Taxonomic status of two populations of Bent-toed Geckos of the Cyrtodactylus irregularis complex (Squamata: Gekkonidae) with description of a new species from Nui Chua National Park, southern Vietnam

Abstract

Based on genetic, morphological and chromatical comparisons we evaluate the taxonomic status of two southern Vietnamese forest-dwelling populations of the Cyrtodactylus irregularis species complex. We confirm the allocation of the population from Binh Chau-Phuoc Buu Nature Reserve (Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province) to C. cattienensis and we describe the population of Nui Chua National Park (Ninh Thuan Province) as Cyrtodactylus sangi sp. nov. This brings to 18 the number of species within the C. irregularis complex and to 41 the number of described Cyrtodactylus species recorded from Vietnam.

A new species of Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826 from the Langbian Plateau, southern Vietnam, with additional information on Oligodon annamensis Leviton, 1953 (Squamata: Colubridae)

“…nov. brings the number of Oligodon species known for Vietnam to 24, thus making the country a local center of Oligodon diversity in Southeast Asia. Our work provides further evidence on high herpetofaunal diversity and endemism in Langbian Plateau, which mostly has been discovered only recently (e.g., Chen et al, 2018;Duong et al, 2018;Geissler et al, 2015a;Geissler et al, 2015b;Hartmann et al, 2013;Nazarov et al, 2012;Orlov, Nguyen & Ho, 2008;Orlov et al, 2012;Pauwels et al, 2018;Poyarkov et al, 2014;Poyarkov et al, 2015a;Poyarkov et al, 2015b;Poyarkov et al, 2017;Poyarkov et al, 2019a;Poyarkov et al, 2019b;Poyarkov & Vasilieva, 2011;Rowley et al, 2010;Rowley et al, 2011;Rowley et al, 2016;Stuart et al, 2011;Vassilieva et al, 2014). Despite the impressive increase in species discoveries in the recent years, many isolated montane areas of the Truong Son Mountains, such as the Langbian Plateau, still remain insufficiently studied and likely cradle even more unknown biodiversity.…”

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

“…None were encountered during a brief survey by NT in the wet season of 2014 (Hayes et al 2015). The new species is the only member of the C. irregularis complex known to occur west of the Mekong River (Nguyen et al 2017;Pauwels et al 2018).…”

“…Cyrtodactylus phnomchiensis sp. nov. is distinguished from the 19 other named species in the C. irregularis group (Ngo and Chan 2010;Nguyen et al 2013Nguyen et al , 2017Pauwels et al 2018) by having the combination of SVL 76.1-80.7 mm; relatively long body, AG/SVL 0.451-0.481; relatively long tibia, CrusL/SVL 0.172-0.200; subdigital lamellae on fourth finger 18-20; subdigital lamellae on fourth toe 20-23; longitudinal dorsal rows of tubercles 18-20; paravertebral rows of tubercles 31-36; ventral scales 45-54; enlarged femoral scales 0-8, without pores; enlarged precloacal scales 7-10, bearing pores 4 or 5 in males, pits 1-7 in females; precloacal groove absent; median row of transverse subcaudal scales only slightly enlarged; posterior border of nuchal loop unbroken and pointed, bordered anteriorly and posteriorly by broad yellow or yellowish white band; dark brown body bands 3 or 4, the first intact, the second, third and fourth more irregular, alternating with two or three yellowish white or light brown body bands, about half the width of dark brown body bands; and yellow spots on top of head.…”

“…For nearly a century, C. irregularis was treated as a single, geographically widespread, but morphologically variable species. Recent taxonomic studies on variation in morphology and, usually, the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene (Brennan et al 2017) have revealed that C. irregularis actually represents a complex of at least 19 species distributed in southern and central Vietnam, eastern Cambodia, and southern Laos (Nguyen et al 2013(Nguyen et al , 2017Pauwels et al 2018). These include 18 named species from Vietnam recognized by Pauwels et al (2018), as well as C. buchardi David, Teynie & Ohler, 2004 from southern Laos, a species that has been hypothesized to be a member of this complex (Ngo and Chan 2010;Nguyen et al 2013Nguyen et al , 2017 but that remains phylogenetically untested owing to lack of molecular data.…”

“…Recent taxonomic studies on variation in morphology and, usually, the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene (Brennan et al 2017) have revealed that C. irregularis actually represents a complex of at least 19 species distributed in southern and central Vietnam, eastern Cambodia, and southern Laos (Nguyen et al 2013(Nguyen et al , 2017Pauwels et al 2018). These include 18 named species from Vietnam recognized by Pauwels et al (2018), as well as C. buchardi David, Teynie & Ohler, 2004 from southern Laos, a species that has been hypothesized to be a member of this complex (Ngo and Chan 2010;Nguyen et al 2013Nguyen et al , 2017 but that remains phylogenetically untested owing to lack of molecular data. The monophyly of the C. irregularis group has been demonstrated by phylogenetic analysis of the COI gene from most of the species in the complex (Nazarov et al 2012;Nguyen et al 2013Nguyen et al , 2014Nguyen et al , 2017Luu et al 2017;Schneider et al 2014).…”