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Issue: Vol. 4420 No. 3: 17 May 2018
Type: Article
Published: 2018-05-17
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4420.3.2
Page range: 334–356
Abstract views: 170
PDF downloaded: 1

Two new species of bent toed geckos, Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Northeast India with comments on name-bearing types from the region

Department of Biology, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, Pennsylvania 19085, USA Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India
Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, South Kensington, London, United Kingdom
National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore 560065, India
508, 8 B Cross, Asha Township, Doddagubbi village, Bangalore, 560077, India
Department of Biology, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, Pennsylvania 19085, USA
Reptilia Alpha taxonomy cyt b Himalayas lizard ND2 systematics taxonomic review

Abstract

Two new species of the genus Cyrtodactylus are described based on collections from Northeast India, and descriptions and diagnoses of previously described species and synonyms from the region are provided. One of the new species from lowland habitats in Tripura is medium sized, with a continuous series of precloacal pores, and is allied to C. ayeyarwadyensis from Myanmar; while the other new species from West Bengal is smaller, with both femoral and precloacal pores, and is related to C. gubernatoris from West Bengal and Sikkim. We designate a lectotype for Cyrtodactylus khasiensis and recognize the C. khasiensis synonym Gymnodactylus himalayicus as a valid species of Cyrtodactylus based on morphological evidence, and suggest the recognition of the last remaining subspecies of C. khasiensis, C. k. cayuensis, as a valid species based on geography and morphology. The stabilization of the taxa Cyrtodactylus khasiensis and C. gubernatoris with a limited subset of characters and specific distributional data, as well as the elevation of Cyrtodactylus himalayicus comb. nov. from synonymy, will allow the descriptions of many more Cyrtodactylus species from the region.

 

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