Two endemic day geckos discovered

The list of Sri Lanka’s day geckos increased to 42 species along with the two newly discovered species of geckos identified as Jayaweera’s day Gecko (Cnemaspis jayaweerai) and Nanayakkara’s Day Gecko (Cenemaspis nanayakkarai).

 The two gecko species discovered which are specified as point-endemic were found from Ampara Athagala forest area and Kurunegala Galgiriya mountain area. Two gecko species were named as Jayaweera’s Day Gecko and Nanayakkara’s Day Gecko to honor a veteran Young Zoologist Association Activists Shantha Jayaweera and Ananda Lal Nanayakkara.

 According to the veteran Zoologist who was one among the researchers who made the discovery, Suranjan Karunarathna said that with the new discovery the total gecko list would increase to 65 species while the number of endemic gecko species went up 55 species.

He added that they reported the two new species only from two isolated mountain forests therefore accourding to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red list criteria the two species of geckos are identified as critically endangered due to their low population density and narrow distribution.

 Other Researches who were involve in the research and making the new discovery of the two gecko species are Kanishka D. B. Ukuwela, Anslem De Silva, Aaron M. Bauer, Majintha Madawala, Nikolay A. Poyarkov6, Madhava Botejue8, Dinesh Gabadage, L. Lee, Grismer and Vladislav A. Gorin.

 Cenemaspis nanayakkarai.

(Cnemaspis jayaweerai)