Spiky creature found hunting at night on college campus in India. It’s a new species

Scampering along the ground at a college in India, a spiky creature searched for its next meal. Scientists noticed the clawed animal — and discovered a new species.

Researchers ventured into the night in search of wildlife at a college campus in Madurai, according to a study published July 14 in the Asian Journal of Conservation Biology. The college is tucked on a hillside “covered with thorny shrubs and trees.”

Perched several feet up on the school’s stone walls, researchers found three spiky lizards. They spotted the same type of lizard hunting for prey along the ground, the study said.

Looking closer at the lizards, researchers realized they’d captured a new species: Hemidactylus multisulcatus, or the Madurai rock gecko.

The Madurai rock gecko is “medium-sized,” reaching about 6.8 inches in length, researchers said. Photos show the gecko’s pale tannish-pink coloring and darker brown patches. It has “curved” claws and two types of spikes along its back.

Some of the Madurai rock gecko’s spikes are “slightly pointed,” but others have “multiple grooves” and a “shell-like” shape, the study said. A close up photo shows the texture of its “shell-like” spikes.

Researchers named the new species “multisulcatus” because of these “unique” spikes. The name combines “sulcus,” the Latin word for “grooves,” with the English word “multiple.”

The lizard was recognized as a new species based on its “distinct and unusual” spikes, scale pattern and size, the study said. DNA analysis found the new species had between 8.5% and 15.3% genetic divergence from other gecko species.

So far, the Madurai rock gecko has only been found around the Nadar Mahajana Sangam S. Vellaichamy Nadar College, researchers said. The college, also known as SVN College, is in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, and about 1,490 miles south of New Delhi.

“Further research is required to clarify the extent of the distribution, population trends and conservation status of the new species,” the study said.

The research team included Amit Sayyed, Samson Kirubakaran, Rahul Khot, Omkar Adhikari, Ayaan Sayyed, Masum Sayyed, Jayaditya Purkayastha, Shubhankar Deshpande and Shauri Sulakhe.

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