Corresponding authors: Dingqi Rao (
Academic editor: Thomas Ziegler
A new species of the
Liu S, Rao D (2022) A new species of
The
During our fieldwork in southern Yunnan Province, China, in 2021, some specimens of
Specimens were collected by hand. Photographs were taken to document the color pattern of specimens in life prior to their euthanization. Liver tissues were stored in 99% ethanol and specimens were preserved in 75% ethanol. Specimens were deposited at
Measurements were taken with digital calipers to the nearest 0.1 mm. Bilateral scale counts were given as left/right. The methodology of measurements and meristic counts followed
Morphological comparisons were based on the original descriptions of each species (
Molecular data were generated for three specimens collected from Menglian County, Puer City, Yunnan Province, China, and available sequences of the
Sequences were aligned using ClustalW (
The obtained sequence alignment is 1397 bp in length. The sequences of the three specimens collected from Menglian County, Yunnan, China, were nested within the
Mean uncorrected pairwise genetic distances (%) among the species of the
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
2 |
12.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
3 |
18.4 | 18.3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
4 |
15.0 | 13.9 | 19.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
5 |
12.6 | 13.3 | 18.1 | 8.6 | |||||||||||||||||||
6 |
15.0 | 14.5 | 19.9 | 7.9 | 8.4 | ||||||||||||||||||
7 |
15.5 | 13.6 | 16.6 | 15.9 | 14.4 | 15.9 | |||||||||||||||||
8 |
11.4 | 11.9 | 17.0 | 13.7 | 12.3 | 14.4 | 14.3 | ||||||||||||||||
9 |
13.9 | 13.8 | 16.7 | 14.8 | 13.5 | 14.7 | 11.0 | 13.4 | |||||||||||||||
10 |
14.3 | 13.2 | 18.1 | 13.8 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 14.1 | 12.9 | 13.8 | ||||||||||||||
11 |
14.8 | 14.6 | 19.4 | 6.5 | 9.0 | 7.5 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 14.9 | 14.1 | |||||||||||||
12 |
14.3 | 13.4 | 17.7 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 14.3 | 14.7 | 13.9 | 14.3 | 12.4 | 14.7 | ||||||||||||
13 |
13.1 | 13.2 | 18.2 | 11.1 | 10.5 | 10.7 | 14.9 | 12.0 | 14.2 | 13.1 | 11.3 | 13.1 | |||||||||||
14 |
15.2 | 14.6 | 19.1 | 3.6 | 9.1 | 8.4 | 16.3 | 15.6 | 16.4 | 15.6 | 6.8 | 14.7 | 12.2 | ||||||||||
15 |
14.2 | 13.4 | 18.9 | 5.7 | 8.0 | 7.1 | 14.7 | 12.9 | 14.2 | 13.6 | 2.8 | 13.8 | 10.5 | 6.2 | |||||||||
16 |
13.4 | 13.0 | 18.2 | 14.3 | 13.6 | 14.4 | 14.2 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 13.0 | 15.3 | 6.7 | 14.0 | 14.7 | 14.2 | ||||||||
17 |
17.2 | 16.2 | 19.4 | 17.5 | 16.8 | 18.1 | 16.2 | 16.8 | 17.3 | 14.8 | 18.0 | 15.0 | 16.2 | 17.7 | 18.0 | 15.2 | |||||||
18 |
14.6 | 13.9 | 18.3 | 10.0 | 9.2 | 10.4 | 15.7 | 13.4 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 10.4 | 14.3 | 11.1 | 11.3 | 9.1 | 14.3 | 17.7 | ||||||
19 |
16.8 | 15.6 | 9.3 | 17.1 | 15.5 | 17.3 | 15.7 | 14.9 | 16.4 | 16.3 | 17.3 | 16.1 | 16.6 | 18.3 | 16.7 | 15.6 | 18.9 | 16.5 | |||||
20 |
14.1 | 13.4 | 17.8 | 8.1 | 7.3 | 8.2 | 14.2 | 13.3 | 14.0 | 13.5 | 8.2 | 14.2 | 9.5 | 9.1 | 7.0 | 13.5 | 16.9 | 9.6 | 16.5 | ||||
21 |
7.2 | 13.1 | 18.0 | 15.5 | 13.1 | 15.5 | 16.3 | 12.7 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.7 | 15.1 | 12.2 | 15.4 | 14.2 | 13.9 | 16.4 | 15.2 | 17.5 | 13.7 | |||
22 |
10.7 | 12.0 | 18.4 | 14.1 | 13.2 | 13.8 | 15.5 | 11.8 | 14.0 | 12.9 | 13.9 | 13.4 | 13.2 | 15.5 | 13.2 | 13.7 | 17.3 | 14.0 | 15.8 | 13.6 | 11.9 | ||
23 |
18.3 | 17.2 | 21.4 | 18.8 | 18.0 | 19.4 | 18.0 | 17.0 | 16.8 | 16.8 | 19.9 | 17.2 | 18.0 | 21.5 | 18.8 | 17.9 | 21.8 | 19.3 | 18.4 | 17.8 | 19.9 | 17.9 | |
24 |
18.8 | 17.8 | 18.9 | 18.7 | 17.5 | 18.1 | 18.2 | 17.0 | 18.7 | 18.9 | 18.9 | 19.1 | 17.5 | 20.9 | 18.1 | 18.7 | 21.9 | 18.9 | 17.9 | 18.1 | 19.4 | 18.4 | 13.1 |
Bayesian phylogram of the
Type series of
The specific epithet refers to Menglian County, the locality where the new species was found. We propose “Menglian Bent-toed Gecko” for the common English name and “孟连裸趾虎” (Mèng Lián Luǒ Zhǐ Hǔ) for the common Chinese name of the new species.
