A new species of Cyrtodactylus (Squamata, Gekkonidae) from Cambodia’s Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary

By

Neang, Thy
Henson, Adam
Stuart, Bryan L.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2020

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

926

Pages

133--158

Subjects

C. ziegleri , Cyrtodactylus irregularis , Mekong River , Phnom Chi , Sphenomorphus preylangensis

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.926.48671

 

Abstract

Cyrtodactylus phnomchiensissp. nov. is described from Phnom Chi, an isolated mountain in Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, Kampong Thom Province, Cambodia. The new species is recognized by having a unique combination of morphological characters, including snout-vent length 76.1–80.7 mm; paravertebral tubercles 31–36; ventral scales 45–54; enlarged femoral scales 0–8, without pores; enlarged precloacal scales 7–10, bearing pores 4–5 in males, pits 1–7 in females; the posterior border of nuchal loop unbroken and pointed, bordered anteriorly and posteriorly by a broad yellow or yellowish white band; and yellow spots on top of head. The new species also represents a divergent mitochondrial DNA lineage within the C. irregularis complex that is closely related to C. ziegleri, but the phylogenetic relationships among the new species and two divergent mitochondrial subclades within C. ziegleri are not resolved based on available sequence data. Cyrtodactylus phnomchiensissp. nov. is the only member of the C. irregularis complex known to occur west of the Mekong River. The new species may be endemic to Phnom Chi, and likely faces imminent conservation threats.