Abstract
A new sphaerodactyl lizard of the genus Gonatodes Fitzinger, 1843 is described from the Iwokrama Forest Reserve, central Guyana, Guiana Shield, northern South America. The new species, Gonatodes timidus sp. nov., is known so far from the type locality only, at ca. 210 m elevation. The new taxon is mainly distinguished from all known congeners by the following combination of characters: moderate body size, absence of a clearly differentiated elongate supraciliary spine, absence of clusters of distinctly enlarged conical scales on sides, escutcheon scales on posterior belly and ventral surfaces of thighs in males evident, three to four lateral rows of scales on distal part of fingers and toes, medial subcaudal scales distinctly differentiated from adjacent scales on non-regenerated tail ( in a 1' 1 '' sequence), and obvious sexual dichromatism, the males having the upper surface of the head black with bluish white to vivid yellow irregular stripes and blotches.
NSTL