Two newly discovered Day-gecko species have been named ‘Gunasekara’s Day-gecko’ (Cnemaspis gunasekarai) and ‘Gunawardana’s Day-gecko’ (Cnemaspis gunawardanai) to honour leading environmental activist, conservationist and former Customs Deputy Director Samantha Gunasekara and leading environmental activist, conservationist and Environmental Lawyer Dr. Jagath Gunawardena.
The two new species had been discovered by a four-member team which included Researchers A.A. Thasun Amarasinghe representing Biology Department,
Mathematics and Natural Sciences Faculty of the University of Indonesia, Suranjan Karunarathna representing Association of Asian Herpetology in Indonesia, Majintha Madawala representing the Nature Explorations and Education Team in Sri Lanka and Victorian Herpetological Society in Australia and Anslem de Silva representing the Amphibia and Reptile Research Organization in Sri Lanka.
The research paper was published this month in the ‘Taprobanica’ online journal devoted to biodiversity in Asia.
“Two new species are of the alwisi group (podihuna clade). They are endemic to Sri Lanka and confined to isolated rocky hills in the lowland Wet Zone and the lowland Dry Zone respectively. Both species are Critically Endangered according to IUCN Red List criteria,” the research paper explained.
“Gunasekara’s Day-gecko species occurs in Ritigala, which is a wet forest patch on an isolated mountain range in the Anuradhapura District. It has been named after Samantha Gunasekara, for his dedication and contributions to biodiversity conservation in Sri Lanka, as well as his generous friendship and support towards the authors. His valuable contributions to the Sri Lanka Customs Department in controlling biodiversity trafficking, illegal pet trade, and bio-piracy, as well as to popularizing conservation among the general public, are highly commendable. Gunasekara is also a senior member and a former president of the Young Zoologists’ Association (YZA) of Sri Lanka,” the paper added.
“Gunawardana’s Day-gecko species occurs in two localities, Pilikuttuwa and Maligatenna in the Gampaha District. It has been named after Dr. Jagath Gunawardana for his major efforts and contributions to biodiversity conservation in Sri Lanka, as well as his support, motivation, and encouragement for the first three authors to accomplish their research and career goals. His valuable contributions to popularizing environmental law among the general public are highly commendable. Currently he is an advisor to many government institutions such as Central Environmental Authority (CEA), Department of Wildlife Conservation and Department of Forestry etc. Dr. Gunawardana is also a senior member and a former instructor of the Young Zoologists’ Association (YZA) of Sri Lanka,” the research paper noted.
According to the research paper 16 new species of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch have been discovered from Sri Lanka during the past five years. “With the description of these two new species, the richness of the Cnemaspis fauna in Sri Lanka reaches 40 species, all with 100 per cent endemism to the island,” it observed.
