TWO new species of gecko have been discovered in the arid landscape of WA's Northwest Cape and the deserts of South Australia.
The rare new WA species looks strikingly similar to its neighbour, the stone gecko, but DNA evidence shows it evolved from its relatives millions of years ago.
The Cape Range Gecko only occurs on the Northwest Cape near Exmouth.
“What is fascinating about this species is its evolution in isolation on the northwest Cape, far from its nearest relatives more than 600 kms away," a WA museum zoologist, who discovered the species, Dr Paul Doughty said.
Geckos are famous for their ability to stick to vertical surfaces thanks to microscopic hairs on the pads of their feet.
The newly discovered Cape Range Gecko has been named Diplodactylus capensis meaning two finger pads because it has two pads on each toe instead of one.
“The Cape Range is made up of an ancient block of limestone which has created a unique habitat to which the species has adapted”, said Dr Doughty.
It is characterised by its distinctive broken stripe on its back, larger head and reddish colouration which matches the colour of the rocks on the Cape Range.
“Little is known of this new species and we are still in the process of describing other new species of reptiles from this special area of Western Australia.
“This region is better known for the Ningaloo Reef and its Whale Sharks, but we are finding unique and fascinating new species of lizards on this ancient land,” said Dr Doughty.
The second species, the Southern Sandplain Gecko (scientific name: Lucasium bungabinna), occurs in the southern deserts in Western Australia and South Australia, north of the Nullarbor Plain.
This species belongs to a group of ground-dwelling desert geckos that have mostly lost the sticky toe pads used by climbing geckos.
The new species is distinctive in that it still has small toe pads and still spends some of its time climbing low shrubs.
The scientific name ‘bungabinna’ is derived from the Bungalbin Sandplain in the west and the Yellabinna Sandplain in South Australia where it occurs.
Continuing work involving studies of both the physical appearance and the genetic diversity of Australia’s geckos is revealing that there are yet more new species to be described.
The research on both species was carried out at the Western Australian Museum and South Australian Museum, and was funded by a grant from the Australia and Pacific Science Foundation.