taxonID	type	description	language	source
C84BA64A39FE5B608A26A82FE16E0EF6.taxon	description	Figs 9, 10, 11, 6 B, 7 B, 8 B	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
C84BA64A39FE5B608A26A82FE16E0EF6.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The specific epithet is for the type locality of the new species, the Agaya Gangai Waterfalls, and is used as a noun in apposition.	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
C84BA64A39FE5B608A26A82FE16E0EF6.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. A small-sized Cnemaspis, snout to vent length up to 31.8 mm (n = 9). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled granular scales intermixed with a fairly regularly arranged rows of enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles; last one or two rows of enlarged tubercles on flank weakly keeled, spine-like; 10 - 12 rows of dorsal tubercles at mid-body, 14 - 18 tubercles in paravertebral rows; ventral scales smooth, subcircular, subimbricate, subequal from chest to vent, 28 - 34 scales across belly at mid-body, 106 - 120 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca; subdigital scansors smooth, unpaired, unnotched; 9 - 11 lamellae under digit I of manus and 9 - 12 lamellae under digit I of pes; 14 - 16 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 17 - 20 lamellae under digit IV of pes; males (n = 6 / 9) with four or five femoral pores on each thigh separated by 8 - 10 poreless scales from series of two precloacal pores, precloacal pores separated medially by single (rarely 2, n = 1 / 6) poreless scales; tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, pointed, and spine-like tubercles forming whorls; median row of subcaudals smooth, roughly rectangular, and distinctly enlarged. Dorsum orange, mottled with numerous small light grey spots and fine black spots, light grey vertebral blotches sometimes distinct; a single central black dorsal ocellus each on neck and occiput separated by a light grey blotch, ocellus on neck flanked anteriorly on each side by a slightly larger ocellus, ocellus on occiput sometimes flanked on each side by smaller, indistinct ocellus; venter off-white with black speckles, two indistinct pairs of streaks on throat; original tail in males with about 8 - 10 alternating dark and light grey bands, regenerated tail orange-brown.	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
C84BA64A39FE5B608A26A82FE16E0EF6.taxon	description	Description of the holotype. Adult male in good state of preservation except regenerated portion of the tail tip slightly bent towards right, small skin injury left of sternum, and claw on 2 nd digit of left foot missing (Fig. 9 A-E). SVL 31.2 mm, head short (HL / SVL 0.25), wide (HW / HL 0.67), not strongly depressed (HD / HL 0.47), distinct from neck. Loreal region marginally inflated, canthus rostralis not distinct. Snout half of head length (ES / HL 0.50), almost 2.5 times eye diameter (ES / ED 2.35); scales on snout and canthus rostralis subcircular, subequal, smooth anteriorly, becoming weakly keeled, and conical posteriorly; and much larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; scales on forehead similar to those on snout and canthus rostralis except smaller, elongated, and weakly conical; scales on interorbital region even smaller, granular and weakly keeled; scales on occipital and temporal region heterogeneous, slightly enlarged, weakly keeled, conical tubercles intermixed with smaller, weakly keeled and weakly conical granular scales (Fig. 10 A). Eye small (ED / HL 0.21) with round pupil; supraciliaries short, larger anteriorly; six interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal bone; 27 or 28 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at mid-orbit (Fig. 10 A, C). Ear-opening deep, oval, small (EL / HL 0.05); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE / ED 1.41) (Fig. 10 C). Rostral 2 x wider (1.60 mm) than high (0.80 mm), incompletely divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove and internasal scale for more than half of its height; a single enlarged supranasal on each side, slightly larger than postnasals, separated from each other by a much smaller, elongated internasal scale and still smaller scale on snout; two postnasals, upper postnasal marginally larger than lower; rostral in contact with supralabial I, nostril, supranasal, and lower postnasal on either side; nostrils oval, surrounded by two postnasals, supranasal, and rostral on either side; two rows of scales separate orbit from supralabials (Fig. 10 C). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, slightly wider (1.90 mm) than high (1.52 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair roughly pentagonal, much shorter (0.80 mm) than mental, separated from each other below mental by a single enlarged median chin shield; inner pair bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmental, enlarged median chin shield and an enlarged chin shield on either side; outer postmentals roughly rectangular, even smaller (0.62 mm) than inner pair, bordered by inner postmentals, infralabial I and II, and three enlarged chin shields on either side; three enlarged gular scales between left and right outer postmentals; all chin scales bordering postmentals flat, subcircular, smooth, and smaller than outermost postmentals; scales on rest of throat, small, subequal, and smooth (Fig. 10 B). Infralabials bordered below by a row or two of slightly enlarged, much elongated scales, decreasing in size posteriorly. Ten supralabials up to angle of jaw and six at midorbital position on either side; supralabial I largest, rest of the series gradually decreasing in size posteriorly; nine infralabials up to angle of jaw on left and 10 on right, five at midorbital position on either side; infralabial I largest, gradually decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 10 C). Body relatively slender (BW / AGL 0.51), trunk less than half of SVL (AGL / SVL 0.40) without ventrolateral folds; spine-like scales on flank present (Fig. 11 A-C). