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Type: Article
Published: 2019-09-09
Page range: 51–75
Abstract views: 106
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The discovery and description of a new species of Bent-toed Gecko of  the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus complex (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Langkawi Archipelago, Kedah, Peninsular Malaysia

School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia. E- Herpetology Laboratory, Department of Biology, La Sierra University, 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside, California 92515, USA
Herpetology Laboratory, Department of Biology, La Sierra University, 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside, California 92515, USA
Department of Biological Sciences & Museum of Natural History, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849, USA
School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia. Center for Marine and Coastal Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia
Reptilia Integrative taxonomy phylogeny molecular systematics karst island conservation

Abstract

A new species of limestone karst-adapted gecko of the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus complex, C. dayangbuntingensis sp. nov., is described from Dayang Bunting Island of the Langkawi Archipelago off the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is the third species of the group to be described from the archipelago after C. langkawiensis and C. macrotuberculatus. The new species can be distinguished from all other species of Cyrtodactylus based on molecular evidence from the mitochondrial gene ND2 and its flanking tRNAs as well as having unique combinations of morphological and color pattern characteristics. This discovery underscores the need for continued surveys of the many islands in the archipelago to properly ascertain its true herpetological diversity.

 

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