Geographically structured genetic and morphological variation in a new species of Cyrtodactylus (Squamata, Gekkonidae) from a karstic archipelago in western Cambodia

By

Quah, Evan Seng Huat
Grismer, Lee
Sinovas, Pablo
Grismer, Lee
Chhin, Sophea
Seiha, Hun
Cobos, Anthony
Geissler, Peter
Ching, Christian
Murdoch, Matthew L.
Thi, Sothearen
Gregory, Jeren
Nguyen, Eddie
Hernandez, Alexis P.
Kaatz, Amanda
Grismer, Jesse

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-06-04

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1240

Pages

73--115

Subjects

Bent-toed gecko , Genetics , Indochina , integrative taxonomy , karstic archipelago

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1240.139691

 

Abstract

A new species of karst-dwelling Bent-toed Gecko (genus Cyrtodactylus) is described from an unexplored karstic archipelago in western Cambodia. Cyrtodactylus kampingpoiensis sp. nov. is composed of four allopatric, monophyletic mitochondrial lineages based on the ND2 gene. All are statistically diagnosable from one another based on univariate (ANOVA) and multivariate (PCA, DAPC, and MFA) analyses using a suite of size-corrected morphometric, meristic, and categorical color pattern and morphological characters. Uncorrected pairwise sequence divergence among them is low (1.4–2.2%), indicating a recent divergence from one another. Given their allopatry, diagnosability, monophyly (i.e., no individuals from one population are embedded within another), we contend they are on separate evolutionary trajectories with no chance of secondary overlap via dispersal through the current unhabitual terrain or through the unlikely future coalescence of the karstic formations on which they occur. The discovery of this new species underscores the necessity for further exploration to gain a more informed understanding of the herpetological diversity of Cambodia in general, and that of western Cambodia in particular, where dozens of isolated karstic formations still remain unexplored.