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Issue: Vol. 1894 No. 1: 8 Oct. 2008
Type: Article
Published: 2008-10-08
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1894.1.5
Page range: 59–68
Abstract views: 48
PDF downloaded: 1

A new species of large Cyrtodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Melanesia

Terrestrial Vertebrates, South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000 Australian Centre for Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Adelaide University, Adelaide, South Australia 5005
Conservation International – Papua Program Current address: Komp Ariau Dunlop Sentani, Papua; Indonesia
Herpetology Division, Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense, Research Center for Biology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Widyasatwaloka Building-LIPI, Jalan Raya Cibinong Km 46, Cibinong 16911, West Java, Indonesia
Department of Biology, University of Papua, Manokwari, Papua, Indonesia
Terrestrial Vertebrates, South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000
Reptilia Batanta Cyrtodactylus Gecko Indonesia new species New Guinea Raja Ampat Archipelago

Abstract

A new species of large Cyrtodactylus is described from lowland rainforest on Batanta Island in the Raja Ampat Archipelago, Papua Barat Province, Indonesian New Guinea. The new species can be distinguished from all other Melanesian Cyrtodactylus by the combination of large size (over 110mm SVL), very robust build, presence of enlarged ventral tubercles below the lateral fold and around the angle of the lower jaw only, and dorsal colouration consisting of three to four irregular dark greyish-brown blotches. It is the second species of Cyrtodactylus known with certainty only from the Raja Ampat Islands. The morphology of the new species places it within the C. loriae group and suggests that it is closely related to Cyrtodactylus irianjayaensis.

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