An international team of scientists from Germany and France has described a new species of gecko that lives in a karstic limestone massif called Montagne des Français in Antsiranana province, northern Madagascar.
Paroedura hordiesi, adult male. Image credit: Glaw F et al.
The new species, named Paroedura hordiesi, belongs to a genus of geckos widely distributed in Madagascar, including eastern rainforest, western dry forest, extremely arid thornbush savanna and high mountain habitats.
It is a medium-sized nocturnal gecko (58 mm long, with a tail of up to 53 mm). It has camouflage pattern to blend with its natural habitat.
“Paroedura hordiesi was observed multiple times at night in karstic dry forest in the rainy season, mainly climbing on karstic rocks and the ruins of an old fort,” the scientists wrote in a paper published in the journal Zoosystematics and Evolution.
On the basis that it has an extent of occurrence of at most 50 sq. km, it is known from a single location – Montagne des Français, and there is a continuing decline in the extent and quality of its habitat, the gecko is proposed to be listed as ‘critically endangered’ in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
“The new Paroedura species from Montagne des Français described in our paper is just one new contribution to the taxonomic inventory of this massif, which is believed to hold yet undiscovered diversity,” said study lead author Dr Frank Glaw from the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology.
The description of this new species brings the total number of described Paroedura species to 18.
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Glaw F et al. 2014. A new species of nocturnal gecko (Paroedura) from karstic limestone in northern Madagascar. Zoosystematics and Evolution 90 (2): 249-259; doi: 10.3897/zse.90.8705
