Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 May 2026 | 18(5): 28998–29002
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9735.18.5.28998-29002
#9735 | Received 05 March 2025 | Final received 02 April 2026| Finally
accepted 02 May 2026
From the heart of Urpad: records of Cyrtodactylus
bapme
Kamei & Mahony, 2021 (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae)
from Assam, India, with comments on the pre-cloacal region in males
Manmath Bharali
1 , Pranjal Swargiary
2 , Tejas Mariswamy
3 , Madhurima Das 4 ,
Jayaditya Purkayastha
5 & Sanath Chandra Bohra 6
1,2,5,6 Help Earth, 16, Raghunath
Choudhury Path, Lachitnagar, Guwahati, Assam 781007,
India.
3 Goalpara Forest Division, Goalpara, Assam 783101, India.
4 Department of Zoology, Assam Don
Bosco University, Sonapur, Assam 782402, India.
1 manmathbharali9@gmail.com, 2
pranjalswargiary296@gmail.com, 3 tejasm24@gmail.com, 4 madhuherp@gmail.com,
5 mail.jayaditya@gmail.com, 6 sreptilian6@gmail.com
(corresponding author)
Editor: S.R. Ganesh, Kalinga Foundation, Agumbe, India.
Date of publication: 26
May 2026 (online & print)
Citation: Bharali, M., P. Swargiary, T. Mariswamy, M. Das, J. Purkayastha
& S.C. Bohra (2026). From the heart of Urpad:
records of Cyrtodactylus bapme Kamei & Mahony, 2021 (Reptilia:
Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Assam, India, with
comments on the pre-cloacal region in males. Journal of Threatened Taxa 18(5): 28998–29002. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9735.18.5.28998-29002
Copyright: © Bharali et al. 2026. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use,
reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing
adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Self Funded.
Competing interests: The author declares no competing interests.
Acknowledgments: We are grateful to the Chief Wildlife Warden,
Environment, Forests and Climate Change Department, Government of Assam for the collection permit within the state (Permit no. WF/FG.31/Research Project/Dr. Madhurima Das). We are thankful to Goalpara Forest Division for providing logistical support. We also thank David Marak and his team for supporting us in the field surveys.
The Asian gekkonid genus Cyrtodactylus is recognized as the third most
speciose vertebrate genus worldwide, with Cyrtodactylus
khasiensis (Jerdon,
1870) being the first species of the genus to be described from northeastern
India. Owing to limited taxonomic investigations and morphological similarities
among regional populations, the species was long presumed to have a wide
distribution across the Indo-Burma region (Smith 1935; Li 2007). Subsequent
studies (Li 2007; Mahony 2009; Agarwal et al. 2014) established a systematic
framework based on samples from northeastern India and adjacent regions,
highlighting the need for further taxonomic evaluation. As a result, the
distribution of C. khasiensis is now
restricted to the eastern Khasi Hills of Meghalaya, India (Agarwal et al.
2018a). Following this taxonomic reassessment, 31 new species of the genus have
been described from various states of northeastern India within the last nine
years (Agarwal et al. 2018a,b; Purkayastha
et al. 2020, 2021, 2022; Mirza et al. 2022; Kamei & Mahony 2021; Bohra et
al. 2022, 2026; Lalremsanga et al. 2022, 2023; Mahony
& Kamei 2022; Boruah et al. 2024; Basfore et al.
2026; Bharali et al. 2026).
Cyrtodactylus bapme Kamei & Mahony, 2021, a
member of the khasiensis group, was described
from the eastern Garo Hills of Meghalaya, India, based on a type series
comprising four female individuals. In the absence of males, the authors relied
on pitted precloacal scales in females to distinguish and compare the new
species with congeners, under the assumption that the number of pit-bearing scales
corresponds approximately to the number of precloacal pores in males, which was
the only feasible approach at the time. Herein, additional data on C. bapme is provided, including details of femoral pores
in males based on recently collected specimens, and present the first record of
the species from the state of Assam, India.
