Scratching the surface: a new species of Bent-toed gecko (Squamata, Gekkonidae, Cyrtodactylus) from Timor-Leste of the darmandvillei group marks the potential for future discoveries

Kin Onn Chan; L Lee Grismer; Fernando Santana; Pedro Pinto; Frances W Loke; Nathan Conaboy

doi:10.3897/zookeys.1139.96508

Scratching the surface: a new species of Bent-toed gecko (Squamata, Gekkonidae, Cyrtodactylus) from Timor-Leste of the darmandvillei group marks the potential for future discoveries

Zookeys. 2023 Jan 11:1139:107-126. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1139.96508. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Kin Onn Chan¹, L Lee Grismer^{2

3}, Fernando Santana⁴, Pedro Pinto⁴, Frances W Loke⁵, Nathan Conaboy⁶

Affiliations

¹ Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, National University of Singapore, 2 Conservatory Drive, 117377 Singapore, Singapore National University of Singapore Singapore Singapore.
² Herpetology Laboratory, Department of Biology, La Sierra University, 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside, San Diego, California 92505, USA La Sierra University Riverside United States of America.
³ Department of Herpetology, San Diego Natural History Museum, PO Box 121390, San Diego, California, 92112, USA Department of Herpetology, San Diego Natural History Museum San Diego United States of America.
⁴ Department of Protected Areas and National Parks, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dili, Timor-Leste Department of Protected Areas and National Parks, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Dili Timor-Leste.
⁵ Conservation International Singapore, 42B Boat Quay, Singapore 049831, Singapore Conservation International Singapore Singapore Singapore.
⁶ Conservation International Timor-Leste, Rua Dom Aleixo Corte Real, Mandarin, Dili, P.O. BOX 006, Timor-Leste Conservation International Timor-Leste Dili Timor-Leste.

Abstract

A new species of limestone-dwelling Bent-toed gecko (genus Cyrtodactylus) is described from Nino Konis Santana National Park in the far-east region of Timor-Leste. Both genetic and morphological data strongly support the evolutionary distinctness of the new species, which we describe herein as Cyrtodactylussantana sp. nov. Phylogenetic analysis based on the ND2 mitochondrial gene inferred the new species as part of the C.darmandvillei group with close genetic affinities to C.batucolus, C.seribuatensis, C.petani, C.sadleiri, and two undescribed lineages from the Moluccas in Indonesia. The new species represents the first species of Cyrtodactylus identified at the species level from Timor-Leste and fills an important gap in our understanding of the biogeography and evolutionary history of Cyrtodactylus especially in the Wallacean region. Our results strongly suggest that the diversity of Cyrtodactylus in Wallacea is still underestimated and many more unnamed species remain to be described.

Keywords: Biogeography; Gekkota; Wallacea; lizards; phylogenetics; systematics; taxonomy.

Kin Onn Chan, L. Lee Grismer, Fernando Santana, Pedro Pinto, Frances W. Loke, Nathan Conaboy.