Velvet Geckos of the genus Oedura
are medium to large Geckos found across much of northern and eastern Australia,
with isolated populations in the arid interior of the continent. The group is
known to contain many highly endemic species (i.e. species with very limited
distributions).
In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 14 October 2014, PaulOliver, Rebecca Laver and Jane Melville of the Department of Zoology at the
University of Melbourne and Museum Victoria and Paul Doughty of the Departmentof Terrestrial Zoology at the Western Australian Museum describe a new species
of Velvet Gecko from the Oscar Range on the southern edge of the Kimberley
Craton in northern Western Australia.
The new species is named Oedura murrumanu,
which means Gecko in the Bunuba language, spoken in the area where it was
found. Oedura murrumanuis a large
Gecko reaching about 170 mm in length, a dark purplish brown in colour with
lighter transverse bands (bands running across the body).
Oedura murrumanu in life. Paul Horner in Oliver et
al. (2014).
The species was found living on rock platforms near deep horizontal
crevices, and also seen on limestone pillars in the Oscar Range. The Geckos
were observed drinking from pools on the rocks at the beginning of the wet
season, and also pursuing smaller Geckos, apparently with the intention of
predation. A single gravid female was collected, suggesting that eggs are laid
during the wet season.
Deeply dissected limestone formations at the locality where Oedura murrumanuwas discovered in the
Oscar Range. Paul Oliver in Oliver et al.
(2014).
See also…
Phasmid Geckos are small climbing Geckos of the genus Strophurus found across much of northern
Australia, where they inhabit stands of...
The application of genetic studies to populations of widespread animals
and plants in recent years has revealed that many widespread ‘species’
are in fact made up of several different cryptic species, which...
As with many other groups, studies of Australian Geckos have, in recent
years, revealed the presence of many cryptic species; populations which
resemble other species yet are genetically distinct and incapable of
breeding with them. In 2013 Mark Sistrom of the...
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