{"id":58246,"date":"2016-09-23T14:12:09","date_gmt":"2016-09-23T13:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reaseheath.ac.uk\/?p=58246"},"modified":"2016-09-23T15:23:48","modified_gmt":"2016-09-23T14:23:48","slug":"new-lizard-species-identified-reaseheath-lecturer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reaseheath.ac.uk\/new-lizard-species-identified-reaseheath-lecturer\/","title":{"rendered":"New lizard species identified by Reaseheath lecturer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Research by Reaseheath herpetologist Dr Simon Maddock has helped to formally identify a new species of Indian lizard, the Giri\u2019s geckoella <em>Cyrtodactylus <\/em>(<em>Geckoella<\/em>)<em> varadgiri.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>A scientific paper containing a species description of the lizard, which was co-written by Simon, has been published today (Friday 23 September) \u00a0in the peer reviewed scientific journal Zootaxa following an in-depth examination by scientific experts.\u00a0 A species description gives a clear description of a new species and explains how it differs from species which have been described previously.<\/p>\n<p>Simon was a member of a collaborative research team from the UK, India and the USA to study the prominently patterned bent-toed gecko, which comes from Western and Central India. The lizard, which is 6cm \u2013 7cm in total length, was named after esteemed Indian herpetologist Varad Giri in recognition of his contribution to Indian herpetology while he was a Curator at the <a href=\"http:\/\/bnhs.org\/bnhs\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bombay Natural History Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The research, which was led by Ishan Agarwal of Villanova University, USA, used a combination of DNA and external characteristics to identify the new species. Although Giri\u2019s geckoella has been documented for over 20 years, it was until now believed that the population belonged to the closely related forest spotted gecko (<em>Geckoella collegalensis<\/em>) from Southern India.<\/p>\n<p>Giri\u2019s geckoella is quite widely distributed and can be found from sea level around Mumbai up to approximately 350 m in deciduous forest, scrub and agricultural land. The species is active at night where it can be seen moving along the floor, during the day it retreats under rocks and logs. If disturbed, the lizard will make a defensive squealing call.<\/p>\n<p>Simon, who is a Course Manager for our Level 3 Extended Diploma in Animal Management, completed his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reaseheath.ac.uk\/further-education\/courses\/animal-management\/level-3-diplomas-animal-management\/\">Level 3 National Diploma in Animal Management<\/a> with us in 2007 before studying for a Masters Degree in Zoology at Bangor University, followed by a PhD jointly funded by London\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nhm.ac.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\">Natural History Museum<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucl.ac.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\">University College London<\/a>. He is currently a Research Associate of the Natural History Museum and is a world expert on the amphibians of the Seychelles.<\/p>\n<p>Simon said: \u201cThe identification of this new species of lizard is extremely exciting and one of particular importance to the biodiversity of Central and Western India. It is likely that, over the coming years, more species belonging to this group of lizards will be discovered and described as new species.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Simon has been involved in a number of key research projects and he has been a speaker at several global conferences. His published research can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/profile\/Simon_Maddock\/contributions\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Read more about this\u00a0new species of Indian lizard <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mapress.com\/j\/zt\/article\/view\/zootaxa.4170.2.7\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Research by Reaseheath herpetologist Dr Simon Maddock has helped to formally identify a new species of Indian lizard, the Giri\u2019s geckoella Cyrtodactylus (Geckoella) varadgiri. A scientific paper containing a species [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":58254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[388,468],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>New lizard species identified by Reaseheath lecturer - Reaseheath College<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reaseheath.ac.uk\/new-lizard-species-identified-reaseheath-lecturer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New lizard species identified by Reaseheath lecturer - Reaseheath College\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Research by Reaseheath herpetologist Dr Simon Maddock has helped to formally identify a new species of Indian lizard, the Giri\u2019s geckoella Cyrtodactylus (Geckoella) varadgiri. 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