Description of two new species of Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827 (Squamata, Gekkonidae) from Nepal

By

Bhattarai, Santosh
Gautam, Bivek
Neupane, Bishal Prasad
Khandekar, Akshay
Thackeray, Tejas
Agarwal, Ishan
Olson, Ashley R.
Hogan, Fiona
Wright, Wendy

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-9-23

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1253

Pages

131--160

Subjects

Bent-toed gecko , Himalayas , integrative taxonomy , khasiensis group , Siwalik

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1253.161933

 

Abstract

Two new species of Cyrtodactylus from the khasiensis group are described using morphological characters supported by molecular analyses based on the mitochondrial ND2 gene. Cyrtodactylus makwanpurgadhiensissp. nov. and C. churesp. nov. from the Siwalik Mountains in central Nepal are at least 11.2% divergent from other Nepalese congeners and 16.7% from each other and can be distinguished by a combination of morphometric and meristic traits. The description of two new species from the Siwalik Mountains underscores the conservation significance of this region, a relatively young, dry, and geologically unstable range of the Himalayan orogen. Despite serving as a border between the lowland (Terai) and Himalayan range, it remains underrepresented in both biodiversity assessments and conservation planning in Nepal. Our findings suggest the need for a robust and targeted species research program and to prioritise this landscape for conservation actions.