GEKKO MIZORAMENSIS -UPSC Current Affairs

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Context

A team of researchers from the Mizoram University and the MaxPlanck Institute for Biology, Tubingen, Germany, found a new species of gecko in Mizoram along the Indo-Myanmar border.

Details

This new species can glide and researchers have termed it a parachute gecko.
Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards found in warm climates throughout the world.
What makes them unique is their vocalisation and loud mating calls.

Location

The species found inhabiting Mizoram, has previously been discovered in parts of South Asia including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia.

Taxanomy

These flying, parachute, or gliding geckos are a subgenus called Ptychozoon of the Gekko genus.

Distribution

There are 13 species of them throughout the world and they are found in Southeast Asia.
Among them, only one species Ptychozoon lionotum or smooth-backed gliding gecko-was found in Mizoram.
- New species differed from the Ptychozoon lionotum. There is a 21 per cent difference in DNA of both species and there were morphological variations too.

Description

The new species, which is around 20 cm in length, is an arboreal that lives on trees.
It can glide from one tree to another and is
Those found in residential areas are usually seen on the exterior walls of buildings.

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About Gecko: https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/chengodumala-dwarf-gecko

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q) Which of the following statements with reference to Parachute Gecko is/are incorrect?

1. It can glide from one tree to another and is nocturnal.

2. They are small, mostly carnivorous lizards found in warm climates throughout the world.

a. 1 only

b. 2 only

c. Both 1 and 2

d. Neither 1 nor 2

Correct Answer: b