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| Gekko kaiyai Zhang, Wu & Zhang, in C. Zhang, Wu, Cai, Wang, Pang, Ma, Yu, ... et B. Zhang, 2023. DOI: 10.3390/ani13243796 |
Abstract
This study describes a novel species of Gekko (Squamata: Gekkonidae) based on its distinct morphological features and molecular evidence, which was identified in the Dabie Mountains on the border of Anhui and Henan provinces of Central China. Gekko kaiyai sp. nov. could be distinguished from its congeners owing to its morphological characteristics, such as being a medium body sized gecko species (snout–vent length, 56.98–64.99 mm, n = 4, females; 50.03–61.56 mm, n = 11, males); nostrils scale in contact with rostral scale; tubercles on the dorsal and limb, while the upper forelimb is smooth with no tubercles; 22–33 interorbital scales between the anterior corners of the eyes; 157–209 ventral scales between mental and cloacal slit; 90–121 midbody scale rows; 30–43 ventral scale rows; 7–9 sub-digital lamellae on first fingers, 8–13 fourth fingers, 7–9 first toes, and 7–11 fourth toes; free of webbing in the fingers and toes; 9–12 pre-cloacal pores in males, which are absent in females; post-cloacal unilateral tubercles 1 (few 2); and a dorsum that is greyish white to dark brown, with 6–7 brown markings between the nape and sacrum. The phylogenetic tree based on the mitochondrial DNA sequences (16S, CYTB, and COI) indicated that Gekko kaiyai sp. nov. form an independent clade with strong support (100/1) and are a sister group to G. hokouensis. At the inter-species level, the genetic distances were all large, further confirming that an independent species had been identified. The discovery of this species implies that there are now 87 identified species in the genus Gekko, 22 of which can be found within China.
Keywords: Gekko kaiyai sp. nov.; Gekkonidae; Central China; molecular phylogenetic analysis; morphology
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| Holotype AHUXXBH07 of Gekko kaiyai sp. nov. in real life: (A), left lateral view of head, (B), right lateral view of head, (C), dorsal view of middle body, (D), ventral view, (E), dorsal view of head, (E), ventral view of head, (F), ventral view of pre-cloacal region, showing six pre-cloacal pores, (G), lateral view of basal tail, (H), dorsal view of hand, (I), ventral view of hand, (J), dorsal view of foot, (K), ventral view of foot. |
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| Gekko kaiyai sp. nov. and G. hokouensis dorsal view in life. (A), Holotype, AHUXXBH007, male. (B), Paratype, AHUXXBH010, female. (C), G. hokouensis, AHUWFSBH003, male, from Lujiang county, Anhui Province. (D), G. hokouensis, AHUQPBH003, female, from Jinzhai county, Anhui Province. |
Gekko (Japonigekko) kaiyai sp. nov. Zhang, Wu, and Zhang
Diagnosis. Gekko kaiyai sp. nov. is distinguished from the subgenus Japonicgekko by its morphological characteristics: (1) medium body size (SVL 56.98–64.99 mm, n = 4, females; 50.03–61.56 mm, n = 11, males); (2) nostrils in contact with rostral scale; (3) tubercles on the dorsal, hindlimb and lower forelimb, but the upper forelimb smooth without tubercles; (4) interorbital scales between the anterior corners of the eyes 22–33; (5) ventral scales between mental and cloacal slit 157–209; (6) midbody scale rows 99–121; (7) ventral scale rows 30–43; (8) sub-digital lamellae on first fingers 7–9, on fourth fingers 8–13, on first toes 7–9, on fourth toes 7–11; (9) free of webbing in the fingers and toes; (10) 9–12 pre-cloacal pores in males and absent in females; (11) post-cloacal unilateral tubercles 1 (few 2); (12) and dorsum greyish white to dark brown, with 6–7 brown markings between the nape and sacrum.
Etymology. The specific, Gekko kaiyai sp. nov., a Latinized adjective, was named after Professor Kaiya Zhou of the School of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, China, who has made great contributions to the classification of the Gekkonidae family species, especially Gekko hokouensis. The suggested common English name is “Dabie Mountains Gecko” and the Chinese name is “Dà Bié Shān Bì Hŭ”, both of which indicate the location from where the new species was collected (Figure 1).
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| Habitat of Gekko kaiyai sp. nov. (A), Liankang Mountain National Nature Reserve, Xin County, Henan Province (photo by Kui Yang), (B), microhabitats, one gecko hides on a stone, (C), microhabitats, one gecko on the fence. |
Conclusions:
We described a new species of the gecko, Gekko kaiyai sp. nov., based on the analysis of phylogeny and morphology. The discovery of this new species has brought the total number of known species in the genus Gekko to 87 and the number identified within China to 22. Gekko kaiyai sp. nov. appears currently only known to be distributed in the northwest of the Dabie Mountains, and with the G. hokouensis and G. japonicus are sympatric. However, the detailed distribution range, population size, and feeding habits of these three species in the Dabie Mountains has not yet been elucidated, and further investigations will be required to enhance our understanding of the interspecific relationships and sympatric distributions of these three species of gecko.
Caiwen Zhang, Afang Wu, Bo Cai, Lanrong Wang, Dapeng Pang, Haohao Ma, Lei Yu, Xiangyang Li, Hua Huang, Lin Zeng, Li Li, Jie Yan, Peng Li and Baowei Zhang. 2023. A New Species of the Genus Gekko (Squamata: Sauria: Gekkonidae) from the Dabie Mountains, China. Animals. 13(24); 3796. DOI: 10.3390/ani13243796
Simple Summary: The genus Gekko Laurenti, 1768, currently comprises approximately 86 species, of which 21 are native to China, that commonly live on walls, rocks, and trees, and are distributed across Southeast Asia, western Oceania, and Melanesia. This article describes a new species of Gekko (Squamata: Gekkonidae) based on its distinct morphological features and molecular evidence, which was identified in the Dabie Mountains on the border of Anhui and Henan provinces of Central China. The analysis of phylogeny based on a mitochondrial DNA fragment (16S, CYTB, and COI) indicated that the new taxon is different from its congeners. Morphologically, the new species can be diagnosed from the other subgenus Japonigekko species by a combination of 34 (14 mensural and 20 meristic) morphological characteristics, and Principal component analysis (PCA) and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the new species can be clearly distinguished from its sister species G. hokouensis. Based on the above multiple lines of evidence, we describe this gecko from the Dabie Mountains as a new species, Gekko kaiyai sp. nov. The discovery of this species implies that there are now 87 identified species in the genus Gekko, 22 of which can be found within China.