''Cnemaspis anslemi'', or Anslems' day gecko, is a species of diurnal

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from . Geckos ar ...

endemic to island of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

described from northwestern foothills of Samanalawewa Nature Reserve.

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''anslemi'' honors Sri Lankan herpetologist Anslem de Silva, who has worked nearly five decades on Sri Lanka herpetofauna. He is commonly known as the father of modern herpetology in Sri Lanka.

Taxonomy

The species is closely related to ''C. gemunu'', ''C. godagedarai'', ''C. phillipsi'', and ''C. scalpensis''.

Ecology

The species is restricted to home gardens and tropical evergreen rainforests in the Udamaliboda area, Lihinihela, Borangamuwa, and Warnagala areas. Researchers described the species as critically endangered due to tea and rubber plantations and mini hydropower plants. It is sympatric with many other gecko species, including '' Cnemaspis samanalensis'', '' Cyrtodactylus triedrus'', ''

Gehyra mutilata ''Gehyra mutilata'', also known commonly as the common four-clawed gecko, Pacific gecko, stump-toed gecko, sugar gecko in Indonesia, tender-skinned house gecko, and ''butiki'' in Filipino, is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The sp ...

'', '' Hemidactylus depressus'', '' H. pieresii'', '' H. frenatus'', '' H. parvimaculatus'', and '' Hemiphyllodactylus typus'.

Description

Snout to vent length of adult male is 34.4 mm and female is 32.5 mm. Body slender and long. Eye relatively small with round pupil. Dorsum is covered with smooth granular scales. Chin and gular scales are smooth. Tubercles are well developed. Males have no precloacal pores. Dorsum is reticulated brown, black, and white in color with two large oval shaped patches on the neck region. Head has scattered black and white dots. Dark canthal stripe is indistinct. Chin and gular areas are bright yellow. Neck is bright yellow with black dots in zig-zag pattern. Femur is dirty yellow. Tail has 13–15 cinnamon brown blotches. Eggs are pure white and spherical.

References

External links

Snake specialist charmed by the attention
{{Taxonbar, from=Q70043295 anslemi Reptiles of Sri Lanka Endemic fauna of Sri Lanka Reptiles described in 2019