Qom Province's Village Walls Host a Newly Described Thin-Toed Gecko
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Summary
<img src="https://www.newswise.com/legacy/image.php?image=https://media.newswise.com/pio/articles/857433/6ae0c987f0c4c_1_857433.jpg&width=100&height=150" alt="Newswise image" />A newly described thin-toed gecko from Qom Province, central Iran, expands the known diversity of Mediodactylus and sharpens species boundaries in a notoriously difficult group. The study names Mediodactylus veshnavahensis sp. nov. and characterizes it using morphology, geometric morphometrics and mitochondrial DNA. The gecko is small, with a maximum snout-vent length (SVL) of 41.5 millimeters; it has three pairs of postmental scales, the first pair in broad contact, 10-12 longitudinal rows of enlarged keeled dorsal tubercles, smooth ventral and gular scales, and no precloacal or femoral pores. Its dorsum bears six narrow black crossbars between the limbs. The species appears closely tied to old village walls, adding an apparently human-associated lineage to Iran's herpetofauna.
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