Goniurosaurus gezhi Zhu, He & Li, 2020

Goniurosaurus gezhi Zhu, He & Li sp. nov.

( Figs. 1 View FIGURE 1 A–B, 3, 4)

Holotype. ECNU-V0038 , adult male, from southwestern Guangxi Province, China, 100–200 m in altitude; exact locality withheld because of conservation concerns, available to qualified researchers upon request. Collected during April , 2019 by Zhu Xiao-Yu & He Zhu-Qing.

Paratypes. Two adult males ECNU-V0040 and ECNU-V0042 , same data as holotype .

Diagnosis. Goniurosaurus gezhi sp. nov. differs from other congeners by a combination of the following characters: small size (SVL 70.58–83.78 mm in adults); one nuchal loop, three body bands, and one postsacral band; number of precloacal pores 18–20; body color orange or yellow in life.

Description. Holotype. ECNU-V0038, adult male; SVL: 75.86 mm; TaL (regenerated): 39.56 mm; AG: 46.78 mm; SE 11.83 mm; EE: 9.76 mm; HW: 19.48 mm; HL: 27.30 mm; SVL: AG 1.62; SVL: HL: 2.78; HL: HW 1.40; SE: EE: 1.21; head triangular, wider than neck, covered with uniform granular scales interspersed with tubercles on top of head; conspicuous row of enlarged supraorbital tubercles; rostral wider than high, middorsal portion partially sutured dorsomedially, bordered laterally by first supralabial and prenasal, dorsolaterally by supranasal; external nares bordered by 6/7 nasals, anteriorly by prenasal, dorsally by supranasal and two granular scales, posteriorly by three smaller granular scales; prenasals with long recurved ventral portion; supranasals in contact at the midline; supralabials 9/9, rectangular, grading into longer scales posteriorly; eyes relatively large, pupils vertical; eyelid fringe scales 51/50; a fold of skin originating in suborbital region extends posteroventrally across angle of jaw; external auditory meatus elliptical with long axis directed dorsoventrally; tympanum deeply recessed bordered anteriorly by two spinose scales; mental triangular, bordered laterally by first infralabial and posteriorly by three postmentals; postmentals bordered by seven gular scales; infralabials rectangular 9/8. Neck narrower than body, covered with uniform granular scales interspersed with conical tubercles on nape; dorsal body tubercles surrounded by 11–12 granular scales; 21 longitudinal rows of dorsal tubercle at midbody; 32 paravertebral tubercles between limb insertions, distinct vertebral row of scales absent. Body relatively thin, covered with granular scales grading ventrally into larger flattened subimbricate ventral scales; 142–151 scales around midbody; larger ventral scales grade abruptly into smaller granular scales immediately anterior to vent; 20 pore-bearing precloacal scales in a continuous transverse series extending onto proximal regions of thighs; two enlarged postcloacal tubercles laterally on each side at level of vent. Limbs covered dorsally with granular scales interspersed with closely spaced tubercles and ventrally with flat, juxtaposed to subimbricate scales; hind limbs larger and longer than forelimbs; deep axillary pockets present; subdigital lamellae wide, 9/11 on first finger, 20/20 on fourth finger, 12/9 on first toe, 21/23 on fourth toe. Claws sheathed by four scales, two lateral scales long and curved, dorsal one shorter than lateral ones, but much longer than ventral one. Tail regenerated and gradually narrowed to the tip, scales varied in size. In general, dorsal caudal scales small and juxtaposed, subcaudal scales large (2–3 times larger than dorsal caudals), and imbricate.

Coloration. Dorsal ground color of head, body and limbs grey, bearing irregularly shaped small black blotches, black blotches on head and near closely spaced; iris brown; nuchal loop pale yellow, posterior margin rounded, not pointed; three body bands between limb insertions, one postsacral band on tail base; these bands are pale yellow; ventral surfaces of head, body and limbs dull white; ground color of tail black with irregular white markings.

Variation. Measurements and scalation data of the type series are provided in Table 2. Paratypes largely match the overall scalation and coloration characters of the holotype. Paratype ECNU-V0042 has one internasal and the number of precloacal pores is 18. The PostIN and PM of paratype ECNU-V0040 is 5 .

Comparisons. Goniurosaurus gezhi sp. nov. differs from G. lichtenfelderi by having three body bands (versus two) It differs from G. luii , G. huuliensis , G. kadoorieorum , G. kwangsiensis , and G. liboensis by having 18–20 precloacal pores as opposed to 23–32 collectively. The new species is smaller in body size (SVL 70.6–83.8 mm) than G. araneus (SVL 115–124 mm) and G. catbaensis (SVL 84.7–111.5 mm) ( Table 3). Moreover, the body color of G. gezhi is orange or yellow, while it is brown in G. catbaensis . The new species has several spots on the body, while there are few spots on the body of G. araneus .

Distribution and Life History. Goniurosaurus gezhi sp. nov. is only known from southwestern Guangxi, China. It is found at 100–200 m elevation. Some individuals were found on limestone within crevices at night, while others were collected on the road near farmland. This species co-occurred with Moellendorf's Rat Snake ( Elaphe moellendorffi Boettger ) and the Tokay Gecko ( Gekko gecko L.) in the limestone area. Our surveys suggest they are most active from April to October.

Etymology. The specific epithet gezhi is for the Chinese phonetic alphabet Ħỡ, which was noted in ancient Chinese literature Daxue around 2000 years ago. It means researching something carefully and then summarizing the truth behind it. The epithet is a noun in apposition. For the common name, we suggest “Gezhi Cave Gecko.”