Morphology and Molecular Systematics Support a New Species of Pseudogonatodes (Squamata: Gekkota: Sphaerodactylidae) from Venezuela with a Remarkable Telescoped Skull

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Source Publication

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

Source ISSN

0024-4082

Original Item ID

Doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae120

Abstract

We describe a new species of miniaturized gecko (genus Pseudogonatodes) from the Peninsula de Paria in northeastern Venezuela. Externally, the new species resembles Pseudogonatodes furvus and Pseudogonatodes manessi, from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia and the Central Coastal Range in Venezuela, respectively; however, it differs from these species in terms of molecular genetic data (12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, and c-mos), osteological characters, and scale counts. The new species is unique in skull osteology, and we adopt the term ‘telescoped’ from the literature to describe the overlap of bones in the snout, in particular the premaxilla fully separating the nasal bones and contacting the frontal bone. The new species is also the only known species of Pseudogonatodes with fused parietal bones. Using molecular data, we present the first phylogeny of Pseudogonatodes, including six of the nine species in the genus. The new species is sister to P. manessi, which is consistent with biogeographical patterns in the mountainous areas of northern Venezuela. The phylogenetic results also indicate that Pseudogonatodes guianensis is non-monophyletic and raise the possibility of resurrecting the name Pseudogonatodes amazonicus. However, large sampling gaps in Amazonia prevent us from rigorously assessing species limits and proposing a taxonomic change.

Comments

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Vol. 202, No. 2 (2024) DOI.

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