Search

We describe a new species of the genus Hemiphyllodactylus on the basis of four specimens from Bidoup - Nui Ba National Park, Da Lat Plateau, Lam Dong Province, Vietnam. The new species, Hemiphyllodactylus dalatensis sp. nov., is distinguished from the remaining congeners by a combination of the following characters: a bisexual taxon; maximum SVL of 45.9 mm; dorsal scale rows 16; ventral scale rows 8 or 9; chin scales 7–10; postmental scales enlarged; femoral and precloacal pores in a continuous series, 23–25 in total in males, absent in the female; digital lamellae formula 4-5-5/6-5 (forefoot) and 5-6-6-6/5 (hind foot); cloacal spurs 2 or 3 on each side in both males and female; subcaudal scales not enlarged; dorsal trunk pattern with two paravertebral stripes, formed by two rows of dark spots; dark lateral head stripe distinct; postsacral mark cream or orange and bearing anteriorly projecting arms. In phylogenetic analyses, the new species is recovered as the sister taxon to a clade including all species from India although support values are low from all analyses.

We describe a distinct new species of the genus Hemiphyllodactylus based on three specimens collected from semi-urban areas in Goa state of India. The new species can be easily distinguished from all peninsular Indian congeners by its small body size (SVL up to 32.4 mm), having 16–18 dorsal scales and 13 or 14 ventral scales at mid-body contained within one longitudinal eye diameter, nine or ten precloacal pores separated by 1–5 poreless scales from a series of 10–12 femoral pores on each thigh in males, lamellar formula of manus 2222 and of pes 2323 & 2333, as well as subtle colour pattern differences. Mitochondrial sequence divergence confirms the distinctiveness of the new species, which is not closely allied to either the South Indian or Eastern Ghats clades of Indian Hemiphyllodactylus and appears to be a member of a third Indian Hemiphyllodactylus clade. Hemiphyllodactylus goaensis sp. nov. is the first member of the genus to be described from the northern Western Ghats region as well as Goa state, and also only the second Indian Hemiphyllodactylus known from < 100 m asl. Hemiphyllodactylus goaensis sp. nov. extends the known distribution of the genus in western India ~ 560 km north in aerial distance and highlights that the genus is more widely distributed than previously thought and most likely contains numerous undescribed species. We also provide final museum numbers for type specimens of H. arakuensis and the holotype of H. kolliensis.

We describe a distinct new species of Hemiphyllodactylus from a sacred grove near Humma in Ganjam District of Odisha state, eastern India. Hemiphyllodactylus minimus sp. nov. is the smallest member of the genus and can be diagnosed from all peninsular Indian congeners by its small body size (SVL ≤32.2 mm, n=11), having 15–18 dorsal scales and eight or nine ventral scales at mid-body contained within one longitudinal eye diameter, nine or ten precloacal pores separated by 4–6 poreless scales from a series of six or seven femoral pores on each thigh in males, lamellar formula of manus 2222 and of pes 2332 & 2333, as well as subtle colour pattern differences. Additionally, the new species is 16.0–22.7 % divergent from all other peninsular Indian Hemiphyllodactylus in uncorrected ND2 sequence data. The new species is the first member of the genus described from Odisha state and also the first Hemiphyllodactylus known from < 100 m asl. The discovery of Hemiphyllodactylus minimus sp. nov. from a low elevation coastal locality in the Eastern Ghats open ups the possibilities that the genus could be more widespread than currently understood and potentially harbour many more distinct undescribed lineages. Therefore, dedicated fine-scale sampling efforts are needed to uncover the true diversity and distribution of Hemiphyllodactylus in the region.

A new species of the gekkonid genus Hemiphyllodactylus is described from limestone karst forest of Tuyen Quang Province, northern Vietnam based on morphological differences and molecular divergence. Hemiphyllodactylus nahangensis sp. nov. is distinguished from the remaining congeners by having the unique combination of the following characters: a bisexual taxon; SVL of adults 41.4–43.6 mm; dorsal scale rows 18–23; ventral scale rows 9–13; chin scales bordering mental and first infralabial distinctly enlarged; 22–24 pore-bearing femoral and precloacal scales, in a continuous row, absent in females; digital lamella formula 3-4-5-4 (forefoot) and 4-5-5-5 (hindfoot); cloacal spur single, present in both sexes; dark lateral head stripe indistinct; postsacral mark cream and bearing anteriorly projecting arms. In phylogenetic analyses, the new species is placed in a clade that includes H. dushanensis, H. hongkongensis, H. huishuiensis, H. ngocsonensis and H. zugi. In terms of pairwise genetic distance, the new species is at least 5.9%–6.6% divergent from other congeners based on a fragment of the mitochondrial gene ND2.

