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| Cyrtodactylus luci Tran, Do, Pham, Phan, Ngo, Le, Ziegler & Nguyen, 2024 |
Abstract
We describe a new species of the genus Cyrtodactylus based on five adult specimens from Bac Ha District, Lao Cai Province, northern Vietnam. Cyrtodactylus luci sp. nov. is distinguished from the remaining Indochinese bent-toed geckos by a combination of the following morphological characteristics: medium size (SVL up to 89.5 mm); dorsal tubercles in 17–19 irregular transverse rows; ventral scales in 32–34 longitudinal rows at midbody; precloacal pores present in both sexes, 9 or 10 in males, 8 or 9 in females; 12–15 enlarged femoral scales on each thigh; femoral pores 9–12 in males, 5–10 in females; postcloacal tubercles 2–4; lamellae under toe IV 21–23; dorsal pattern consisting of 5 or 6 irregular dark bands, a thin neckband without V-shape or triangle shape in the middle, top of head with dark brown blotches; subcaudal scales transversely enlarged. Molecular phylogenetic analyses recovered the new species as the sister taxon to C. gulinqingensis from Yunnan Province, China, with strong support from all analyses and the two taxa are separated by approximately 8.87–9.22% genetic divergence based on a fragment of the mitochondrial ND2 gene. This is the first representative of Cyrtodactylus known from Lao Cai Province.
Key words: Cyrtodactylus luci sp. nov., gecko, molecular phylogeny, morphology, ND2 gene, taxonomy
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| Cyrtodactylus luci sp. nov. in life. Male holotype (IEBR R.5237); Female paratype(IEBR R.5241). Photos: T.Q. Phan. |
Cyrtodactylus luci sp. nov.
Diagnosis: The new species can be distinguished from other members of the genus Cyrtodactylus by a combination of the following characteristics: Size medium (SVL up to 89.5 mm); dorsal tubercles in 17–19 irregular transverse rows; ventral scales in 32–34 longitudinal rows at midbody; precloacal pores present in both sexual, 9 or 10 in males, 8 or 9 in females; 12–15 enlarged femoral scales on each thigh; femoral pores 9–12 in males, 5–10 in females; postcloacal tubercles 2–4; lamellae under toe IV 21–23; dorsal pattern consisting of 5 or 6 irregular dark bands, a discontinuous thin neckband without V-shape or triangle shape in the middle, dorsal head surface with dark brown blotches; subcaudal scales transversely enlarged.
Etymology: The species was named after the zoologist from the Vietnam National Museum of Nature, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, late Associate Professor Doctor Luc Van Pham, who contributed greatly to the biodiversity study in Vietnam. For the common names, we suggest Luc’s Bent-toed Gecko (English) and Thạch sùng ngón lực (Vietnamese).
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| A macrohabitat B microhabitat of Cyrtodactylus luci sp. nov. Coc Ly Commune, Bac Ha District, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam. Photos: T.Q. Phan. |
Tung Thanh Tran, Quyen Hanh Do, Cuong The Pham, Tien Quang Phan, Hanh Thi Ngo, Minh Duc Le, Thomas Ziegler and Truong Quang Nguyen. 2024. A New Species of the Cyrtodactylus chauquangensis Species Group (Squamata, Gekkonidae) from Lao Cai Province, Vietnam. ZooKeys. 1192: 83-102. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1192.117135
