Cnemaspis butewai, or Butewes' day gecko, is a species of diurnal gecko endemic to island of Sri Lanka.[1]
| Cnemaspis butewai | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Gekkonidae |
| Genus: | Cnemaspis |
| Species: | C. butewai
|
| Binomial name | |
| Cnemaspis butewai Silva, Bauer, Botejue, Ukuwela, Gabadage, Gorin, Poyarkov, Surasinghe & Karunarathna, 2019
| |
Etymology
editThe specific name butewai is named in honor of the Sri Lankan warrior Butewe Rate Rala, a national hero who fought in the Great Rebellion of 1817–1818 in Uva-Wellassa against British rule. It was the third Kandyan War led by Keppetipola Disawe.[2][3][4]
Taxonomy
editThe species is closely related to C. pulchra.[1]
Ecology
editThe species was discovered in an area lying between 380–850 meters of elevation in the Bambarabotuwa Forest Reserve.[5] Individuals are restricted to rock outcrops and granite caves in forested areas. It is sympatric with many geckoes such as Cyrtodactylus sp., Gehyra mutilata, Hemidactylus depressus, H. frenatus and H. parvimaculatus. The species is critically endangered due to low numbers and density only recorded at six locations.[1]
Description
editAn adult male is 31.7 mm long. Dorsum homogeneous with smooth granular scales. Chin and gular scales are keeled whereas pectoral and abdominal scales are smooth. There are 23-25 belly scales across mid body. Tubercles on posterior flank are weakly developed. Para vertebral granules linearly arranged. Body short and slender. Head large and depressed. Snout relatively long. Pupil round. Head, body, and limbs are light brown to golden yellow dorsally. There are five to six W-shaped, dark cross bands on trunk. There is an oblique black line between eye and nostrils. A dark line present on occipital area. Tail grey-white with 10-12 faded brown cross-bands.[1]
Media controversy
editSri Lankan media and politicians criticized the vernacular usage of a hero's name for a gecko.[6] The argument was largely due to ignorance of binomial nomenclature in zoological taxonomy.[7] They indicated that the usage of heroes' names gives by equating the national heroes to geckos.[5] Researchers responded that the name is given only to honor the personality.[8]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Integrative taxonomy reveals six new species of day geckos of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Reptilia:Squamata: Gekkonidae) from geographically-isolated hill forests in Sri Lanka". Vertebrate Zoology. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- ^ "Humble Hunas highlighted in Hansard". Sunday Times. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- ^ "Uva Wellassa rebellion - 1817 -1818". Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
- ^ "Wellassa riots in 1818". Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2019-08-25.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b "The honour IN a scientific name". Sunday Observer. 2019-08-24. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- ^ "Because names of national heroes are forgotten ... names of geckos were used". gossiplankanews. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- ^ "හූනන්ට නම් දීම: රාවණාගේ මැඩිල්ලා වැනි විද්යාත්මක නම්වලින් අපහාසයක් සිදුවේ ද?". BBC News සිංහල. BBC Sinhala. 2019-08-22. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- ^ "අලුත් හූනන් හයකට ජාතික වීරයන්ගේ නම් දෙති". Aruna. Retrieved 25 August 2019.