Osmania University scientists discover three new species of lizards

Hyderabad: The endemic leaf-toed geckoes (Lizards) in India have become richer with three new species discovered in Telangana and Karnataka plateaus by the scientists of Department of Zoology, Osmania University. In the process of research in various parts of Deccan plateau region between Godavari and Krishna-Tungabhadra river basins, three new species of leaf-toed geckoes i.e., […]

Hyderabad: The endemic leaf-toed geckoes (Lizards) in India have become richer with three new species discovered in Telangana and Karnataka plateaus by the scientists of Department of Zoology, Osmania University.

In the process of research in various parts of Deccan plateau region between Godavari and Krishna-Tungabhadra river basins, three new species of leaf-toed geckoes i.e., lizards, were discovered. These are Deccan Giant Leaf-toed Gecko Hemidactylus raya from Hampi in Bellary district of Karnataka, Saxatile Leaf-toed Gecko Hemidactylus saxicolous from Raichur Fort, Raichur district of Karnataka, and Emulous Leaf-toed Gecko Hemidactylus aemulus from Chandanapalli near Panagal, Nalgonda district, Telangana.

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These three new species were earlier considered as Indian Giant Leaf-toed Gecko, but careful studies on various body characters and phylogenetics these species were found to be distinct.

“This is a classic case of cryptic diversity in known species; the subtle morphological difference that goes unnoticed by zoologists is the reason why such diversity goes unnoticed. I had been doubting that there are cryptic diversity among the Giant Leaf-toed Gecko,” said Dr. C Srinivasulu, who led the team of two researchers – Dr G. Chethan Kumar and Aditya Srinivasulu.

The discovery was published in a research paper in Zootaxa – a world-renowned journal dedicated to animal taxonomy. The newly discovered species of geckoes increase the Hemidactylus to 173 species throughout the world.

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