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled granular scales intermixed with a fairly regularly arranged row of enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles; tubercles in approximately 10 longitudinal rows at mid-body including spine-like scales at lower flank; 15 (left) and 14 (right) tubercles in paravertebral row from above forelimb insertion to the hind limb insertion (Fig. 11 A, C). Ventral scales much larger than granular scales on dorsum smooth, subcircular, subimbricate, subequal from chest to vent; mid-body scale rows across belly 32; 110 scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca (Fig. 11 B). Scales on base of neck similar to those on belly, marginally smaller; gular region with still smaller, subequal, smooth, flattened scales, those bordering postmentals enlarged, smooth, subcircular, and flattened (Fig. 10 B). Five femoral pores on either thigh, separated by eight poreless on either side from two precloacal pores, precloacal pores separated medially by two poreless scales (Fig. 10 D). Scales on palms and soles granular, smooth, rounded, and flattened; scales on dorsal aspects of limbs heterogeneous in shape and size; mixture of small granular, weakly keeled, imbricate scales which are twice the size of granules on the body dorsum, largest on anterolateral aspect of the hands and feet; posterolateral aspect of limbs with small weakly keeled to smooth granular scales; ventral aspect of forelimbs with small, smooth, subimbricate scales, larger on lower arm than upper arm; ventral aspect of hindlimb with enlarged, smooth, flattened, subimbricate scales, slightly larger than body ventrals (Fig. 9 A, B). Forelimbs and hindlimbs moderately long, slender (LAL / SVL 0.15; CL / SVL 0.17); digits long, with strong, recurved claw, distinctly inflected, distal portions laterally compressed conspicuously. Digits with unpaired lamellae, separated into a basal and narrower distal series by single enlarged lamella at inflection; basal lamellae series: (1 - 3 - 3 - 4 - 3 right manus, 2 - 4 - 4 - 7 - 5 right pes), (1 - 3 - 3 - 4 - 3 left manus, Fig. 10 E; 2 - 4 - 5 - 7 - 5 left pes, Fig. 10 F); distal lamellae series: (8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 9 right manus, 8 - 10 - 12 - 12 - 11 right pes), (8 - 10 - 11 - 10 - 9 left manus, Fig. 10 E; 8 - 8 * - 12 - 12 - 12 left pes, Fig. 10 F). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (2.8) = III (2.8)> II (2.6)> V (2.3)> I (1.8) (left manus); IV (3.6)> V (3.1)> III (3.0)> II (2.3 *)> I (1.9) (left pes). Tail original except tip (3.1 mm) which is regenerated, entire, subcylindrical, slender, marginally longer than snout-vent length (TL / SVL 1.18; Fig. 9 C-E). Dorsal scales on tail base weakly keeled, granular, similar in size and shape to granular scales on mid-body dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flattened, imbricate posteriorly, intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles; enlarged tubercles on the tail forming whorls; six tubercles each on first six whorls, four in 7 - 11 th whorls, rest of the tail with only paravertebral tubercles (Fig. 9 C, E). Scales on ventral aspect of tail much larger than those on dorsal aspect, subimbricate, smooth; median series distinctly larger than rest, roughly rectangular; scales on tail base slightly smaller than those on mid-body ventrals, smooth, imbricate; a single enlarged, weakly keeled and conical postcloacal spur on each side (Fig. 9 D).	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
C84BA64A39FE5B608A26A82FE16E0EF6.taxon	distribution	Distribution and Natural history. Cnemaspis agayagangai sp. nov. is currently known only from around its type locality (from Agaya Gangai waterfalls, Kolli hills, ca. 700 - 1000 m asl.) in Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu (Fig. 1). The new species was observed to be diurnal, rupicolous, and locally abundant. At collection sites, many individuals (n => 30) were observed active during the daytime (0900 - 1430 hrs) on rocks and cement walls below 2 m height in moist deciduous to semi evergreen forest patches (Fig. 8 B). Individuals of the new species were observed in great numbers across the elevation gradient, along the path to the Agaya Gangai waterfalls. Sympatric geckos encountered at the locality include Cnemaspis yercaudensis, Hemidactylus cf. graniticolus, Hemidactylus leschenaultii Dumeril & Bibron, Hemidactylus parvimaculatus, and Hemidactylus cf. frenatus.	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
9A59CF9C8B145F2AB5B56730E893164C.taxon	description	Figs 12, 13, 14, 6 C, 7 C, 8 C	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
9A59CF9C8B145F2AB5B56730E893164C.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from the Greek phantastikos, alluding to the spectacular colouration of the new species.	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
9A59CF9C8B145F2AB5B56730E893164C.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. A small-sized Cnemaspis, snout to vent length up to 32.5 mm (n = 8). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled granular scales intermixed with a fairly regularly arranged rows of enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles; last one or two rows of enlarged tubercles on flank weakly keeled, spine-like; 11 - 13 rows of dorsal tubercles at mid-body, 15 - 17 tubercles in paravertebral rows; ventral scales smooth, subcircular, subimbricate, subequal from chest to vent, 28 - 32 scales across belly at mid-body, 110 - 120 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca; subdigital scansors smooth, unpaired, unnotched; 8 - 10 lamellae under digit I of manus and pes, 14 - 16 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 16 - 20 lamellae under digit IV of pes; males with four or five femoral pores on each thigh separated by 7 - 9 poreless scales from series of 2 - 4 precloacal pores, precloacal pores separated medially by one or two poreless scales; tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, pointed, and spine-like tubercles forming whorls; median row of subcaudals smooth, roughly pentagonal, and distinctly enlarged. Dorsum reddish, mottled with numerous small yellow spots some of which form an indistinct vertebral line; a single central ocellus on neck, flanked posteriorly by a pair of much larger squarish blotches and anteriorly by a pair of subequal squarish blotches, indistinct spot on occiput; venter off-white with black speckles, two distinct pairs of black streaks on throat; throat off-white with two pairs of black streaks; original tail in males with 8 - 9 alternating dark and light grey bands, regenerated tail orange.	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