An integrative taxonomic analysis of newly discovered populations of Hemiphyllodactylus from Indochina recovered a new species from Peninsular Thailand and two others from Laos. The new Thai species, Hemiphyllodactylus pardalis sp. nov. described herein, is the sister species to all other species in the newly designated Indochina clade and has a unique spotted contrasting dorsal pattern not seen in any other species of Hemiphyllodactylus. This, along with its elongate and gracile body morphology, renders it remarkably convergent on the Philippine gecko Pseudogekko smaragdinus despite the fact it is deeply nested within Hemiphyllodactylus. The description of this new species underscores the depauperate nature of Hemiphyllodactylus diversity throughout Indochina in general and Thailand in particular compared to neighboring upland areas of Myanmar and Peninsular Malaysia. This especially underscores the need for continued herpetofaunal field surveys in montane areas of western Thailand.

We describe two new species of the genus Hemiphyllodactylus on the basis of a new collection of geckos from limestone karst forest of Hoa Binh Province, northwestern Vietnam. Hemiphyllodactylus bonkowskii sp. nov. from Hang Kia—Pa Co Nature Reserve and Hemiphyllodactylus ngocsonensis sp. nov. from Ngoc Son—Ngo Luong Nature Reserve can be distinguished from each other and from their congeners by genetic distinction and morphological differences in circumnasal scales, chin scales, precloacal and femoral pores, cloacal spurs, dorsal scales, ventral scales, digital lamellae formula, and color pattern. In phylogenetic analyses, both new species are nested in a clade that includes H. dushanensis, H. flaviventris, H. hongkongensis, H. huishuiensis, H. kiziriani, H. serpispecus, and H. zugi. In terms of pairwise genetic distance, the two new species are at least 7.5%–8.5% divergent from other described species based on a fragment of the ND2 gene.

Two new species of the gekkonid genus Hemiphyllodactylus are described from mountains of the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu, southern India. Hemiphyllodactylus nilgiriensis sp. nov. and H. peninsularis sp. nov. are > 5 % divergent in the mitochondrial ND2 gene from each other and members of the H. aurantiacus complex and differ from each other and members of the H. aurantiacus complex in several meristic characters and colouration. The description of these two new species takes the number of Indian Hemiphyllodactylus to six and the number of endemic geckos from Tamil Nadu to 15.

We investigate the taxonomy of slender geckos (Hemiphyllodactylus) in Thailand by means of molecular phylogenetics and morphological study using specimens from three provinces; Chiang Mai, Kamphaeng Phet, and Chanthaburi. The results of phylogenetic analyses had shown that the genetic data of populations from 2 provinces were distinctly different from known species. In addition, some morphological characters of these two populations such as lamellar formula on fore- and hindfoot differed from the other species. The integrated taxonomy using molecular phylogenetics and morphological study revealed two new species, Hemiphyllodactylus khlonglanensis sp. nov. from western Thailand, and Hemiphyllodactylus flaviventris sp. nov. from eastern Thailand as described herein.

A new species of the genus Hemiphyllodactylus is described from Huishui County, Guizhou Province, Southwest China. Hemiphyllodactylus huishuiensis sp. nov. is distinguished from all other congeners by having the unique combination of the following characters: a maximum SVL of 51.2 mm; 8 or 10 chin scales; enlarged postmental scales; 3 circumnasal scales; 2 or 3 scales between the supranasals; 9–11 supralabials; 9–11 infralabials; 13–15 dorsal scales; 7–9 ventral scales; a lamellar hand formula of 3-4-4-4 or 4-4/5-5-4; a lamellar foot formula of 4-4/5-5-4/5; 3 subdigital lamellae on the first finger and first toe; a continuous precloacal and femoral pore series of less than 20; one cloacal spur in both males and females; no enlarged subcaudal scales; dark dorsal transverse blotches; dark postorbital stripe; a brown postsacral mark bearing anteriorly projecting arms; and unpigmented caecum and gonads. The new species also occurs in Ziyun County, Guizhou Province, China.

An integrative taxonomic analysis based on the mitochondrial gene ND2 and its flanking tRNAs, morphology, and color pattern indicates that a newly discovered gecko described herein as Hemiphyllodactylus cicak sp. nov. from Penang Hill on the Island of Penang, Peninsular Malaysia is a member of the H. harterti group. Hemiphyllodactylus cicak sp. nov. is most closely related to the clade composed of the sister species H. harterti from Bukit Larut, Perak in the Bintang Mountain Range and H. bintik from Gunung Tebu, Terengganu from the Timur Mountain Range. These three allopatric species form a monophyletic group that extends approximately 270 km across three isolated mountain ranges in northern Peninsular Malaysia. The molecular analysis also indicates that H. titiwangsaensis from the Titiwangsa Mountain Range is composed of three genetically distinct allopatric populations. The southern two populations from Fraser’s Hill and Genting Highlands, Pahang have an uncorrected pairwise sequence divergence of 3.5% whereas these two populations have 12.4 and 12.8 % sequence divergences, respectively, from the northern population at Cameron Highlands, Pahang. Although the high sequence divergence clearly distinguishes the southern two populations from the former as a different species, all three populations are morphologically indistinguishable, leading to the hypothesis of a true, cryptic speciation event.