Close-up views of the femoral and precloacal regions of
Medium body size (
Holotype (KIZ20210713) of
Adult male,
Paratypes of
Body slender (
Fore and hind limbs moderately slender (
Tail regenerated (
Dorsal ground color brownish yellow; dorsal surface of head with irregular brown blotches with black edges, largest at occiput; nuchal loop absent; dorsum with many irregular brownish black blotches with black edges, forming eight transverse discontinuous bands faintly, one on the neck, one between hind limbs, and six between fore and hind limb insertions; dorsal surfaces of limbs with brown bands with black edges; a brown band with black edge on dorsal tail base, dorsal surface of regenerated tail greyish black; ventral surface of head, limbs, and body greyish white; ventral surface of regenerated tail grey; iris bronze.
The color pattern very much resembles that in life. Brownish yellow dorsal ground color turned to greyish white, the brown blotches and bands with black edges remained; ventral surface faded to pale white; iris became white.
The paratypes resemble the holotype except that the female KIZ20210714 has a longer regenerated tail, and the female KIZ20210716 has a longer original tail with one or two rows of subcaudals enlarged, and they both have no precloacal pores; the male KIZ20210715 has a smaller body size and much shorter regenerated tail; other morphometric and meristic differences are presented in Table
Measurements (mm) and meristic data for the type series of
KIZ20210713 Holotype | KIZ20210714 Paratype | KIZ20210715 Paratype | KIZ20210716 Paratype | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Male | Female | Male | Female | |
|
77.8 | 78.1 | 69.1 | 67.7 |
|
60.8* | 62.9* | 33.2* | 70.6# |
|
9.7 | 9.7 | 8.3 | 8.7 |
|
21.7 | 21.8 | 19.4 | 19.2 |
|
16.4 | 15.8 | 14.8 | 14.5 |
|
5.9 | 6.9 | 5.1 | 5.3 |
|
9.3 | 9.2 | 8.2 | 8.3 |
|
6.3 | 5.9 | 5.6 | 5.6 |
|
3.1 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 2.6 |
|
3.3 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 2.7 |
|
1.9 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.2 |
|
30.5 | 34.6 | 27.8 | 28.4 |
|
13.0 | 12.9 | 11.4 | 10.6 |
|
15.7 | 15.6 | 14.0 | 13.1 |
|
3.8 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 3.0 |
|
2.2 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 1.8 |
|
3.1 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 3.8 |
|
2.9 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.0 |
|
10/12 | 9/10 | 8/9 | 10/9 |
|
9/9 | 9/9 | 9/8 | 9/7 |
I | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
|
2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
|
10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
|
19 | 21 | 20 | 18 |
|
26 | 27 | 25 | 29 |
V | 29 | 26 | 26 | 28 |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
7 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
2/2 | 2/2 | 2/2 | 2/2 |
|
22/21 | 19/18 | 18/17 | 21/22 |
|
23/22 | 22/22 | 22/21 | 23/23 |
The new species is currently known only from the type locality (Fig.
Map showing the type locality (red dot) of
All specimens were collected at night on large stones or cliffs of the karst formations in a park. The surrounding habitats was karst forest, there is a plank road and a river nearby.
The new species was found in a park just beside the county seat. There is a plank road along the limestone cliffs in the park, and there are many lamps on the limestone cliffs along the plank road (Fig.
Habitat of
There are still many karst landforms in southern Yunnan which have not been surveyed in detail. Additional cryptic new species of
We thank to our workmates for their help and advice. We also thank the editors and reviewers for their comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by Science-Technology Basic Condition Platform from the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China (grant no. 2005DKA21402), National Natural Science Foundation Project: Investigation and Classificatory and Phylogenetic Studies on the Lizards of