9A59CF9C8B145F2AB5B56730E893164C.taxon	description	Description of the holotype. Adult male in good state of preservation except tail tip marginally bent towards right (Fig. 12 A-E). SVL 31.0 mm, head short (HL / SVL 0.24), wide (HW / HL 0.66), not strongly depressed (HD / HL 0.44), distinct from neck. Loreal region marginally inflated, canthus rostralis not distinct. Snout half of head length (ES / HL 0.50), almost 2.5 times eye diameter (ES / ED 2.43); scales on snout and canthus rostralis subcircular to oval, subequal, smooth anteriorly, becoming weakly keeled, and conical posteriorly; and much larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; scales on forehead similar to those on snout and canthus rostralis except smaller, somewhat elongated, and weakly conical; scales on interorbital region even smaller, granular and weakly keeled; scales on occipital and temporal region heterogeneous, slightly enlarged, weakly keeled, conical tubercles intermixed with smaller, weakly keeled and weakly conical granular scales (Fig. 13 A). Eye small (ED / HL 0.20) with round pupil; supraciliaries short, larger anteriorly; five interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal bone; 24 or 25 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at mid-orbit (Fig. 13 A, C). Ear-opening deep, oval, small (EL / HL 0.06); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE / ED 1.5) (Fig. 13 C). Rostral 2 x wider (1.50 mm) than high (0.53 mm), incompletely divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove and internasal scale for more than half of its height; a single enlarged supranasal on each side, slightly larger than upper postnasal, separated from each other by a much smaller, elongated internasal scale and still smaller scale on snout; two postnasals, upper postnasal slightly larger than lower; rostral in contact with supralabial I, nostril, supranasal, and lower postnasal on either side; nostrils oval, surrounded by two postnasals, supranasal, and rostral on either side; two rows of scales separate orbit from supralabials (Fig. 13 C). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, slightly wider (1.71 mm) than high (1.34 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair roughly rectangular, much shorter (0.71 mm) than mental, in strong contact with each other below mental; inner pair bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmental, enlarged median chin shield and an enlarged chin shield on either side; outer postmentals roughly rectangular, even smaller (0.40 mm) than inner pair, bordered by inner postmentals, infralabial I and II, and four enlarged chin scales on left and three on right side; three enlarged gular scales between left and right outer postmentals; all chin scales bordering postmentals somewhat tubular, subcircular, smooth, and slightly smaller than outermost postmentals; scales on rest of throat, small, subequal, flattened and smooth (Fig. 13 B). Infralabials bordered below by a row or two slightly enlarged, much elongated scales, decreasing in size posteriorly. Eight supralabials up to angle of jaw on left and nine on right side, and six at midorbital position on either side; supralabial I largest, rest of the series gradually decreasing in size posteriorly; eight infralabials up to angle of jaw on either side, and six at midorbital position on left and five on right side; infralabial I largest, rest of the series gradually decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 13 C). Body relatively slender (BW / AGL 0.45), trunk less than half of SVL (AGL / SVL 0.39) without ventrolateral folds; short spine-like scales on flank present (Fig. 14 A-C). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled granular scales intermixed with a fairly regularly arranged row of enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles; tubercles in approximately 12 longitudinal rows at mid-body including spine-like scales at lower flank; 17 tubercles in paravertebral rows from above forelimb insertion to the hind limb insertion (Fig. 14 A, C). Ventral scales more than twice the size than granular scales on dorsum, smooth, subcircular, subimbricate, subequal from chest to vent; mid-body scale rows across belly 30; 113 scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca (Fig. 14 B). Scales on base of neck similar to those on belly, except smaller; gular region with still smaller, subequal, smooth, flattened scales, those bordering postmentals enlarged, smooth, subcircular, and somewhat tubular (Fig. 13 B). Five femoral pores on left thigh and four on right, separated by eight poreless on either side from two precloacal pores, precloacal pores separated medially by a single poreless scale (Fig. 13 D). Scales on palms and soles granular, smooth, subcircular, and flattened; scales on dorsal aspects of limbs heterogeneous in shape and size; mixture of small granular, weakly keeled, imbricate scales which are twice the size of granules on the body dorsum, largest on anterolateral aspect of the hands and feet; posterolateral aspect of limbs with small weakly keeled to smooth granular scales; scales on upper hand and thigh larger than lower hand and shank respectively; ventral aspect of forelimbs with small, smooth, subimbricate scales, larger on lower arm than upper arm; ventral aspect of hindlimb with enlarged, smooth, flattened, subimbricate scales, slightly larger than body ventrals (Fig. 12 A, B). Forelimbs and hindlimbs moderately long, slender (LAL / SVL 0.14; CL / SVL 0.17); digits long, with strong, recurved claw, distinctly inflected, distal portions laterally compressed conspicuously. Digits with unpaired lamellae, separated into a basal and narrower distal series by single enlarged lamella at inflection; basal lamellae series: (1 - 3 - 3 - 4 - 4 right manus, 1 - 4 - 4 - 6 - 5 right pes), (1 - 4 - 4 - 4 - 4 left manus, Fig. 13 E; 1 - 4 - 4 - 7 - 4 left pes, Fig. 13 F); distal lamellae series: (7 - 9 - 11 - 11 - 10 right manus, 8 - 10 - 13 - 12 - 12 right pes), (8 - 9 - 11 - 11 - 10 left manus, Fig. 13 E; 8 - 10 - 12 - 12 - 12 left pes, Fig. 13 F). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (2.6) = III (2.6)> II (2.4)> V (2.3)> I (1.7) (left manus); IV (3.5)> V (3.3) = III (3.3)> II (2.9)> I (1.8) (left pes). Tail half original half regenerated, entire, subcylindrical, slender, marginally longer than snout-vent length (TL / SVL 1.16; Fig. 12 C-E). Dorsal scales on tail base weakly keeled, granular, similar in size and shape to granular scales on mid-body dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flattened, imbricate posteriorly, intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles; enlarged tubercles on the tail forming whorls; six tubercles each on first four whorls, four in 5 - 8 th whorls, only paravertebral tubercles in 9 th and 10 th whorls, rest of the tail regenerated (Fig. 12 C, E). Scales on ventral aspect of original tail much larger than those on dorsal aspect, subimbricate, smooth; median series distinctly larger than rest, roughly pentagonal; scales on tail base slightly smaller than those on mid-body ventrals, smooth, imbricate; a single enlarged, smooth to weakly keeled and conical postcloacal spur on each side (Fig. 12 D).	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
