Hemidactylus easai
| Hemidactylus easai | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Gekkota |
| Family: | Gekkonidae |
| Genus: | Hemidactylus |
| Species: | H. easai |
| Binomial name | |
| Hemidactylus easai Das, Pal, Siddharth, Palot, Deepak, & Narayanan, 2022 | |
Hemidactylus easai, also known as Easa's rock gecko, is a species of gecko in the genus Hemidactylus, endemic to the Western Ghats of Kerala, India. It is currently known only from its type locality on the banks of the Bhavani River in Palakkad district.[1]
Etymology
The specific epithet easai honours Dr. P. S. Easa, former director of the Kerala Forest Research Institute, in recognition of his contributions to wildlife research and conservation in the Western Ghats over four decades, and for mentoring the lead author of the description.[1]
Description
Hemidactylus easai is a large-bodied gecko, with a snout–vent length of up to 107 mm in the type series. The dorsal surface is heterogeneous, composed of roughly circular granular scales interspersed with 17 or 18 longitudinal rows of enlarged, strongly keeled, subtrihedral tubercles at midbody. Males have 24 to 30 femoral pores on each side, separated by two to four poreless scales. The original tail is dorsoventrally depressed and bears a longitudinal series of six to eight large, keeled tubercles. The dorsum is dull brown with four or five pale transverse saddles, the tail is banded, and a yellowish streak runs from behind the nostril to the eye.[1]
Distribution and habitat
The only known locality is at Attapadi, Palakkad district, Kerala, at an elevation of about 530 m, on the banks of the Bhavani River. Individuals have been observed at night on rocks and on and inside buildings of a nearby settlement; the area lies in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats and is characterised by dry-zone vegetation interspersed with riparian vegetation. No further localities have yet been published; the describing authors considered it plausible that the species also occurs in the adjacent Silent Valley National Park, though this has not been confirmed.[1]
Taxonomy and phylogeny
Hemidactylus easai belongs to the H. prashadi species group and, within it, to the H. graniticolus clade of large-bodied Indian Hemidactylus. Molecular analysis of the mitochondrial ND2 gene recovers it as the sister lineage of H. graniticolus, from which it differs by 6.6–7.2% sequence divergence as well as several scalation characters. In 2023, a further closely related species, Hemidactylus pakkamalaiensis, was described from the Gingee Hills in the southern Eastern Ghats; it is distinguished from H. easai mainly by a lower femoral pore count.[1][2]
Conservation status
Hemidactylus easai has not been evaluated by the IUCN Red List. According to the Zoological Survey of India's Fauna of India checklist, it is listed as "Not Evaluated" and is not included in any schedule of India's Wildlife (Protection) Act or in the CITES appendices.[3]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Das, S.; Pal, S.; Siddharth, S.; Palot, M. J.; Deepak, V.; Narayanan, S. (2022). "A new species of large-bodied Hemidactylus Goldfuss, 1820 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Western Ghats of India". Vertebrate Zoology. 72: 81–94. doi:10.3897/vz.72.e76046.
- ↑ Narayanan, S.; et al. (2023). "A new species of Hemidactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Gingee Hills, southern Eastern Ghats, India". Vertebrate Zoology. 73: 499–512. doi:10.3897/vz.73.e104494.
- ↑ Zoological Survey of India (2025). Fauna of India: Chordata: Reptilia (Report) (2.0 ed.). doi:10.26515/Fauna/2/2025/Chordata:Reptilia.