taxonID	type	description	language	source
1B86388D41F455C68AEB58862F29789A.taxon	description	Figs 3, 4, 5, 6	en	Narayanan, Surya, NA, Aravind (2022): A new species of rupicolous Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Biligirirangan Hills of Southern India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 823-837, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e89324, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e89324
1B86388D41F455C68AEB58862F29789A.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The specific epithet is a patronym honouring Dr R. Uma Shaanker, Retired Professor of Plant Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore and Founder of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bangalore. He has contributed immensely to understanding plant and animal evolution, ecology, and conservation biology.	en	Narayanan, Surya, NA, Aravind (2022): A new species of rupicolous Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Biligirirangan Hills of Southern India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 823-837, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e89324, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e89324
1B86388D41F455C68AEB58862F29789A.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. A small-sized Cnemaspis, SVL up to 29 mm (n = 4). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; moderately keeled, granular scales in the vertebral and paravertebral region irregularly arranged, weakly keeled tubercles on each side of flank, tubercles in lowest row largest, spine-like; 6 - 8 rows of dorsal tubercles; ventral scales smooth, imbricate, 20 or 21 scales across the belly, 90 - 96 longitudinal scales from mental to cloacal opening, subdigital scansors smooth, entire, unnotched; 6 - 9 lamellae under digit I of manus and eight lamellae under digit I of pes, 15 - 17 and 12 - 15 lamellae under digit IV of pes and manus, respectively; males with 4 or 5 femoral pores on each thigh separated on either side by 4 or 5 poreless scales from a series of 6 - 8 precloacal pores; tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; median row of subcaudals smooth, slightly enlarged; subdigital scansors smooth, entire, unnotched.	en	Narayanan, Surya, NA, Aravind (2022): A new species of rupicolous Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Biligirirangan Hills of Southern India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 823-837, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e89324, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e89324
1B86388D41F455C68AEB58862F29789A.taxon	description	Description of the holotype (ZSI-R- 28301). Adult male in good state of preservation, the tip of the tail clipped for the tissue collection (Fig. 3). SVL 25.7 mm, head short (HL / SVL 0.29), wide (HW / HL 0.64), not strongly depressed (HD / HL 0.48), distinct from neck. Loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent. Snout roughly one-third of the head length (ES / HL 0.35), 2.5 x eye diameter (ED / ES 0.40); scales on snout and canthus rostralis large, round; slightly larger than the scales those on forehead and interorbital region; occipital and temporal region with much smaller granules (Fig. 4 A). Eye small (ED / HL 0.14); with round pupil; orbit with fringe scales that are largest anteriorly; supraciliaries not elongate. Ear-opening deep, vertical, small (EL / HL 0.06); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE / ED 2.18). Rostral much wider (1.7 mm) than long (0.8 mm), partially divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove for more than half of its length; single enlarged supranasal on each side, slightly larger than postnasals; a small scale present at the juncture of rostral and internasals; rostral in contact with supralabial 1, nasal, supranasal, internasal, briefly contacting post nasal; nostrils oval, each surrounded by postnasal, supranasal and rostral; three rows of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials (Fig. 4 A). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, wider than long; two pairs of postmentals, inner pair large, roughly rectangular, bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmentals and two enlarged chin shields; outer postmentals slightly smaller than inner postmentals, roughly circular, bordered by inner postmentals and eight enlarged chin shields; inner postmentals in contact with each other and two small gular scales prevent contact of left and right outer postmentals; chin shields bordering postmentals flat, smooth, smaller than outermost postmentals. Eight Supralabials on each side and seven supralabials on left and six on right side at midorbit; supralabial I largest, supralabials decreasing in size posteriorly; seven infralabials to angle of jaw on each side and six at midorbit on either side; infralabial I largest, infralabials decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 4 C). Extra-brillar fringe scales seven or eight on each side; 24 - 26 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at midorbit. Body relatively slender (BW / SVL 0.23), trunk less than half of SVL (AGL / SVL 0.42); spine-like scales on flank absent. Dorsal scales on trunk heterogeneous, moderately keeled anteriorly and strongly keeled posteriorly; granular scales intermixed with much larger, strongly keeled, conical tubercles; approximately eleven tubercles in paravertebral row from above forelimb insertion to the hind limb insertion. Scales on nape are slightly