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Issue: Vol. 4105 No. 5: 26 Apr. 2016
Type: Article
Published: 2016-04-25
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4105.5.1
Page range: 401–429
Abstract views: 184
PDF downloaded: 1

Two new Bent-toed Geckos of the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus complex from Peninsular Malaysia and multiple instances of convergent adaptation to limestone forest ecosystems

Herpetology Laboratory, Department of Biology, La Sierra University, 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside, California 92515 USA.
Department of Biology, Brigham Young University, 150 East Bulldog Boulevard, Provo, Utah 84602 USA.
School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Pulau Pinang, Penang, Malaysia Center for Marine and Coastal Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
Herpetology Laboratory, Department of Biology, La Sierra University, 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside, California 92515 USA.
School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Pulau Pinang, Penang, Malaysia
Herpetology Laboratory, Department of Biology, La Sierra University, 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside, California 92515 USA.
School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Pulau Pinang, Penang, Malaysia.
Herpetology Laboratory, Department of Biology, La Sierra University, 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside, California 92515 USA.
Department of Biology, Brigham Young University, 150 East Bulldog Boulevard, Provo, Utah 84602 USA. Departamento de Herpetología, Museo de Historia Natural de San Marcos (MUSM), Av. Arenales 1256, Jesús María, Lima, Peru. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas Antonio Raimondi, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas,Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru.
Department of Biology, Brigham Young University, 150 East Bulldog Boulevard, Provo, Utah 84602 USA.
Herpetology Laboratory, Department of Biology, La Sierra University, 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside, California 92515 USA.
Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas Antonio Raimondi, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas,Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru.
Department of Biology, Brigham Young University, 150 East Bulldog Boulevard, Provo, Utah 84602 USA.
Karst new species convergent evolution conservation extinction Cyrtodactylus Peninsular Malaysia Thai-Malay Peninsula Reptilia

Abstract

A new species of limestone cave-adapted gecko of the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus complex, C. hidupselamanya sp. nov., is described from an isolated karst formation at Felda Chiku 7, Kelantan, Peninsular Malaysia. This formation is scheduled to be completely quarried for its mineral content. From what we know about the life history of C. hidupselamanya sp. nov., this will result in its extinction. A new limestone forest-adapted species, C. lenggongensis sp. nov., from the Lenggong Valley, Perak was previously considered to be conspecific with C. bintangrendah but a re-evaluation of morphological, color pattern, molecular, and habitat preference indicates that it too is a unique lineage worthy of specific recognition. Fortunately C. lenggongensis sp. nov. is not facing extinction because its habitat is protected by the UNESCO Archaeological Heritage of the Lenggong Valley due to the archaeological significance of that region. Both new species can be distinguished from all other species of Cyrtodactylus based on molecular evidence from the mitochondrial gene ND2 and its flanking tRNAs as well as having unique combinations of morphological and color pattern characteristics. Using a time-calibrated BEAST analysis we inferred that the evolution of a limestone habitat preference and its apparently attendant morphological and color pattern adaptations evolved independently at least four times in the C. pulchellus complex between 26.1 and 0.78 mya.

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