9A59CF9C8B145F2AB5B56730E893164C.taxon	distribution	Distribution and Natural history. Cnemaspis fantastica sp. nov. is currently known only from around its type locality (Karavallicombai reserve forest, Kolli hills, between an elevational gradient of ca. 600 - 1100 m asl.) in Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu (Fig. 1). Like most of the other members of its clade, the new species seems to be diurnal, rupicolous, and locally abundant. At collection sites, many individuals (n => 40) were observed active during the daytime (1100 - 1430 hrs) on rocks, road side rocky cuttings, and building walls below 2 m height, and under cement culverts in moist deciduous to semi-evergreen forest patches (Fig. 8 C). Sympatric geckos encountered at the locality include Cyrtodactylus (Geckoella) sp., Hemidactylus cf. graniticolus, Hemidactylus parvimaculatus, Hemidactylus cf. frenatus, and Hemiphyllodactylus kolliensis.	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
2468C5D2CF2755D4B40AA5D73D306D18.taxon	description	Figs 15, 16, 17; 6 D, 8 D, 18 A	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
2468C5D2CF2755D4B40AA5D73D306D18.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The specific epithet is a toponym for the Pachaimalai hills in Trichy district of Tamil Nadu, the type and currently only known locality for this species.	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
2468C5D2CF2755D4B40AA5D73D306D18.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. A small-sized Cnemaspis, snout to vent length up to 33.6 mm (n = 8). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, weakly conical, granular scales intermixed with a fairly regularly arranged rows of enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles; last one or two rows of enlarged tubercles on flank short spine-like; 10 - 12 rows of dorsal tubercles at mid-body, 13 - 17 tubercles in paravertebral rows; ventral scales subcircular, smooth, subequal from chest to vent, 30 - 33 scales across belly at mid-body, 112 - 125 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca; subdigital scansors smooth, unpaired, unnotched; 9 - 11 lamellae under digit I of manus and 9 - 12 lamellae under digit I of pes, 15 - 18 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 18 - 22 lamellae under digit IV of pes; males with 4 - 7 femoral pores on each thigh separated by 7 - 11 poreless scales from continuous series of 2 - 5 precloacal pores (n = 7 / 8); tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, pointed, and spine-like tubercles forming whorls; median row of subcaudals smooth, roughly pentagonal, and distinctly enlarged. Dorsum orange, mottled with numerous light grey spots and fine black spots; a large central black dorsal ocellus on neck flanked anteriorly and posteriorly on each side by elongate dark ocelli, smaller ocellus on occiput flanked on each side by a smaller ocellus; indistinct rows of smaller dark ocelli may be present; venter off-white with black speckles, two distinct pairs of black streaks on throat; original tail in males with 9 - 11 alternating dark and light grey bands, regenerated tail orange.	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
2468C5D2CF2755D4B40AA5D73D306D18.taxon	description	Description of the holotype. Adult male in good state of preservation except tail slightly bent towards left (Fig. 15 A-E). SVL 28.8 mm, head short (HL / SVL 0.24), wide (HW / HL 0.68), not strongly depressed (HD / HL 0.45), distinct from neck. Loreal region marginally inflated, canthus rostralis not distinct. Snout half of head length (ES / HL 0.50), almost 2.5 times eye diameter (ES / ED 2.33); scales on snout and canthus rostralis subcircular, subequal, weakly keeled, somewhat conical, and much larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; scales on forehead similar to those on snout and canthus rostralis except smaller and elongated, and weakly conical; scales on interorbital region even smaller, granular; scales on occipital and temporal region heterogeneous, enlarged, keeled, conical tubercles intermixed with much smaller, weakly keeled and weakly conical granular scales (Fig. 16 A). Eye small (ED / HL 0.21) with round pupil; supraciliaries short, larger anteriorly; five interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal bone; 28 - 30 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at mid-orbit (Fig. 16 A, C). Ear-opening deep, oval, small (EL / HL 0.05); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE / ED 1.60) (Fig. 16 C). Rostral more than twice as wide (1.40 mm) as high (0.55 mm), incompletely divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove for more than half of its height; a single enlarged supranasal on each side, slightly larger than upper postnasal, separated from each other by a much smaller, elongated internasal scale and still smaller scale on snout; two postnasals, upper postnasal slightly larger than lower; rostral in contact with supralabial I, nostril, supranasal, and weakly in contact with lower postnasal on either side; nostrils oval, surrounded by two postnasals, supranasal, and rostral on either side; one or two rows of scales separate orbit from supralabials (Fig. 16 C). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, marginally wider (1.64 mm) than high (1.30 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair roughly rectangular, much shorter (0.63 mm) than mental, separated from each other below mental by a single enlarged median chin shield; inner pair bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmental, enlarged median chin shield and an enlarged chin shield on either side; outer postmentals roughly rectangular, even smaller (0.52 mm) than inner pair, bordered by inner postmentals, infralabial I and II, and four enlarged chin shields on either side; three enlarged gular scales between left and right outer postmentals; all chin scales bordering postmentals flat, subcircular, smooth, and slightly smaller than outermost postmentals; scales on rest of throat granular, small, smooth (Fig. 16 B). Infralabials bordered below by a row or two of slightly enlarged, much elongated scales, decreasing in size posteriorly. Eight supralabials up to angle of jaw and six at midorbital position on either side; supralabial I largest, rest of the series gradually decreasing in size posteriorly; seven infralabials up to angle of jaw, five at midorbital position on either side; infralabial I largest, rest of the series gradually decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 16 C). Body relatively slender (BW / AGL 0.46), trunk less than half of SVL (AGL / SVL 0.39) without ventrolateral folds; short spine-like scales on flank present (Fig. 17 A-C). