 |
| Cyrtodactylus sungaiupe & C. wangkhramensis Termprayoon, Rujirawan, Grismer, Wood & Aowphol, 2023 |
Abstract
The exploration of unsurveyed areas in southern Thailand discovered two new karst-adapted species, Cyrtodactylus sungaiupe sp. nov. and Cyrtodactylus wangkhramensis sp. nov., from Thung Wa and La-ngu Districts, Satun Province, respectively. These new species are members of the C. pulchellus group that occur along the Thai-Malay Peninsula. The new species can be distinguished from all other congeners by their key morphological characters and genetic divergence. Morphologically, Cyrtodactylus sungaiupe sp. nov. and Cyrtodactylus wangkhramensis sp. nov. can be diagnosed from other members by having a combination of differences in body size; degree of dorsal tuberculation; absence of tubercles on ventral surfaces; number of ventral scales, paravertebral tubercles and femoroprecloacal pores in males only; deep precloacal groove only in males; absence of a scattered pattern of white dorsal tubercles; number of dark body bands; and the extent of caudal tubercles on an original tail. Although the two species are sister taxa and have nearly identical morphologies, they are considered to be different species, based on a relatively high uncorrected pairwise genetic divergence of the mitochondrial ND2 gene (6.59–6.89%), statistically significant univariate and multivariate morphological differences (PERMANOVA and ANOVA) and diagnostic characteristics of caudal tuberculation on the original tail. Moreover, Cyrtodactylus sungaiupe sp. nov. and Cyrtodactylus wangkhramensis sp. nov. are currently restricted to their karstic type localities which may serve as a geographic barrier to dispersal and gene flow.
Key words: Cyrtodactylus sungaiupe sp. nov., Cyrtodactylus wangkhramensis sp. nov., morphology, phylogeny, Southeast Asia, Sundaland, taxonomy, Thai-Malay Peninsula
Cyrtodactylus sungaiupe sp. nov.
Thung Wa Bent-toed Gecko
Diagnosis: Cyrtodactylus sungaiupe sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other species of the C. pulchellus group by a combination of the following characters: (1) SVL 89.7–102.7 mm in adult males (n = 4), 87.3–104.6 mm in adult females (n = 4); (2) 12–16 supralabial and 10–13 infralabial scales; (3) weak tuberculation on body; (4) no tubercles on ventral surfaces of forelimbs, gular region or in ventrolateral body folds; (5) 30–38 paravertebral tubercles; (6) 19–22 longitudinal rows of dorsal tubercles; (7) 32–40 rows of ventral scales; (8) 20–24 subdigital lamellae on the fourth toe; (9) 29–34 femoroprecloacal pores in adult males; (10) absence of precloacal pores in adult females; (11) deep precloacal groove in males; (12) absence of scattered pattern of white tubercles on dorsum; (13) four dark dorsal body bands; (14) nine or twelve dark caudal bands on original tail; (15) light caudal bands in adults infused with dark pigmentation; (16) caudal tubercles extended 1/8–1/10 of anterior portion of tail and (17) posterior portion of tail in hatchlings and juveniles white.
Etymology: The specific epithet sungaiupe is derived from the old name of Thung Wa District (Sungai Upe District), the type locality of the new species.
Cyrtodactylus wangkhramensis sp. nov.
Wangkhram Bent-toed Gecko
Diagnosis: Cyrtodactylus wangkhramensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other species of the C. pulchellus group by a combination of the following characters: (1) SVL 87.4–95.5 mm in adult males (n = 5), 89.4–98.8 mm in adult females (n = 7); (2) 11–14 supralabial and 9–13 infralabial scales; (3) weak tuberculation on body; (4) no tubercles on ventral surfaces of forelimbs, gular region or in ventrolateral body folds; (5) 28–35 paravertebral tubercles; (6) 19–21 longitudinal rows of dorsal tubercles; (7) 34–40 rows of ventral scales; (8) 18–22 subdigital lamellae on the fourth toe; (9) 32–36 femoroprecloacal pores in adult males; (10) absence of precloacal pores in adult females; (11) deep precloacal groove in males; (12) absence of scattered pattern of white tubercles on dorsum; (13) four or five dark dorsal body bands; (14) 11 dark caudal bands on original tail; (15) light caudal bands in adults infused with dark pigmentation; and (16) caudal tubercles extending 1/5–1/7 of anterior portion of tail.
Etymology: The specific epithet wangkhramensis refers to the type locality at Tham Wangkhram in La-ngu District, Satun Province.
Korkhwan Termprayoon, Attapol Rujirawan, L. Lee Grismer, Perry L. Wood Jr and Anchalee Aowphol. 2023. Two New Karst-adapted Species in the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus Group (Reptilia, Gekkonidae) from southern Thailand. ZooKeys. 1179: 313-352. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1179.109712
