Cnemaspis hitihamii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Gekkonidae
Genus: Cnemaspis
Species:
C. hitihamii
Binomial name
Cnemaspis hitihamii
Silva, Bauer, Botejue, Ukuwela, Gabadage, Gorin, Poyarkov, Surasinghe & Karunarathna, 2019

Cnemaspis hitihamii, or Hitihami's day gecko, is a species of diurnal gecko endemic to island of Sri Lanka.[1]

Etymology

The specific name hitihamii is named in honor of Sri Lankan warrior Meegahapitiye Walauwe Hitihami Mudiyanse Rate Rala, who is a national hero fought in the Great Rebellion of 1817–1818 occurred in Uva-Wellassa against British rule. It was the third Kandyan War led by Keppetipola Disawe.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy

The species is a sister species of C. nilgala.[1]

Ecology

The species was discovered from area lies between 354–567 meters above sea level from a granite cave in Maragalakanda area, Monaragala.[5] Individuals are restricted to rock outcrops and granite caves in forested areas. It is sympatric with many geckoes such as Calodactylodes illingworthorum and Hemidactylus hunae. Researchers identified the species is Critically Endangered due to low numbers and density only recorded from seven locations.[1]

Description

An adult male is 41.7 mm long. Dorsum homogeneous with smooth granular scales. Chin, gular, pectoral and abdominal scales are smooth. There are 21 belly scales across mid body. Tubercles on posterior flank are well developed. Para vertebral granules linearly arranged. Body long and slender. Head small and depressed. Snout relatively short. Pupil round. Head, body and limbs are golden brown to dark brown mixed with light grey dorsally. There are five to seven irregular black paravertebral spots. Short black longitudinal line present on occipital area. A row of white spots present along vertebral line. Tail cinnamon brown with 8-12 faded grey cross-bands.[1]

Media controversy

Several Sri Lankan media as well many parliamentarians criticized the usage of popular people's name for specific name.[6] The argument was largely due to unknowing about binomial nomenclature in zoological taxonomy among people.[7] They indicated that the usage of heroes' names gives by equating the national heroes to geckos.[5] However, researchers rejected this and explained that the name is given only to honor the personality.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Integrative taxonomy reveals six new species of day geckos of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Reptilia:Squamata: Gekkonidae) from geographically-isolated hill forests in Sri Lanka". Vertebrate Zoology. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  2. ↑ "Humble Hunas highlighted in Hansard". Sunday Times. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  3. ↑ "Uva Wellassa rebellion - 1817 -1818". Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "Wellassa riots in 1818". Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2019-08-25.
  5. 1 2 "The honour IN a scientific name". Sunday Observer. 2019-08-24. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  6. ↑ "Because names of national heroes are forgotten ... names of geckos were used". gossiplankanews. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  7. ↑ "හූනන්ට නම් දීම: රාවණාගේ මැඩිල්ලා වැනි විද්‍යාත්මක නම්වලින් අපහාසයක් සිදුවේ ද?". BBC News සිංහල. BBC Sinhala. 2019-08-22. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  8. ↑ "අලුත් හූනන් හයකට ජාතික වීරයන්ගේ නම් දෙති". Aruna. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
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