A new species of day gecko from high elevation in Sri Lanka, with a preliminary phylogeny of Sri Lankan Cnemaspis (Reptilia, Squamata, Gekkonidae)

A new species of Cnemaspis (Sauria, Gekkonidae) from the highlands of central Sri Lanka is described. The species is distinctive relative to all other recognized Sri Lankan congeners in possessing enlarged subcaudal scales that are pentagonal to hexagonal in shape, in having 12 femoral pores and no precloacal pores, and in its dorsal pattern of chevrons. The species is most similar to the Indian C. jerdonii. Molecular data support both the distinctiveness of this taxon with respect to other Sri Lankan day geckos and its affinities with C. podihuna and C. scalpensis. Cnemaspis kandiana and C. tropidogaster do not appear to be reciprocally monophyletic. Cnemaspis modiglianii, recently described from Pulau Enggano, near Sumatra, is also a member of the C. kandiana clade.