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Issue: Vol. 3257 No. 1: 4 Apr. 2012
Type: Articles
Published: 2012-04-04
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3257.1.2
Page range: 22–37
Abstract views: 39
PDF downloaded: 17

A preliminary assessment of the Nactus pelagicus species group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) in New Guinea and a new species from the Admiralty Islands

Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia 20013, USA
U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, San Diego Field Station, 4165 Spruance Road Suite 200, San Diego, California 92101-0812, USA
Reptilia Nactus pelagicus group New Guinea Admiralty Islands morphology geographic variation new species

Abstract

The Slender-toed Geckos (Nactus) currently have four recognized species in New Guinea, and these species divide intotwo sister clades: a pelagicus clade and a vankampeni clade (Heinicke et al. 2010). The latter contains three dwarf species.The former consists of five bisexual populations, of which numerous New Guinea populations are uncharacterized no-menclaturally and lumped under the epithet ‘pelagicus.’ This report and description of a new species of the pelagicusgroup from Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands encourages us to offer a preliminary assessment of morphology and diversity in New Guinea ‘pelagicus’ populations.

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