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled granular scales intermixed with a fairly regularly arranged row of enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles; tubercles in approximately 11 longitudinal rows at mid-body including short spine-like scales at lower flank; 14 (left) and 16 (right) tubercles in paravertebral row from above forelimb insertion to the hind limb insertion (Fig. 17 A, C). Ventral scales much larger than granular scales on dorsum smooth, subcircular, subimbricate, subequal from chest to vent; mid-body scale rows across belly 31; 115 scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca (Fig. 17 B). Scales on base of neck similar to those on belly, marginally smaller; gular region with much smaller, smooth, granular scales, those bordering postmentals enlarged, smooth, subcircular, and flattened (Fig. 16 B). Five femoral pores on left thigh and four on right, separated by 10 poreless on either side from continuous series of three precloacal pores (Fig. 16 D). Scales on palms and soles granular, smooth, rounded, and flattened; scales on dorsal aspects of limbs heterogeneous in shape and size; mixture of small granular, weakly keeled, imbricate scales which are twice the size of granules on the body dorsum, largest on anterolateral aspect of the hands and feet; posterolateral aspect of limbs with small weakly keeled to smooth granular scales; ventral aspect of forelimbs with small, smooth, subimbricate scales, larger on lower arm than upper arm; ventral aspect of hindlimb with enlarged, smooth, flattened, subimbricate scales, slightly larger than body ventrals (Fig. 15 A, B). Forelimbs and hindlimbs moderately long, slender (LAL / SVL 0.14; CL / SVL 0.17); digits long, with strong, recurved claw, distinctly inflected, distal portions laterally compressed conspicuously. Digits with unpaired lamellae except for a few basal lamellae which are paired, separated into a basal and narrower distal series by single enlarged lamella at inflection; basal lamellae series: (1 - 3 - 3 - 4 - 3 right manus, 1 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 5 right pes), (1 - 3 - 3 - 4 - 3 left manus, Fig. 16 E; 1 - 4 - 6 - 7 - 5 left pes, Fig. 16 F); distal lamellae series: (9 - 11 - 12 - 11 - 10 right manus, 8 - 10 - 13 - 12 - 12 right pes), (8 - 9 - 11 - 11 - 11 left manus, Fig. 16 E; 8 - 11 - 13 - 12 - 13 left pes, Fig. 16 F). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (2.5)> III (2.3)> V (2.0) = II (2.0)> I (1.5) (left manus); IV (3.1)> V (3.0)> III (2.9)> II (2.6)> I (1.9) (left pes). Tail original, entire, subcylindrical, slender, marginally longer than snout-vent length (TL / SVL 1.11; Fig. 15 C-E). Dorsal scales on tail base weakly keeled, granular, similar in size and shape to granular scales on mid-body dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flattened, imbricate posteriorly, intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles; enlarged tubercles on the tail forming whorls; six tubercles each on first nine whorls, four in 10 - 13 th whorls, rest of the tail with only paravertebral tubercles (Fig. 15 A, C). Scales on ventral aspect of tail much larger than those on dorsal aspect, subimbricate, smooth; median series distinctly larger than rest, roughly pentagonal; scales on tail base slightly smaller than those on mid-body ventrals, smooth, imbricate; a single enlarged, conical, and smooth postcloacal spur on each side (Fig. 15 B).	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
2468C5D2CF2755D4B40AA5D73D306D18.taxon	distribution	Distribution and Natural history. Cnemaspis pachaimalaiensis sp. nov. is currently known only from around its type locality (near Mangalam waterfalls, Pachaimalai Hills, between an elevational gradient of ca. 600 - 1000 m asl.) in Trichy district, Tamil Nadu (Fig. 1). Like most other members of its clade, the new species is diurnal, rupicolous, and fairly abundant locally. At each collection site, many individuals (n => 20) were observed active during the daytime (0900 - 1630 hrs) on rocks, road side rocky cuttings, and building walls below 2 m height, and under cement culverts in dry deciduous to semi-evergreen forest patches (Fig. 8 D). Sympatric geckos encountered at the locality include Cyrtodactylus (Geckoella) sp., Hemidactylus kolliensis Agarwal, Bauer, Giri & Khandekar, Hemidactylus leschenaultii, Hemidactylus whitakeri Mirza, Gowande, Patil, Ambekar & Patel, Hemidactylus parvimaculatus, Hemidactylus cf. frenatus, and Hemiphyllodactylus sp.	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
F54AF1E84068529FBED2CFBE24FC734C.taxon	description	Figs 18 B- 18, 19, 20, 21, 22	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
F54AF1E84068529FBED2CFBE24FC734C.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The specific epithet is from the Sanskrit rudhira which means blood, alluding to the blood-red colouration of this beautiful species, and is used as a noun in apposition.	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
F54AF1E84068529FBED2CFBE24FC734C.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. A small-sized Cnemaspis, snout to vent length up to 33.8 mm (n = 10). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled granular scales intermixed with a fairly regularly arranged rows of enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles; last one or two rows of enlarged tubercles on flank weakly keeled, spine-like; 10 - 12 rows of dorsal tubercles at mid-body, 13 - 17 tubercles in paravertebral rows; ventral scales smooth, subcircular, subimbricate, subequal from chest to vent, 30 - 32 scales across belly at mid-body, 101 - 121 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca; subdigital scansors smooth, mostly unpaired, unnotched; 8 - 11 lamellae under digit I of manus and pes; 14 - 17 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 17 - 21 lamellae under digit IV of pes; males with four or five femoral pores on each thigh separated by 6 - 9 poreless scales from series of 4 - 6 precloacal pores, precloacal pores separated medially by single (rarely 2, n = 1 / 8) poreless scales; tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, pointed, and spine-like tubercles forming whorls; median row of subcaudals smooth, roughly rectangular, and distinctly enlarged. Dorsum orange, mottled with numerous small light grey spots and fine black spots with an indistinct series of light grey vertebral blotches extending from neck to tail base; single central black dorsal ocellus on neck and smaller ocellus on occiput, separated by a light grey blotch; venter off-white with black speckles, margin of throat strongly marked; original tail in males grey or with 9 - 11 alternating dark and light grey bands, regenerated tail orange.	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
