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| Gekko thakhekensis Luu, Calame, Nguyen, Le, Bonkowski & Ziegler, 2014 |
Abstract
A new species of the Gekkojaponicus group is described from Khammouane Province, central Laos, based on distinct morphological and molecular features. Gekkothakhekensis sp. nov. is distinguished from the remaining congeners by a combination of the following characters: size moderate (SVL 67.6–79.2 mm); nares in contact with rostral; internasals absent; postmentals enlarged; interorbital scales between anterior corners of the eyes 22–26; dorsal tubercles absent; ventral scales between mental and cloacal slit 165–174; midbody scale rows 110–116; ventral scale rows 32–40; subdigital lamellae on first toe 11–13, on fourth toe 14–15; finger and toe webbing present at base, about one fifth of length of digits; tubercles on upper surface of fore and hind limbs absent; precloacal pores 1–5 in males; postcloacal tubercles two; tubercles absent on dorsal surface of tail base; subcaudals enlarged; dorsal surface of body with greyish brown blotches. In molecular analyses, the new species is recovered as a sister taxon to G. scientiadventura, but the two species are separated by approximately 12% divergence as shown by the partial mitochondrial ND2 gene.
Keywords: Gekko thakhekensis sp. nov., Khammouane Province, karst forest, morphology, molecular phylogeny
Vinh Quang Luu, Thomas Calame, Truong Quang Nguyen, Minh D. Le, Michael Bonkowski and Thomas Ziegler. 2014. A New Species of the Gekkojaponicus group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from central Laos. Zootaxa. 3895(1):73-88. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3895.1.4
