A new insular species of the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus group (Reptilia, Gekkonidae) from Tarutao Island, southern Thailand revealed by morphological and genetic evidence

By

Termprayoon, Korkhwan
Rujirawan, Attapol
Ampai, Natee
Wood Jr, Perry L.
Aowphol, Anchalee

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2021-10-12

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1070

Pages

101--134

Subjects

Cyrtodactylus astrum , Cyrtodactylus stellatus sp. nov. , karst , Morphology , Phylogeny , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1070.73659

 

Abstract

The bent-toed geckos of theCyrtodactylus pulchellusgroup are widely distributed along the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Although taxonomic and phylogenetic studies of this species group have been continuously conducted, only some populations from Thailand have been included, resulting in hidden diversity within this group. In this study, we used morphological and molecular data to clarify the taxonomic status and describe a new population from Tarutao Island, Satun Province, southern Thailand.Cyrtodactylus stellatussp. nov.can be distinguished from its congeners by the combination of the following morphological characters: body size; tuberculation; number of dark body bands, ventral scales, and femoroprecloacal pores in males; presence of precloacal pores in females; and scattered pattern on dorsum. Phylogenetic analyses of the mitochondrial ND2 gene recovered the new species as the sister species toC. astrum, with an uncorrected pairwise divergence of 9.78–12.37%.Cyrtodactylus stellatussp. nov.is currently only known from Tarutao Island, Thailand. The discovery of this species suggests that the diversity within theC. pulchellusgroup remains underestimated and future exploration of unsurveyed areas are needed to further the understanding of this group and its geographic range.