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| Cyrtodactylus peninsularis L. L. Grismer, Kaatz, J. L. Grismer, Nguyen, Grergory, P. L. Wood, Murdoch, Anuar, Onn, Muin, Pawangkhanant, Suwannapoom, Poyarkov & Quah, 2025 photos by Evan S. H. Quah, L. Lee Grismer and Kin Onn Chan. |
Abstract
Phylogenetic analyses based on 1459 base pairs of the mitochondrial gene ND2 and its flanking tRNAs indicate that Cyrtodactylus consobrinus from the type locality in Sarawak, East Malaysia (Borneo) and C. consobrinus from Peninsular Malaysia are not conspecific. Both populations as well as C. hutan from East Malaysia form a strongly supported monophyletic group even though their relationships to one another remain unresolved. Cyrtodactylus consobrinus from peninsular Malaysia is described herein as the new species C. peninsularis sp. nov. whose type locality is Gunung Belumut, Johor State. Cyrtodactylus peninsularis sp. nov. is diagnosable from all other species in the malayanus group by having statistically different morphospatial positions in multiple factor analyses (MFA) based on size-corrected morphometric and meristic characters. ANOVA analyses of these characters recovered significantly different mean values between C. peninsularis sp. nov. and varying combinations of all other malayanus group species across several size-corrected morphometric and meristic characters. Genetic variation within C. peninsularis sp. nov. is geographically structured across six well supported monophyletic mitochondrial lineages bearing an uncorrected pairwise sequence divergence ranging from 0.97–4.5%. Despite its well supported phylogeographic structure, PCAs and ANOVAs recovered statistically weak morphological separation among the lineages and as such, all are considered conspecific pending a genomic analysis. The phylogeographic structure within the forest-dwelling C. peninsularis sp. nov. is quite similar to that of the stream-adapted ranid frog genus Amolops and less so to that of the microhabitat specialists of the C. pulchellus group and the forest generalist C. quadrivirgatus, all of whom are sympatric across Peninsular Malaysia.
Key words: Bent-toed Gecko, Borneo, integrative taxonomy, Peninsular Malaysia, phylogeny, Thailand
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| Color and banding pattern variation among the lineages of Cyrtodactylus peninsularis sp. nov. A NEL— adult male, Lata Kekabu, Setiu, Terengganu, La Sierra University Digital Photograph Collection (LSUDPC) 13548, photo by Evan S. H. Quah B EL—juvenile, Endau-Rompin National Park, Johor, LSUHC 2585, photo by L. Lee Grismer C NWL—adult male, Sungai Enam, Perak LSUDPC 13549 (paratype LSUHC 11267), photo by Evan S. H. Quah D WL—adult female, Gunung Ledang, Johor LSUDPC 13550, photo by Evan S. H. Quah E NCL—adult female, Gunung Tebu, Terengganu LSUDPC 7997, photo by L. Lee Grismer F WL—adult female, Gunung Korbu, Perak, LSUDCP 13548, photo by Kin Onn Chan G NEL—adult male, Hutan Lipur Sekayu, Terengganu, LSUDPC 5951, photo by L. Lee Grismer H SL—adult female, Gunung Pulai, Johor, LSUDPC 13552, photo by Evan S. H. Quah. |
Cyrtodactylus peninsularis sp. nov.
Etymology. The species name peninsularis is in reference to the distribution of this species which is restricted to the Thai-Malay Peninsula of southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, and Singapore.
Distribution. Cyrtodactylus peninsularis sp. nov. ranges from extreme southern Thailand southward through nearly all habitats in Peninsular Malaysia to Singapore (Grismer 2011) (Fig. 1). The Pulau Singkep population of Indonesia has not been investigated.
L. Lee Grismer, Amanda Kaatz, Jesse L. Grismer, Eddie Nguyen, Jeren J. Grergory, Perry L. Wood Jr., Matthew L. Murdoch, Shahrul Anuar, Chan Kin Onn, Muhamad A. Muin, Parinya Pawangkhanant, Chatmongkon Suwannapoom, Nikolay A. Poyarkov and Evan S. H. Quah. 2025. The Taxonomy of Cyrtodactylus consobrinus (Peters, 1871) (Squamata, Gekkonidae) and the Description of A New Species from the Thai-Malay Peninsula. ZooKeys 1241: 105-137. DOI: doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1241.149552 [12-06-2025]
