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

Abstract

<i>Cyrtodactylus phnomchiensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> is described from Phnom Chi, an isolated mountain in Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, Kampong Thom Province, Cambodia. The new species is recognized by having a unique combination of morphological characters, including snout-vent length 76.1-80.7 mm; paravertebral tubercles 31-36; ventral scales 45-54; enlarged femoral scales 0-8, without pores; enlarged precloacal scales 7-10, bearing pores 4-5 in males, pits 1-7 in females; the posterior border of nuchal loop unbroken and pointed, bordered anteriorly and posteriorly by a broad yellow or yellowish white band; and yellow spots on top of head. The new species also represents a divergent mitochondrial DNA lineage within the <i>C. irregularis</i> complex that is closely related to <i>C. ziegleri</i>, but the phylogenetic relationships among the new species and two divergent mitochondrial subclades within <i>C. ziegleri</i> are not resolved based on available sequence data. <i>Cyrtodactylus phnomchiensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> is the only member of the <i>C. irregularis</i> complex known to occur west of the Mekong River. The new species may be endemic to Phnom Chi, and likely faces imminent conservation threats.