Four males (ADBUSB31; ADBUSB32;
ADBUSB33; ADBUSB34) and two female specimens (ADBUSB35; ADBUSB36) were
collected from the hills surrounding Urpad Beel, Agia Village, Goalpara District, Assam, India (26.087° N, 90.569° E;
Image 1), and have been deposited in the museum collection of Assam Don Bosco
University (ADBU), Sonapur, Assam.
Morphological and molecular data
were generated following Kamei & Mahony (2021). The specimens were compared
morphologically with all known species of the khasiensis
group using literature containing original descriptions and taxonomic revisions
based on type specimens (e.g., Darevsky et al. 1998;
Bauer 2003; Li 2007; Mahony 2009; Agarwal et al. 2018a,b; Purkayastha
et al. 2020, 2021; Grismer et al. 2021; Mirza et al.
2021, 2022; Kamei & Mahony 2021; Bohra et al. 2022, 2026; Mahony &
Kamei 2022; Lalremsanga et al. 2023; Boruah et al.
2024, Basfore et al. 2026; Bharali
et al. 2026).
Molecular analysis revealed that
the Cyrtodactylus specimens collected from Agia Village are conspecific with the type sequences of C.
bapme, differing by an uncorrected p-distance of
only 1.3–3.5% in the mitochondrial ND2 gene (Table 1). The Agia
Village specimens of C. bapme were also
recovered as the sister lineage to C. karsticola (type
locality – South Garo Hills District, Meghalaya, India), from which they differ
by an uncorrected p-distance of 6.7% in the mitochondrial ND2 gene (Table 1).
Based on literature and the
present collections, C. bapme can be defined
as a moderate-sized species, ranging in snout–vent length from 60.2–77.0 mm,
with 8–12 supralabials and 8–11 infralabials. Dorsal
tubercles are usually feebly keeled, bluntly conical, four to five times larger
than the dorsal granular scales, and arranged in 20–24
longitudinal rows at midbody. There are 30–37 paravertebral tubercles between
the level of the axilla and the groin, 46–51 paravertebral tubercles from the
occiput to the mid-sacrum, and 30–39 mid-ventral scale rows between the
indistinct ventrolateral folds. Males possess a continuous series of 12–17
precloacal pores (PcP) accompanied by one to seven
pitted scales, either in a continuous or discontinuous series on either side of
the pore-bearing scales. Females usually exhibit 10–13 pit-bearing precloacal
scales in a continuous series, except for a single specimen (BNHS/Bombay
Natural History Society 2754) lacking pits (Kamei & Mahony 2021). Subdigital lamellae range 12–19 under finger IV and 15–22
under toe IV (both counts excluding non-lamellar scales between the proximal
and apical lamellae series). The dorsal pattern consists of 7–10 paired dark
brown transverse blotches on either side of the mid-vertebral region, arranged
somewhat parallel to each other, leaving a thin mid-dorsal stripe. The tail
exhibits a continuous series of alternating dark and light transverse bands,
with subcaudal scales arranged in small granular series and lacking transverse
enlargement.
Cyrtodactylus bapme differs from all the members of
the khasiensis group in the morphology of the
precloacal region, with males possessing 12–17 precloacal pores in a continuous
series, versus 34–38 precloaco-femoral pores (PcFP) and no pits in C. karsticola;
7–8 PcP in C. aaronbaueri;
3–4 precloacal pores in C. annapurnaensis; 5–7
PcP in C. bengkhuaiai;
8 PcP in C. brevidactylus;
6–10 PcP in C. cayuensis;
7–8 PcP in C. dianxiensis;
26–39 PcFP in C. guwahatiensis;
7–8 PcP in C. karanshahi;
34–38 PcP in C. karsticola;
10–11 PcP in C. kazirangaensis;
6–7 PcP in C. kiphire;
3–5 PcP in C. lungleiensis;
5 PcP in C. mandalayensis;
7 PcP in C. manipurensis;
7–8 PcP in C. martinstolii;
10–11 PcP in C. mombergi;
8–10 PcP in C. montanus;
7–9 PcP in C. namdaphaensis;
27 PcP in C. ngengpuiensis;
6 PcP in C. ngopensis;
7 PcP in C. siahaensis;
8–10 PcP in C. siangensis;
40 PcFP in C. tamaiensis;
29–37 PcFP in C. tripuraensis;
9–11 PcP in C. vairengtensis;
10 Pcp in C. vanarakshaka;
18–28 in C. jayadityai.
