Scientists find six new lizard species along western ghats

Herpetologists have discovered six new gecko species along the Western Ghats and have tried to understand their evolutionary origins in India. So far, only one endemic

Herpetologists have discovered six new gecko species along the Western Ghats and have tried to understand their evolutionary origins in India. So far, only one endemic gecko genus, Dravidogecko — a small lizard restricted to the wet deciduous to evergreen forests of the Western Ghats — was perceived to be widespread with the identification of one species — Dravidogecko anamallensis — described in 1875 by British Zoologist Albert Günthe.

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Over 140 years later, a team of herpetologists and scientists through field work, sampling and genetic molecular analysis, have identified six new species — Dravidogecko septentrionalis, D. janakiae (in honour of Dr. Janaki Ammal, a botanist from Kerala), D. tholpalli, D. meghamalaiensis, D. douglasadamsi (in honour of British author, Douglas Noel Adams) and D. smithi (in honour of British herpetologist Malcolm Arthur Smith).

The study carried out by Bengaluru-based herpetologist R Chaitanya with Foundation for Biodiversity Conservation, Bengaluru, the Natural History Museum, London and several other scientific research institutes in India including the Centre’s Zoological Survey of India, were recently published in the international taxonomic journal, Zootaxa. These geckos are distributed across Wayanad district in Kerala towards the north up to Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu in the south. Being nocturnal and arboreal (living in trees and active mostly during night), these geckos are great climbers and prefer tree trunks or abandoned buildings as their habitat. “They are called ‘cryptic’ as it is difficult to differentiate one species from another unless under a microscope. Superficially, they look similar as they occupy the same ecological niche, and did not need to adapt themselves morphologically,” said Chaitanya, lead author of the study.

Scientists said the study showed how ancestors of the Dravidogecko may have colonised peninsular India around 58 million years ago, potentially island-hopping their way into the subcontinent. “These species dispersed through an oceanic barrier and got into peninsular India as the land mass separated from supercontinent Gondwanaland,” said Chaitanya. “We need to identify organisms with diverse evolutionary history based on our conservation strategies. While tigers, leopards and lions have similar evolutionary and biogeographic histories, smaller organisms like Dravidogecko were there even when India was attached to Africa over 120 million years ago. If we protect their habitat, these species will survive.”

“A computer engineer by profession, Chaitanya is now a contemporary herpetologist. Indian hepatology deserves a lot of attention. More such research bring about real facts and boost conservation,” said Dr. Varad Giri, director, Foundation for Biodiversity Conservation, Bengaluru.