A new species of Underwoodisaurus (Squamata: Gekkota: Carphodactylidae) from the Pilbara region of Western Australia

Ongoing surveys and systematic work focused on the Pilbara region in Western Australia have revealed the existence of numerous unrecognized species of reptiles. Here we describe Underwoodisaurus seorsus sp. nov., a new species similar to U. milii, but differing in its relatively plain dorsal and head patterns with only sparsely scattered pale tubercles, a much more gracile build, including longer snout, limbs and digits, smaller and more numerous fine scales on the dorsum, and the enlarged tubercles on the tail tending not to form transverse rows. The new species is known from few specimens and has only been encountered at mid elevations in the Hamersley Ranges, widely separated from the closest populations of U. milii in the northern Goldfields and Shark Bay in Western Australia. Given its rarity and small (potentially relictual) distribution this species may be of conservation concern.