New lizard species discovered in Maharashtra

[Kalyan]

New lizard species discovered in Maharashtra

Mumbai: A new species of the ground-dwelling lizard, also called the gecko, has been discovered in the plateaus of Satara district in south-central Maharashtra.

Belonging to the genus Hemidactylus, it is a member of a group of chiefly terrestrial Indian Hemidactylus species that have undivided or only party divided sub-digital lamellae or the fingers of the lizard.


The discovery - made in 2003 - was a collaborative effort between Varad B Giri, a scientist with Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and Aaron M Bauer of Villanova University, US.

The duo's findings and research were confirmed and a paper detailing the discovery published in Zootaxa journal's February 2008 issue.


Giri told IANS that presently this species is only known to exist in and around Satara in the Western Ghats of the state.


"This region is unique in the presence of large laterite or basaltic plateaus on the crests of mountains where semi-evergreen forest makes up the valley vegetation. Apart from their unique ecological features, these plateaus have a unique floral and faunal diversity," Giri said on Tuesday.

Source : IbnLive.com

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