CHENGODUMALA DWARF GECKO

3rd April, 2023 Environment

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Context

Scientists have discovered a new species of ground-dwelling gecko, a species of lizard, from the coastal forests of northern Kerala.

About the species

The beautifully-patterned Cyrtodactylus (Geckoella) chengodumalaensis is a small, nocturnal species that is found on the ground among leaf litter and rocks in forests and partially human altered landscapes like orchards and other areas with canopy cover.
The Chengodumala or Coastal Kerala Geckoella is endemic to low hills and coastal forest in northern Kerala.
The second new species of gecko to have been described from Chengodumala highlights the fact that biodiversity of these low-elevation hillocks is understudied, with many more species remaining to be discovered.

Chengodumala is a midland hillock in Kozhikode district, and also the type locality for Cnemaspis chengodumalaensis (Chengodumala dwarf gecko).

Cyrtodactylus

It is a diverse genus of Asian geckos, commonly known as bent-toed geckos, bow-fingered geckos, and forest geckos.
The genus has about 300 described species as of 2020, which makes it the largest of all gecko genera.
As of 2023, Cyrtodactylus santana is the last known species in its family.

Description

Instead of possessing dilated digits like other geckos, members of Cyrtodactylus have slender, curved toes to which the common names for the genus can be attributed.

	GECKO	LIZARD

Kingdom	Animalia	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata	Chordata
About	Geckos are small to average sized lizards which are found in warm climates throughout the world	Lizards are reptiles of the order Squamata, normally possessing four legs, external ear openings and movable eyelids
Class	Reptilia	Sauropsida
Order	Squamata	Squamata
Suborder	Lacertilia	Lacertilia
Physical Attributes	Have broad toes and big eye pupils and scaly skin.	Have four legs, movable eyelids, scaly skin and are cold blooded.
Breeding	Like most reptiles, the majority of geckos lay eggs. The female house gecko lays four or five pairs of eggs between May and August, with two to four weeks between layings.	Some lizards lay eggs in a nest. Others may give birth after hatching their eggs inside the body. Still other lizard species may give birth to live young. The female lizards do not care for their babies.
Variety of Species	1196 different species	3800 species
Eating preferences	The common gecko eats beetles, butterflies, millipedes, crickets, and cockroaches. Many larger species, such as the Caledonian gecko, pursue young lizards, and small birds	Lizards feed on a wide variety of foods including fruits and vegetation, insects, small tetrapods, carrion
Venomous	Not venomous though of late some venomous varieties have been discovered.	Only two varieties of lizards are known to be venomous.
Lifespan	5-7 years; varies by type	1-3 years; varies by type