Sunday, February 14, 2016

[Herpetology • 2016] Cyrtodactylus bansocensis • A New Species of Karst-dwelling Bent-toed Gecko (Squamata: Gekkonidae: Cyrtodactylus) from Khammouane Province, central Laos


Cyrtodactylus bansocensis 
 Luu, Nguyen, Le, Bonkowski & Ziegler, 2016

Abstract

We describe a new species of the genus Cyrtodactylus from Khammouane Province, central Laos based on morphological features and molecular data. Morphologically, Cyrtodactylus bansocensis sp. nov. is differentiated from other congeners by a unique combination of the following characters: medium size, SVL reaching 74.0 mm; dorsal pattern consisting of four light transverse bands between limb insertions; supranasals in contact with each other; dorsal tubercles at midbody in 14–15 irregular rows; lateral folds present without interspersed tubercles; ventral scales between ventrolateral folds 34–35; precloacal and femoral pores in males 34, separated by four poreless scales in the male holotype and in a continuous row in the male paratype; enlarged femoral and precloacal scales present; postcloacal tubercles 5–7 on each side; dorsal tubercles present at tail base; and subcaudal scales transversely enlarged. Molecular analyses revealed the new species to be closely related to Cyrtodactylus rufford, which is also found in Khammouane Province.

Keywords: Reptilia, Cyrtodactylus bansocensis sp. nov., limestone karst, morphology, phylogeny, taxonomy




 Vinh Quang Luu, Truong Nguyen, Minh Duc Le, Michael Bonkowski and Thomas Ziegler. 2016. A New Species of Karst-dwelling Bent-toed Gecko (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Khammouane Province, central Laos.  ZOOTAXA. 4079(1):87-102.   DOI:  10.11646/zootaxa.4079.1.6