smaller than those on paravertebral rows and smaller on the occiput. Scales on flank slightly larger than those on dorsum, granular and strongly keeled, intermixed with more tubercles than that of the dorsum. Ventral much larger than those on the dorsum, those on belly smooth, imbricate, subequal from chest to vent; midbody scale rows across belly 21; 90 scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca. Scales on throat and pectoral region slightly smaller than those on belly, flat and imbricate; gular region with much smaller, flattened scales with those on chin bordering postmentals. Four femoral pores on each thigh separated four poreless scales on the left and five poreless scales on the right from six continuous precloacal pores (Fig. 4 D). Scales on palm and sole smooth, flat and roughly circular; scales on dorsal aspect of manus and pes hetero-genous, moderately keeled, imbricate; those near forelimb insertion much smaller; dorsal aspect of forearm and elbow with scales smaller than those on upper arm, strongly keeled, roughly rounded; dorsal aspect of hand predominantly bearing large, strongly keeled, imbricate scales. Ventral aspect of upper arm with smooth, roughly rounded. Scales on dorsal aspect of thigh subequal to those on dorsal granules, strongly keeled, imbricate. Scales on dorsal aspect of knee and shank slightly smaller than those on dorsum of thigh, subimbricate, strongly keeled; dorsal aspect of foot predominantly bearing small to large, moderate to strongly keeled, imbricate scales; scales on ventral aspect of thigh and shank similar to those on midbody ventrals (Fig. 3). Fore and hind limbs moderately long, slender; (CL / SVL 0.16); digits long, with a strong, recurved claw, distal portions laterally compressed conspicuously. Series of unpaired lamellae on basal portion of digits, separated from narrower distal lamellae by a single large scale at the inflection; proximal lamellae series: 1 - 3 - 3 - 4 - 3 (right manus; Fig. 4 E), 1 - 4 - 4 - 6 - 5 (right pes; Fig. 4 F), 1 - 3 - 4 - 4 - 3 (left manus), 1 - 4 - 4 - 6 - 3 (left pes); distal lamellae series: 7 - 8 - 11 - 10 - 9 (right manus; Fig. 4 E), 7 - 9 - 10 - 10 - 10 (right pes; Fig. 4 F), 7 - 8 - 10 - 11 - 9 (left manus), 7 - 8 - 10 - 11 - 10 (left pes). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (2.1)> III (1.9)> V (1.8)> II (1.6)> I (1.1) (right manus); III (3.3)> IV (3.1)> II (2.3)> V (2.2)> I (1.7) (right pes). Tail incomplete, cylindrical in cross-section, relatively slender, longer than snout-vent length (TL / SVL 0.87). Dorsal scales at tail base granular, strongly keeled, similar in size and shape to those on midbody dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flatter, subimbricate posteriorly, intermixed with two rows of distinctly enlarged, conical, strongly keeled paravertebral tubercles; four to six tubercles in dorsolateral, lateral and ventrolateral rows, distinctly enlarged, strongly keeled, imbricate, which are restricted only at the anterior portion of the tail, forming whorls. Scales on the ventral aspect of the original tail much larger than those on the dorsal, imbricate, smooth, with a series of three enlarged subcaudal scales of which the median series is almost twice the size of adjunct two rows, roughly hexagonal; those on the tail base much smaller, imbricate and smooth, a single enlarged postcloacal spur on each side.	en	Narayanan, Surya, NA, Aravind (2022): A new species of rupicolous Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Biligirirangan Hills of Southern India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 823-837, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e89324, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e89324
1B86388D41F455C68AEB58862F29789A.taxon	distribution	Distribution and natural history. Cnemaspis umashaankeri sp. nov. is currently known only from four localities within the BRT Tiger Reserve (Fig. 7). During our fieldwork we found this species in the settlements largely intermixed with coffee plantations in BR Hills and K Gudi villages (11.906001 ° N, 77.133290 ° E) and Basavanakadu stream (11.941572 ° N, 77.155268 ° E). Beyond these areas, we also found C. umashaankeri sp. nov. commonly in semi-evergreen, moist deciduous forests around the coffee estates within the Tiger Reserve mainly in habitats associated with the rocky granite boulders and crevices. The holotype and the paratypes were collected from building walls of the ATREE field station situated amidst the human settlements and coffee plantations, indicating that this species can survive human disturbances. The type series was collected at night around 20: 00 hrs during which individuals were highly active. Within the sampled sites, several other individuals of C. umashaankeri sp. nov. were observed foraging, mostly in the evenings or later in the night. These uncollected individuals were identified based on the dorsal pholidosis and number of femoral and preanal pores. Eggs of the new species were seen in the rock and building crevices. Hemidactylus graniticolus Agarwal, Giri and Bauer, 2011 and Hemidactylus sp. are found syntopically with the new species within the known range.	en	Narayanan, Surya, NA, Aravind (2022): A new species of rupicolous Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Biligirirangan Hills of Southern India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 823-837, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e89324, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e89324