F54AF1E84068529FBED2CFBE24FC734C.taxon	description	Description of the holotype. Adult male in good state of preservation except tail tip slightly bend towards left, longitudinal skin fold on vertebral region between limb insertions (Fig. 19 A-E). SVL 32.3 mm, head short (HL / SVL 0.24), wide (HW / HL 0.66), not strongly depressed (HD / HL 0.47), distinct from neck. Loreal region marginally inflated, canthus rostralis not distinct. Snout half of head length (ES / HL 0.52), marginally more than 2.5 times eye diameter (ES / ED 2.6); scales on snout and canthus rostralis subcircular, subequal, and weakly keeled; much larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; scales on forehead similar to those on snout and canthus rostralis except smaller, elongated, and weakly conical; scales on interorbital region even smaller, granular and weakly keeled; scales on occipital and temporal region heterogeneous, slightly enlarged, weakly keeled, conical tubercles intermixed with smaller, weakly keeled and weakly conical granular scales (Fig. 20 A). Eye small (ED / HL 0.20) with round pupil; supraciliaries short, larger anteriorly; six interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal bone; 25 or 26 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at mid-orbit (Fig. 20 A, C). Ear-opening deep, oval, small (EL / HL 0.05); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE / ED 1.50) (Fig. 20 C). Rostral more than two times wider (1.56 mm) than high (0.72 mm), incompletely divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove and internasal scale for more than half of its height; a single enlarged supranasal on each side, much larger than postnasals, separated from each other by a much smaller, elongated internasal scale and still smaller scale on snout; two postnasals, upper postnasal marginally larger than lower; rostral in contact with supralabial I, nostril, internasal, supranasal, and lower postnasal on either side; nostrils oval, surrounded by two postnasals, supranasal, and rostral on either side; two rows of scales separate orbit from supralabials (Fig. 20 C). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, slightly wider (1.97 mm) than high (1.50 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair roughly rectangular, much shorter (0.84 mm) than mental, in strong contact with each other below mental; inner pair bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmental, enlarged median chin shield on either side and an enlarged chin shield on left side; outer postmentals roughly rectangular, even smaller (0.63 mm) than inner pair, bordered by inner postmentals, infralabial I and II, and three enlarged chin shields on either side and median chin shield on left side; three enlarged gular scales between left and right outer postmentals; all chin scales bordering postmentals flat, subcircular, smooth, and smaller than outermost postmentals; scales on rest of throat, even smaller, flattened, subequal, and smooth (Fig. 20 B). Infralabials bordered below by a row or two of slightly enlarged, much elongated scales, decreasing in size posteriorly. Ten supralabials up to angle of jaw on left, 11 on right side, and six at midorbital position on each side; supralabial I largest, gradually decreasing in size posteriorly; eight infralabials up to angle of jaw on left and nine on right, five at midorbital position on either side; infralabial I largest, gradually decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 20 C). Body relatively slender (BW / AGL 0.51), trunk less than half of SVL (AGL / SVL 0.38) without ventrolateral folds; spine-like scales on flank present (Fig. 21 A-C). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled granular scales intermixed with a fairly regularly arranged row of enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles; tubercles in approximately 12 longitudinal rows at mid-body including spine-like scales at lower flank; 14 (left) and 15 (right) tubercles in paravertebral row from above forelimb insertion to the hind limb insertion (Fig. 21 A, C). Ventral scales much larger than granular scales on dorsum smooth, subcircular, subimbricate, subequal from chest to vent; mid-body scale rows across belly 31; 115 scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca (Fig. 21 B). Scales on base of neck similar to those on belly, marginally smaller; gular region with still smaller, subequal, smooth, flattened scales, those bordering postmentals enlarged, smooth, subcircular, and flattened (Fig. 20 B). Four femoral pores on either thigh, separated by nine poreless on either side from four precloacal pores, precloacal pores separated medially by a single poreless scale (Fig. 20 D). Scales on palm and soles granular, smooth, subcircular, subimbricate and flattened; scales on dorsal aspects of limbs heterogeneous in shape and size; mixture of small granular, weakly keeled, imbricate scales which are twice the size of granules on the body dorsum, largest on anterolateral aspect of the hands and feet; posterolateral aspect of limbs with small weakly keeled to smooth granular scales; scales on lower arm and shank small, subimbricate, and keeled; ventral aspect of forelimbs with small, smooth, subimbricate scales, larger on lower arm than upper arm; ventral aspect of hindlimb with enlarged, smooth, flattened, subimbricate scales, slightly larger than body ventrals (Fig. 19 A, B). Forelimbs and hindlimbs moderately long, slender (LAL / SVL 0.15; CL / SVL 0.18); digits long, with strong, recurved claw, distinctly inflected, distal portions laterally compressed conspicuously. Digits with unpaired lamellae except basal one or two paired on some digits, separated into a basal and narrower distal series by single enlarged lamella at inflection; basal lamellae series: (1 - 4 - 4 - 4 - 4 right manus, 1 - 5 - 5 - 8 - 6 right pes), (2 - 3 - 4 - 4 - 3 left manus, Fig. 20 E; 1 - 4 - 5 - 8 - 6 left pes, Fig. 20 F); distal lamellae series: (9 - 10 - 13 - 12 - 10 right manus, 9 - 11 - 13 - 13 - 11 right pes), (9 - 10 - 12 - 12 - 10 left manus, Fig. 20 E; 9 - 11 - 14 - 13 - 13 left pes, Fig. 20 F). