Researchers have described a cryptic new species in the spiny-tailed gecko genus Strophurus from inland areas of southern Western Australia.
Strophurus is a genus of lizards in Diplodactylidae, a family in the suborder Gekkota.
The genus contains around 20 recognized species, all endemic to Australia.
Also known as spiny-tailed or striped geckos, they are small, nocturnal reptiles, with a length between 3.5 to 9 cm (1.4-3.5 inches).
All Strophurus species have a unique defense mechanism — they possess a series of caudal glands that they use in stress situations, secreting a harmless, foul-smelling fluid when contracting the tail musculature. This fluid is used to deter birds while they are perching in shrubbery.
They tend to have small spines or tubercles, especially on the tail.
Several species have small but distinct spines above their very attractive eyes.
“We present an unexpected discovery of a cryptic species previously assigned to Strophurus assimilis in the course of a broadscale survey of genetic variation in the genus,” said Dr. Ross Sadlier from the Australian Museum Research Institute and colleagues.
Named Strophurus spinula (common name is the lesser thorn-tailed gecko), the new species has a length of 6.1 cm (2.4 inches).
“It can be distinguished from other members of the genus by a combination of several characters such as a relatively straight and discontinuous row of enlarged unicolored tubercles along the dorsolateral margin of the body; and a tail with a single row of enlarged unicolored spines on either side of the original tail,” the scientists said.
Strophurus spinula is found largely within the southern woodlands region of Western Australia.
“Most of the distribution of Strophurus spinula lies within the southern part of the mulga (Acacia aneura) woodlands of Western Australia, extending peripherally into adjacent vegetation types in the south of its range,” the authors said.
“Its distribution broadly overlaps with…
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