A newly discovered lizard bears the Indian Army’s tag. Herpetologists have discovered a new species of bent-toed gecko in a wooded area of Meghalaya’s Umroi Military Station. Crytodactylus exercitus is its scientific name; in English, it is known as the Indian Army’s bent-toed gecko. In Latin, exercitus means army.
Name chose to recognize Indian Army contribution
“The name was chosen to recognize the Army’s contributions to the country. The military station where the bent-toed gecko was discovered also contributed to its name, Jayaditya Purkayastha of the green NGO Help Earth and one of the gecko study’s authors told The Hindu on Friday.
The study’s findings were recently published in the European Journal of Taxonomy. The paper described a new species of bent-toed gecko, Cyrtodactylus siahaensis, named after the Siaha district of Mizoram, where it was discovered. Sanath Chandra Bohra of Help Earth, Yashpal Singh Rathee of Umroi Military Station, Hmar Tlawmte Lalremsanga, Vabeiryureilai Mathipi, Lal Biakzuala, and Lal Muansanga of Mizoram University’s Department of Zoology, and Beirathie Litho of a Siaha district school are the other authors of the twin study.
The majority of these lizard specialists, along with a few others, had previously described Cyrtodactylus lungleiensis, a new species of bent-toed gecko named after the Mizoram town of Lunglei.
Mr. Purkayastha stated that a team of researchers has been scanning urban, rural, and jungle areas throughout the northeast in order to ascertain the region’s herpetofauna diversity. Several new reptile species have been discovered over the last decade. Cyrtodactylus is represented by approximately 320 species worldwide, making it the third most diverse vertebrate genus. The genus is found from South Asia to Melanesia, with the greatest diversity in South Asia. India now has 40 species of bent-toed gecko, 16 of which are found in the northeast.