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (2.6)> III (2.4)> II (2.3) = V (2.3)> I (1.9) (left manus); IV (3.9)> V (3.3)> III (3.2)> II (2.9)> I (1.8) (left pes). Tail original except tip (5.1 mm) which is regenerated, entire, subcylindrical, slender, slightly longer than snout-vent length (TL / SVL 1.30; Fig. 19 C-E). Dorsal scales on tail base weakly keeled, granular, similar in size and shape to granular scales on mid-body dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flattened, imbricate posteriorly, intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles; enlarged tubercles on the tail forming whorls; six tubercles each on first eight whorls, four in 9 - 12 th whorls, rest of the tail with only paravertebral tubercles except original and regenerated portion of the tail lacking enlarged tubercles (Fig. 19 C, E). Scales on ventral aspect of tail much larger than those on dorsal aspect, subimbricate, smooth; median series distinctly larger than rest, roughly rectangular; scales on tail base slightly larger than those on mid-body ventrals, smooth, imbricate; a single enlarged, weakly keeled and conical postcloacal spur on each side (Fig. 19 D).	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
F54AF1E84068529FBED2CFBE24FC734C.taxon	distribution	Distribution and Natural history. Cnemaspis rudhira sp. nov. is known from a broad elevation gradient of ca. 800 - 1400 m asl. around its type locality, Yercaud, in the Shevaroy hills, Salem district, Tamil Nadu (Fig. 1). The new species was observed to be diurnal, scansorial, and locally highly abundant. At each collection site, many individuals (n => 30) were observed active during the daytime (0900 - 1430 hrs) on rocks, cement walls, trees, inside cement culverts etc. all below 2 - 3 m height in moist deciduous to evergreen forest patches (Fig. 22). Individuals of the new species were observed both daytime and at night in large numbers across the elevation gradient, along the ghat road leading to Yercaud town. Sympatric geckos encountered at the locality include Cnemaspis yercaudensis, Cnemaspis thackerayi, Cyrtodactylus (Geckoella) sp. Hemidactylus cf. graniticolus, Hemidactylus leschenaultii, Hemidactylus parvimaculatus, Hemidactylus cf. frenatus, Hemidactylus whitakeri, and Hemiphyllodactylus aurantiacus (Beddome).	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
A4048DE4360C5AA68CD8C99CC5233EC5.taxon	description	Figs 3, 4, 5, 6 A, 7 A, 8 A	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
A4048DE4360C5AA68CD8C99CC5233EC5.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The specific epithet is a patronym honouring the eminent ornithologist Dr. Salim Ali (1896 - 1987) for his immense contributions to field research and conservation in India.	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
A4048DE4360C5AA68CD8C99CC5233EC5.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. A medium-sized Cnemaspis, snout to vent length up to 41.3 mm (n = 9). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled granular scales intermixed with irregularly arranged rows of enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles; last one or two rows of enlarged tubercles on flank weakly keeled, short and spine-like; 11 - 13 rows of dorsal tubercles at mid-body, 16 - 18 tubercles in paravertebral rows, paravertebral rows rarely irregular (n = 1 / 7); ventral scales smooth, subcircular, subimbricate, subequal from chest to vent, 30 - 33 scales across belly at mid-body, 109 - 128 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca; subdigital scansors smooth, unpaired, unnotched; 10 - 12 lamellae under digit I of manus and pes, 15 - 18 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 20 - 24 lamellae under digit IV of pes; males with 3 - 5 femoral pores on each thigh separated by 5 - 7 poreless scales from series of 2 - 4 precloacal pores, precloacal pores separated medially by three or four poreless scales (n = 7 / 9); tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, pointed, and spine-like tubercles forming whorls; median row of subcaudals smooth, roughly pentagonal, and distinctly enlarged. Dorsum with diffuse light tan blotches including some in a vertebral row and numerous smaller orange blotches; a single black dorsal ocellus on neck, venter off-white with black speckles; original tail in males with eight or nine faint bands, regenerated tail brown.	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
A4048DE4360C5AA68CD8C99CC5233EC5.taxon	description	Description of the holotype. Adult male in good state of preservation except regenerated portion of tail tip slightly bent towards right (Fig. 3 A-E). SVL 35.0 mm, head short (HL / SVL 0.25), wide (HW / HL 0.67), not strongly depressed (HD / HL 0.41), distinct from neck. Loreal region marginally inflated, canthus rostralis not distinct. Snout almost half of head length (ES / HL 0.47), nearly 2.5 times eye diameter (ES / ED 2.33); scales on snout and canthus rostralis subcircular, subequal, smooth anteriorly, becoming weakly keeled, and conical posteriorly; much larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; scales on forehead similar to those on snout and canthus rostralis except smaller and weakly conical; scales on interorbital region even smaller, granular and smooth to weakly keeled; scales on occipital and temporal region heterogeneous, slightly enlarged, weakly keeled, conical tubercles intermixed with smaller, weakly keeled and weakly conical granular scales (Fig. 4 A). Eye small (ED / HL 0.20) with round pupil; supraciliaries short, larger anteriorly; seven interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal bone; 30 - 32 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at mid-orbit (Fig. 4 A, C). Ear-opening deep, oval, small (EL / HL 0.06); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE / ED 1.50) (Fig. 4 C). Rostral more than 2 x wider (1.86 mm) than high (0.80 mm), incompletely divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove and internasal scale for more than half of its height; a single enlarged supranasal on each side, marginally larger than postnasals, separated from each other by a much smaller, elongated internasal scale; two postnasals, upper postnasal marginally larger than lower; rostral in contact with supralabial I, nostril, supranasal, and lower postnasal on either side; nostrils oval, surrounded by two postnasals, supranasal, and rostral on either side; two rows of scales separate orbit from supralabials (Fig. 4 C). