Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India. Institute of Evolution, Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave., Haifa 3498838, Israel..
Zootaxa. 2020 Dec 17;4895(4):zootaxa.4895.4.2. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4895.4.2.
Two distinct species of the gekkonid genus Hemidactylus are described from the dry zone of peninsular India from the state of Telangana. The two sister species, Hemidactylus flavicaudus sp. nov. and H. xericolus sp. nov., are nested within the morphologically cryptic H. brookii group, but are clearly distinguishable from all known species in having a bright yellow tail and yellow markings on the head, besides unique combinations of meristic characters and small body size (< 45 mm snout to vent length). The two new species are also deeply divergent from each other and other members of the H. brookii group in mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase 2 and cytochrome b sequences. Hemidactylus flavicaudus sp. nov. can be diagnosed from H. xericolus sp. nov. based on the number of dorsal tubercle rows at midbody (11-14 versus 6-8). These descriptions of evolutionarily and morphologically distinct species highlight the dearth of studies carried out in the dry zone of peninsular India and the urgent need to assess biodiversity in the face of rapid land-use changes in this landscape.
两种明显不同的壁虎属Hemidactylus 物种被描述来自印度半岛干燥地带的特伦甘纳邦。这两个姐妹种，Hemidactylus flavicaudus sp. nov. 和 H. xericolus sp. nov.，嵌套在形态上隐秘的 H. brookii 组内，但与所有已知物种明显不同，具有鲜艳的黄色尾巴和头部的黄色标记，此外还有独特的组合特征和小体型（<45 毫米吻肛长）。这两个新物种彼此之间以及与 H. brookii 组的其他成员在线粒体 NADH 脱氢酶 2 和细胞色素 b 序列上也存在很深的分歧。Hemidactylus flavicaudus sp. nov. 可以从 H. xericolus sp. nov. 中诊断出来，基于中体背部结节行数（11-14 对 6-8）。这些在进化和形态上明显不同的物种的描述突出表明，在印度半岛干燥地带进行的研究很少，并且迫切需要在这种景观中快速的土地利用变化的情况下评估生物多样性。
