- A new species of lizard was discovered in the northwestern ghats of Maharashtra & named Cnemaspis Girii.It is named after Dr. Varad Giri of the Bombay Natural History Society who already has a snake species named after him in 2012 — Dendrelathis Girii — which he discovered in the Western Ghats.
- The species(gecko from the genus Cnemaspis) is discovered in the unexplored forests of the Kaas plateau in Satara district.
- There are around 17 Cnemaspis species found in Maharashtra.The Geckos of this genus have a unique rounded pupil.
- The newly-found brown, yellow-spotted reptile when compared with the other 17 species and specimen collected by the British rulers in India found no similarities.
- In 2010 it was first sighted by Harshad Bhosle and Zeeshan Mirza but they couldn’t find the exact name of it.
- Read at:http://www.thehindu.com/
todays-paper/tp-national/new- gecko-species-found-in-the- western-ghats-of-maharashtra/ article6157051.ece