A new species of the genus Hemiphyllodactylus is described from mountainous area of Changning County, Yunnan Province, China. Hemiphyllodactylus changningensis sp. nov. is distinguished from all other congeners by morphology and a significant genetic divergence of greater than 17% (ND2 gene). The new species from Changning is characterized by the following features: a maximum SVL of 40.1 mm in males and 43.8 mm in females; 11-15 dorsal scale rows; 6-8 ventral scale rows; a forefoot lamellar formula of 3-3/4-3/4-3; a hindfoot lamellar formula of 3-4-4-4 or 3-3-3-3; precloacal and femoral pore series continuous; cloacal spurs present in both sexes; dark dorsal transverse blotches; dark postorbital stripe; a brown postsacral mark bearing anteriorly projecting arms; and unpigmented caecum and gonads. The new species occurs also in Longyang District of Baoshan City, Yunnan Province, China.

A new species of gekkonid lizard Hemiphyllodactylus engganoensis sp. nov. from Pulau Enggano, southwestern Sumatra, Indonesia is differentiated from all other congeners by having the unique combination of a maximum SVL of 37.3 mm; six chin scales; no enlarged postmentals; five circumnasal scales; three or four scales between the supranasals; 12 supralabials; 24 dorsal scales; 15 ventral scales; a lamellar hand formula of 4554 or 4454; a lamellar foot formula of 4555; four subdigital lamellae on the first finger; four or five subdigital lamellae on the first toe; a continuous, femoroprecloacal pore series of 42; five cloacal spurs in males; no enlarged subcaudal scales; no dark postorbital stripes or striping on body; small dark blotches on dorsum; a yellowish postsacral mark bearing anteriorly projecting arms; and a pigmented caecum and gonads. Hemiphyllodactylus engganoensis sp. nov. is part of the speciose H. typus group.

A new species of the gekkonid Hemiphyllodactylus banaensis sp. nov. is described from Ba Na-Nui Chua Nature Reserve in central Vietnam. Previously included within H. yunnanensis, the new species is distinguished from all other congeners by having the unique combination of a maximum SVL of 48.2 mm in males and 51.0 mm in females; seven chin scales extending transversely from the union of the first and second infralabials and posterior margin of mental; enlarged postmental scales; 9-12 supralabials; 9-11 infralabials; 18-20 longitudinally arranged dorsal scales at midbody contained within one eye diameter; 20-21 precloacal and femoral pore-bearing scales contiguous in males and 0-20 contiguous pore-bearing precloacal scales in females; dorsal pattern on body composed of transverse blotches and two whitish stripes across shoulder extending to sacrum; postsacral mark whitish brown and bearing anteriorly projecting arms; and caecum and oviducts unpigmented.

A new species of gekkonid, Hemiphyllodactylus chiangmaiensis sp. nov., from northwestern Thailand is separated from all other species of Hemiphyllodactylus by a set of features including: a maximum SVL of 41.2 mm; 8-12 chin scales extending transversely from unions of second and third infralabials and posterior margin of mental; lamellar formula on hand 3-3-3-3 or 3-4-3-3; lamellar formula on foot 3-3-3-3 or 3-4-4-4; continuous precloacal and femoral pores; a unique dorsal color pattern; and caecum and oviducts pigmented. These characters place this species in the speciose H. typus group. Hemiphyllodactylus chiangmaiensis sp. nov. fills a biogeographical hiatus in the distribution of this genus across northern Indochina.

A new species of the genus Hemiphyllodactylus is described from Luang Prabang Province, northern Laos. Hemiphyllodactylus kiziriani sp. nov. is distinguished from the remaining congeners by morphology, coloration, and a significant genetic divergence of greater than 20% (ND2 gene). The new species from Laos is characterized by the following features: SVL of adult males 35.1-40.1 mm, of adult females 36.3-40.8 mm; dorsal scale rows 18-27; ventral scale rows 11-15; chin scales bordering mental and first infralabial distinctly enlarged; digital lamellae formulae 3-4-4-4 (forefoot) and 4-4/5-4/5-4 (hindfoot); femoral pores 0-4, total precloacal pores 10-13 in males, 8-10 pitted precloacal scales in females; cloacal spurs present in both sexes; dorsal trunk pattern dark brown with two rows of irregular transverse bands; dark lateral head stripe distinct; upper zone of flank with a dark brown stripe; caecum and gonadal ducts unpigmented.