A new species of Hemidactylus Goldfuss, 1820 (Squamata: Sauria: Gekkonidae) of the H. persicus complex from Aravalli hills, India

We describe a new species of leaf-toed gecko of the genus Hemidactylus from the southern Aravalli Hills in Gujarat, India. The new species is a member of the H. persicus complex and has previously been reported as conspecific with H. persicus. In light of the recent revision of H. persicus, we reassessed the status of the population reported from Gujarat, India. The population was found to be genetically and morphologically distinct and is here described as a new species. The new species is diagnosable by the following suite of characters: a medium-size (adult snout-vent length up to 65 mm); dorsal scalation on trunk granular, intermixed with slightly enlarged, regularly arranged transverse rows of 14 oval, feebly keeled or sub-trihedral tubercles; original tail lacks any enlarged tubercles; males with 3–8 precloacal pores. The new species, Hemidactylus aravalliensis sp. nov. is the third endemic species of gecko described from the Aravalli Hills and highlights the rich and unique diversity of this ancient yet understudied land mass.