Discovered! New species of gecko after 130 years

Gecko

The first new ground dwelling gecko from India to be discovered in 130 years - a new species from central and western India.

A distinctive new species of ground dwelling lizard of the genus Cyrtodactylus is described from India. The new species is a member of the subgenus Geckoella, which are small ground-dwelling geckos that are largely found in leaf litter in forests.

This discovery is a result of meticulous efforts of several years by the lead author Dr. Ishan Agarwal from Villanova University, USA and supported by Zeeshan Mirza and Anurag Mishra of National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, Saunak Pal of Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai and Dr. Aaron Bauer of Villanova University, USA. The lizards of this genus are known from South-east Asia, India and Sri Lanka. This new species, Cyrtodactylus varadgirii, 'Giri's Geckoella' is distinct from other species in many characters. This new species was earlier considered as Geckoella collegalensis but based on morphological characters and molecular data (DNA) Dr. Agarwal and his colleagues described this as a new species in the scientific journal, Zootaxa.

This uncommon species is mostly seen moving among the leaf litter on the forest floor. They are active during night and take refuge under rocks and logs during the day. It grows the length of around 6 centimeters. It is reported from various localities in Maharashtra, Gujarat and one locality in Madhya Pradesh. Most of the known species in this group are forest specialists but this new species is also known from human dominated landscapes. This is also a widely distributed species in this genus in India.

This species is named after Varad Giri of National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, in recognition of his contribution to the Indian Herpetology.