Sunday, November 8, 2015

[Herpetology • 2014] Hemiphyllodactylus kiziriani • A New Species of Hemiphyllodactylus (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from northern Laos




ABSTRACT
A new species of the genus Hemiphyllodactylus is described from Luang Prabang Province, northern Laos. Hemiphyllodactylus kiziriani sp. nov. is distinguished from the remaining congeners by morphology, coloration, and a significant genetic divergence of greater than 20% (ND2 gene). The new species from Laos is characterized by the following features: SVL of adult males 35.1–40.1 mm, of adult females 36.3–40.8 mm; dorsal scale rows 18–27; ventral scale rows 11–15; chin scales bordering mental and first infralabial distinctly enlarged; digital lamellae formulae 3-4-4-4 (forefoot) and 4-4/5-4/5-4 (hindfoot); femoral pores 0–4, total precloacal pores 10–13 in males, 8–10 pitted precloacal scales in females; cloacal spurs present in both sexes; dorsal trunk pattern dark brown with two rows of irregular transverse bands; dark lateral head stripe distinct; upper zone of flank with a dark brown stripe; caecum and gonadal ducts unpigmented.



Keywords: Slender Gecko, karst forest, phylogeny, taxonomy, Luang Prabang Province



Truong Q. Nguyen, Andreas Botov, Minh D. Le, Liphone Nophaseud, George Zug, Michael Bonkowski and Thomas Ziegler. 2014. A New Species of Hemiphyllodactylus (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from northern Laos. Zootaxa. 3827(1):45-56. DOI: dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3827.1.4