Regional congeners within the khasiensis group exhibiting PcP
or PcFP counts that overlap with the range observed
in males of C. bapme include C. agarwali (11–18); C. aunglini
(12–13); C. ayeyarwadyensis (10–28); C. chrysopylos (8–13); C. exercitus
(11–15); C. gansi (16–29); C. jaintiaensis (11–12); C. khasiensis
(10–12); C. namtiram (12); C. septentrionalis (14); C. urbanus
(9–12), C. raimonaensis (13).
Kamei & Mahony (2021), citing
comparative literature, remarked that the number of pitted scales in females,
when present, is either the same as or less (but never higher) than the number
of precloacal pores in males of related species for which both sexes are known.
Accordingly, they interpreted the 0–13 pitted scales observed in the all-female
type series of C. bapme as indicative of the
minimum number of precloacal pores that would be expected in males of that
species. Although this inference is reasonable given the available material,
the results demonstrate that such metrics are insufficient for species
delimitation when only females are available. The males of C. bapme examined herein possess 12–17 precloacal pores,
surpassing the 0–13 pitted scales reported in the type series and thereby
illustrating that female-derived values may underestimate male pore ranges.
This species is presently known
only from two states in northeastern India, namely Agia
Village in Goalpara District, Assam (88–104 m), and
multiple localities across a broad elevation range (90–1,015 m) in the East and
West Garo Hills districts of Meghalaya (Image 1). In Meghalaya, it inhabits a
variety of microhabitats, including rocks and trees within secondary as well as
dense evergreen to semi-evergreen broad-leaved forests, often in association
with streams, and is also found in betel vine jhum cultivations. It can be sympatrically found alongside C. karsticola
and C. agarwali in South Garo Hills,
Meghalaya, India. In Goalpara District, Assam, the
species occurs in a disturbed yet relatively well-vegetated hill range at Agia Village, where the forest type is predominantly moist
deciduous to semi-evergreen, intermixed with rubber tree plantations
established by the local Garo community. Here, individuals were recorded in
association with small to medium-sized rocks, loose soil patches, forest
tracks, and minor hill streams. Gravid females and hatchlings were encountered
between March and September. On 16 March 2024 at approximately 2045 h, a gravid
female (uncollected) was observed preying upon a juvenile huntsman spider (Heteropoda cf. venatoria).
Being strictly nocturnal, the species was most frequently observed to be active
approximately two to three hours after dusk.
It is also noteworthy that
several species from northeastern India, including C. barailensis,
C. myaleiktaung, and C. nagalandensis,
remain known only from female specimens, with male data still unavailable. In
this context, the present documentation of males in C. bapme
provides important taxonomic insight, not only by confirming earlier
suppositions regarding pore counts but also by addressing a knowledge gap that
has similarly limited comparative diagnoses in several other recently described
taxa from the region.
Table 1. Uncorrected pairwise (ND2) genetic divergence between the individuals
of Cyrtodactylus bapme.
|
C. bapme (MW367437) H
female |
|
|
|
|
|
|
C. bapme (MW367438) female |
0.013 |
|
|
|
|
|
C. bapme (MW367435) female |
0.015 |
0.001 |
|
|
|
|
C. bapme (ADBUSB31) *
male |
0.015 |
0.016 |
0.017 |
|
|
|
C. bapme (ADBUSB32) *
male |
0.016 |
0.016 |
0.017 |
0.000 |
|
|
C. bapme (MW367436) female |
0.034 |
0.032 |
0.033 |
0.039 |
0.038 |
H—sequences generated from the
holotype of Kamei & Mahony, (2021) | *— sequences generated in this study
from Goalpara, Assam.
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