspis indraneildasii.
Comparisons: Presence of six femoral pores on
each side and the absence of preanal pores distinguish
C. heteropholis from C. boiei (Gray, 1842), C. ornata
(Beddome, 1870), C. beddomei (Theobald, 1876), C.
littoralis (Jerdon, 1853), C. otai Das & Bauer, 2000, C.
nairi Inger et al., 1984 and C. australis Manamendra-
Arachchi et al., 2007; absence of spine-like tubercles
on anks distinguishes it from the newly described C.
nilagarica Manamendra-Arachchi et al., 2007 and C.
monticola Manamendra-Arachchi et al., 2007. It may
be distinguished from the morphologically similar C.
sisparensis (Theobald, 1876) by its heterogenous (vs.
homogenous) dorsal scalation and the presence of six
femoral pores on each side (vs. 7–8) and C. wynadensis
(Beddome, 1870) from having three (vs. 1–2) scales
between the enlarged postmentals, weakly conical (vs.
keeled) dorsal head scales and subcaudals on median
series divided.
Discussion
Our specimens are consistent with the original
description of Bauer (2002) in morphology and colour.
J.C. Daniel collected “C. wynadensis” from the current
locality in 1965 (CAS 104211, Herpetology collection
catalogue, California Academy of Sciences). The
specic epithet “wynadensis” refers to its original
collection locality in Wynaad District, Kerala State and
its surrounding localities (Smith 1935; Bauer 2002)
and there have been no other records of it occurring
in Karnataka. It might be possible that this specimen
might actually be a C. heteropholis misidentied as C.
wynadensis due to external morphological similarities
and that C. heteropholis has been described only in
the recent past. This explains the cause as to why this
species has remained relatively obscure. Biswas’ (2006)
record from Pushpagiri reveals that this species occurs
further south and in potential sympatry with several,
morphologically similar-looking congeners like C.
wynadensis and C. sisparensis. But nonetheless, its
unique, intermixed, prominent large tuberculate dorsal
scalation clearly gives away this species. It is likely
that C. heteropholis occupies a wide range of biotopes
between the Palghat and the Goa gaps in the Western
Ghats, at altitudes ranging from 480m (Bauer 2002) to
up to 833m (Biswas 2006). More sightings are needed
to better understand its characterization, distribution
and biology.
REFERENCES
Bauer, A.M. (2002). Two new species of Cnemaspis (Reptilia:
Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Gund, Uttara Kannada,
India. Mitteilungen aus dem Hamburgischen Zoologischen
Museum und Institut 99: 155–167.
Biswas, S. (2006). A possible occurrence of regional
integumentary loss in Cnemaspis heteropholis from
southern India. Gekko 5(2): 28–30.
Ganesh, S.R., S.R.C. Mouli & S.L. Edward (2007). A study
on herpetofaunal assemblages in the rain forests of Western
Ghats, Karnataka, India. Journal of Scientic Transactions
in Environment and Technovation 1(2): 95–103.
Manamendra-Arachchi, K., S. Batuwita & R. Pethiyagoda
(2007). A taxonomic revision of the Sri Lankan day-geckos
(Reptilia: Gekkonidae: Cnemaspis), with description of
new species from Sri Lanka and southern India. Zeylanica
7 (1): 9–122.
Sharma, R.C. (2002). Fauna of India, Reptilia - Volume II,
Sauria. Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, 430pp.
Smith, M.A. (1935). Fauna of British India including Ceylon
and Burma. Reptilia and Amphibia - Volume II, Sauria.
Today and Tomorrow’s Printers & Publishers, New Delhi,
Indian Reprint 1974, 440pp.
