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| Cyrtodactylus thalang Grismer, Pawangkhanant, Bragin, Trofimets, Nazarov, Suwannapoom & Poyarkov, 2024 Thalang Bent-toed Gecko | ตุ๊กกายถลาง || DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5437.2.2 |
Abstract
Model based integrative analyses supports the recognition of a new species of the Cyrtodactylus brevipalmatus group from Phuket Island, Thailand. Cyrtodactylus thalang sp. nov. is most closely related to the sister species C. brevipalmatus from the Thai-Malay Peninsula and C. cf. brevipalmatus from Langkawi Island, Kedah State, Peninsular Malaysia. Based on the mitochondrial gene ND2, C. thalang sp. nov. bears an uncorrected pairwise sequence divergence of 14.7% and 15.1% from C. cf. brevipalmatus and C. brevipalmatus, respectively, significantly different (p<0.05) mean values of meristic and morphometric characters, and discrete categorical morphological differences. A multiple factor analysis morphospatially statistically placed C. thalang sp. nov. well outside all other species of the brevipalmatus group. The BAYAREALIKE model of a BioGeoBEARS analysis indicated the origin of the brevipalmatus group was in western Indochina with subsequent south to north speciation along the Tenasserim Mountains followed by a west to east invasion of northern Thailand, Laos, and northwestern Vietnam northeast of the Chao Phraya Basin and north of the Khorat Plateau.
Reptilia, Indochina, phylogeny, integrative taxonomy, gecko, ND2, BioGeoBEArS
Etymology. The name of the new species is a noun in apposition and is therefore invariable; the species name “thalang” is given in reference to the historical name of Phuket Island, formerly known as Thalang (in Thai: “ถลาง”, Tha-Laang). The name also refers to the northern district of the Phuket Province, where the type locality is located. We recommend the names “Thalang Bent-toed Gecko” and “Tuk-Kai Tha-Laang” (ตุ๊กกายถลาง) as common names of the new species in English and Thai, respectively.
L. Lee Grismer, Parinya Pawangkhanant, Andrey M. Bragin, Alexey V. Trofimets, Roman A. Nazarov, Chatmongkon Suwannapoom and Nikolay A. Poyarkov. 2024. A New Species of the Cyrtodactylus brevipalmatus group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Phuket Island, Thailand with a discussion of the group’s potential biogeography. Zootaxa. 5437(2); 193-222. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5437.2.2