''Cnemaspis kawminiae'', or Kawmini's 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 in 2019 from Nuwara Eliya.

Etymology

The specific name ''kawminiae'' is named in honor of Hadunneththi Kawmini Mendis, who is the mother of Suranjan Karunarathna, first author. His mother supported the research team financially as well as encourage them including his son.

Taxonomy

The species is closely related to ''C. kumarasinghei'' and ''C. gotaimbarai '' morphological aspects.

Ecology

The species was discovered from a granite cave in Mandaram Nuwara, closer to Pidurutalagala Mountain, Nuwara Eliya.

Description

Snout-to-vent length is 33.7 mm in adult male and 35.2 mm in adult female. Granular scales are flat. Chin, gular, pectoral, and abdominal scales are smooth. There are 86–92 paravertebral granules. Two precloacal pores are present. In males, 4–5 femoral pores are present. Median row of

subcaudal scales In snakes, the subcaudal scales are the enlarged plates on the underside of the tail.Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates (7th printing, 1985). 1105 pp. . These scales may be either single or divided (pair ...

an irregular, sub-rhomboid, and small. Head is small with short snout. Small eyes have round pupils. Dorsum of head, body, limbs and tail is generally light grey to brown. An oblique black line in the interorbital area present. There are five W-shaped black patches on the occipital area. Three straight, dark brown postorbital stripes are present. Ten grey brownish blotches runs along the tail.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q85753084 kawminiae Reptiles of Sri Lanka Endemic fauna of Sri Lanka Taxa named by Aaron M. Bauer Taxa named by Anslem de Silva Taxa named by Mendis Wickramasinghe Reptiles described in 2019