NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Nilgiri Day Gecko
Cnemaspis nilagirica Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita & Pethiyagoda, 2007
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Nilgiri day gecko (Cnemaspis nilagirica) is a species of gecko endemic to southern India. It was formerly known only from a single female specimen collected in 1885 that was misidentified as a variety of the Kandyan day gecko (C. kandiana var. tropidogaster ) by George Albert Boulenger, who used it as a syntype for his description of the variety. After a living population was not reported for over 130 years, a live male was collected in 2019, marking the first collection of a male specimen of C. nilagirica.
Wikipedia contributors, Nilgiri day gecko; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:10:51.991883+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Cnemaspis nilagirica Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita & Pethiyagoda, 2007
- Name authority
- Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita & Pethiyagoda, 2007
- Common name
- Nilgiri Day Gecko
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Gekkonidae
- Genus
- Cnemaspis
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderGekkota
- familyGekkonidae
- genusCnemaspis
- speciesCnemaspis nilagirica Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita & Pethiyagoda, 2007
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Cnemaspis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Argus Rock GeckoCnemaspis argus Dring, 1979 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mumpuni Rock GeckoCnemaspis mumpuniae Grismer, Wood, Anuar, Riyanto, Ahmad, Muin, Sumontha, Grismer, Onn, Quah & Pauwels, 2014 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Siamese Rock GeckoCnemaspis siamensis (Smith, 1925) | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ornate Day GeckoCnemaspis ornata (Beddome, 1870) | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chanthaburi Rock GeckoCnemaspis chanthaburiensis Bauer & Das, 1998 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kottiyoor Day GeckoCnemaspis kottiyoorensis Cyriac & Umesh, 2014 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Adang-Rawi Rock GeckoCnemaspis adangrawi Ampai, Rujirawan, Wood, Stuart & Aowphol, 2019 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ajija’s Day GeckoCnemaspis ajijae Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar, 2018 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Golden banded dwarf geckoCnemaspis bangara Agarwal, Thackeray, Pal & Khandekar, 2020 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Butewes’ day geckoCnemaspis butewai Karunarathna, Poyarkov, de Silva, Madawala, Botejue, Gorin, Surasinghe, Gabadage, Ukuwela & Bauer, 2019 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cnemaspis chengodumalaensis Cyriac, Palot, Deuti & Umesh, 2020 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Yellow-bellied Day GeckoCnemaspis flaviventralis Sayyed, Pyron & Dahanukar, 2016 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Cnemaspis&species=nilagirica Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:WGN5. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.