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, slightly wider (2.01 mm) than high (1.54 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair roughly rectangular, much shorter (0.77 mm) than mental, separated from each other below mental by a single enlarged median chin shield; inner pair bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmental, enlarged median chin shield and two enlarged chin shield on either side; outer postmentals roughly subcircular, even smaller (0.63 mm) than inner pair, bordered by inner postmentals, infralabial I and II, and four enlarged chin shields on either side; four enlarged gular scales between left and right outer postmentals; all chin scales bordering postmentals more or less flat, subcircular, smooth, and much smaller than outermost postmentals; scales on rest of throat, even smaller, subequal, and smooth (Fig. 4 B). Infralabials bordered below by a row or two of slightly enlarged, much elongated scales, decreasing in size posteriorly. Ten supralabials up to angle of jaw and six at midorbital position on either side; supralabial I largest, rest of the series gradually decreasing in size posteriorly; eight infralabials up to angle of jaw and six at midorbital position on either side; infralabial I largest, gradually decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 4 C). Body relatively slender (BW / AGL 0.43), trunk less than half of SVL (AGL / SVL 0.38) without ventrolateral folds; short spine-like scales on flank present (Fig. 5 A-C). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled granular scales intermixed with irregularly arranged rows of enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles; tubercles in approximately 12 longitudinal rows at mid-body including short spine-like scales at lower flank; tubercles in paravertebral rows irregular (Fig. 5 A, C). Ventral scales much larger than granular scales on dorsum, smooth, subcircular, subimbricate, subequal from chest to vent; mid-body scale rows across belly 30; 109 scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca (Fig. 5 B). Scales on base of neck similar to those on belly; gular region with much smaller, subequal, smooth, flattened scales, those bordering postmentals enlarged, smooth, subcircular, and more or less flattened (Fig. 4 B). Five femoral pores on left thigh and four on right, separated by seven poreless scales on left and six on right side from two precloacal pores, precloacal pores separated medially by three poreless scales (Fig. 4 D). Scales on palms and soles small, smooth, rounded, and flattened; scales on dorsal aspects of limbs heterogeneous in shape and size; mixture of small granular, weakly keeled, imbricate scales that are twice the size of granules on body dorsum, largest on anterolateral aspect of hands and feet; scales on upper arm larger than lower; posterolateral aspect of limbs with small weakly keeled to smooth granular scales; ventral aspect of forelimbs with small, smooth, subimbricate scales, larger on lower arm than upper arm; ventral aspect of hindlimb with enlarged, smooth, flattened, subimbricate scales, slightly larger than body ventrals (Fig. 3 A, B). Forelimbs and hindlimbs moderately long, slender (LAL / SVL 0.14; CL / SVL 0.19); digits long, with strong, recurved claw, distinctly inflected, distal portions laterally compressed conspicuously. Digits with unpaired lamellae, separated into a basal and narrower distal series by single enlarged lamella at inflection; basal lamellae series: (1 - 3 - 4 - 4 - 4 right manus, 1 - 4 - 5 - 8 - 5 right pes), (1 - 3 - 3 - 4 - 4 left manus, Fig. 4 E; 1 - 4 - 5 - 8 - 5 left pes, Fig. 4 F); distal lamellae series: (11 - 12 - 13 - 13 - 11 right manus, 11 - 12 - 14 - 14 - 14 right pes), (11 - 12 - 13 - 12 - 11 left manus, Fig. 4 E; 11 - 12 - 14 - 14 - 14 left pes, Fig. 4 F). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (3.8)> III (3.5)> V (3.3)> II (3.1)> I (2.6) (left manus); IV (4.9)> V (4.2) = III (4.2)> II (3.7)> I (2.5) (left pes). Tail original except tip (15.1 mm) which is regenerated, entire, subcylindrical, slender, slightly longer than snout-vent length (TL / SVL 1.28; Fig. 3 C-E). Dorsal scales on tail base weakly keeled, granular, similar in size and shape to granular scales on mid-body dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flattened, imbricate posteriorly, intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles; enlarged tubercles on the tail forming whorls; six tubercles each on first eight whorls, four in whorls 9 - 11, only paravertebral tubercles in whorls 12 - 14, rest of tail tip regenerated (Fig. 3 C, E). Scales on ventral aspect of tail much larger than those on dorsal aspect, subimbricate, smooth; median series distinctly larger than rest, roughly pentagonal; scales on tail base slightly smaller than those on mid-body ventrals, smooth, imbricate; a single enlarged, smooth, and conical postcloacal spur on each side (Fig. 3 D).	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
A4048DE4360C5AA68CD8C99CC5233EC5.taxon	distribution	Distribution and Natural history. Cnemaspis salimalii sp. nov. is currently known only from around its type locality (from vicinity of Nallathambi resort, Semmedu, Kolli Hills, ca. 1100 - 1300 m asl.) in Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu (Fig. 1). The new species seems to be diurnal, scansorial, and locally abundant. At collection sites, many individuals (n => 30) were observed active during the daytime (0900 - 1230 hrs) on old mossy walls and tree trunks below 2 m height in moist evergreen forest patches (Fig. 8 A). Individuals of the new species were observed in large numbers inactive during the night, resting on mossy walls and cement culverts along the road inside Semmedu village and Nallathambi Resort. Sympatric geckos encountered on trees and mossy walls at the locality include Cnemaspis yercaudensis Bauer & Das, Hemidactylus parvimaculatus Deraniyagala, Hemidactylus cf. frenatus, and Hemiphyllodactylus kolliensis Agarwal, Khandekar, Giri, Ramakrishnan & Karanth.	en	Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas, Khandekar, Akshay (2022): A multitude of spots! Five new microendemic species of the Cnemaspis gracilis group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from massifs in the Shevaroy landscape, Tamil Nadu, India. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1137-1186, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e94799
