DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF GONIUROSAURUS (SQUAMATA: EUBLEPHARIDAE) FROM THE GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA, BASED ON MOLECULAR AND MORPHOLOGICAL DATA

A new species, Goniurosaurus zhelongi sp. nov., is described from Yingde City, Guangdong Province, China. It can be discriminated from other known congeners by its moderate size with adult females measuring 91.5-93.4 mm and adult males measuring 86.0-88.1 mm in snout-vent length; dorsal ground color of head, body and limbs in adults brownish-black, with densely arranged dirty white tubercles and a few black tubercles; a nuchal loop, rounded posteriorly, present on nape, and four thin, dirty white dorsal body bands between limb insertions, lacking dark spots; six to eight nasal scales surrounding nares; internasal single, rarely two; 45-52 eyelid fringe scales; the presence of a row of slightly enlarged supraorbital tubercles; granular scales of upper eyelids similar in size to those on the top of head; 105-109 scales around midbody; 23-28 dorsal tubercle rows at midbody; axillary pockets deep; nine precloacal pores in males and absent in females; and claws sheathed by four scales, two lateral scales short, shell-shaped. Natural history data and an expanded key to the species of the genus Goniurosaurus are provided.