A re-description of Cyrtodactylus chrysopylos Bauer (Squamata: Gekkonidae) with comments on the adaptive significance of orange coloration in hatchlings and descriptions of two new species from eastern Myanmar (Burma)

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4527 (2) ◽  
pp. 151 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. LEE GRISMER ◽  
PERRY L., JR. WOOD ◽  
MYINT KYAW THURA ◽  
NAY MYO WIN ◽  
MARTA S. GRISMER ◽  
...  

The karstic foothills and hilly western edge of the Shan Plateau of eastern Myanmar continue to be sources of discovery for new species of the gekkonid genus Cyrtodactylus. Two new karst-associated species within this unique landscape from Mandalay Region—C. aunglini sp. nov. from the Kyauk Nagar Cave and C. myaleiktaung sp. nov. from Mya Leik Taung Mountain—are described on the basis of color pattern, morphology, and genetics. A molecular phylogeny of the C. gansi group (defined herein) based on 1481 base pairs of the mitochondrial gene ND2 and its flanking tRNAs place C. aunglini sp. nov. as the sister species to C. gansi and C. myaleiktaung sp. nov. as the sister species of C. chrysopylos. A new population of C. chrysopylos from a boulder-strewn, karstic ridge near the village of Yane, Shan State at an elevation 951 m is reported here. Genetic and geographic variation as well as differences in natural history between it and the lowland cave population of C. chrysopylos from the type locality in the Panlaung-Pyadalin Cave Wildlife Sanctuary, Shan State at 303 m are discussed. Hatchlings of the new population from Yane are nearly uniformly bright-orange in color. We provide evidence in support of a hypothesis claiming this color functions as a mechanism for crypsis during low levels of illumination and is not involved in intraspecific communication. 

2021 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 723-746
Author(s):  
L. Lee Grismer ◽  
Chatmongkon Suwannapoom ◽  
Parinya Pawangkhanant ◽  
Roman A. Nazarov ◽  
Platon V. Yushchenko ◽  
...  

The first integrative taxonomic analysis of the Cyrtodactylus brevipalmatus group of Southeast Asia recovered two newly discovered populations from the Tenasserim Mountains in Suan Phueng District, Ratchaburi Province, Thailand as a new species described here as C. rukhadeva sp. nov. Based on 1397 base pairs of the mitochondrial gene NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2), C. rukhadeva sp. nov. is the well-supported sister species to a clade containing three undescribed species, C. ngati, and C. cf. interdigitalis with a large uncorrected pairwise sequence divergence from other species in the brevipalmatus group ranging from 15.4–22.1%. Cyrtodactylus elok and C. brevipalmatus are recovered as poorly supported sister species and the well-supported sister lineage to the remainder of the brevipalmatus group. Cyrtodactylus rukhadeva sp. nov. is putatively diagnosable on the basis of a number of meristic characters and easily separated from the remaining species of the brevipalmatus group by a number of discrete morphological characters as well as its statistically significant wide separation in multivariate morphospace. The discovery of C. rukhadeva sp. nov. continues to underscore the unrealized herpetological diversity in the upland forests of the Tenasserim Mountains and that additional field work will undoubtedly result in the discovery of additional new species.


Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4718 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. LEE GRISMER ◽  
PERRY L. JR. WOOD ◽  
EVAN S. H. QUAH ◽  
MARTA S. GRISMER ◽  
MYINT KYAW THURA ◽  
...  

An integrative taxonomic analysis of the 10 species of the Cyrtodactylus sinyineensis group based on squamation, color pattern, and the mitochondrial gene NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) and its flanking tRNA regions, recovered the newly discovered populations from Datt Kyaik and Taung Wine Hills in Kayin State as the new species Cyrtodactylus dattkyaikensis sp. nov. and C. taungwineensis sp. nov. The Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic estimates supported C. dattkyaikensis sp. nov. as the sister species of C. bayinnyiensis and C. taungwineensis sp. nov. as the sister species of C. sinyineensis. Each new species is differentially diagnosable from all other C. sinyineensis group species based on their morphological placement in multivariate space and several statistically significant mean differences is meristic squamation and color pattern data. The C. sinyineensis group ranges across an archipelago of karstic habitat-islands in the Salween Basin of southern Myanmar. The discovery of these new species continues to underscore the unprecedented high degree of diversity and site-specific endemism in this relatively small region and the urgent need for the conservation of its karstic terranes. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4554 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
MATTHEW L. MURDOCH ◽  
L. LEE GRISMER ◽  
PERRY L. JR. WOOD ◽  
THY NEANG ◽  
NIKOLAY A. POYARKOV ◽  
...  

An integrative taxonomic analysis using color pattern, morphology, and 1449 base pairs of the ND2 mitochondrial gene and its five flanking tRNAs demonstrated that eight species-level lineages occur within the Cyrtodactylus intermedius complex (Cyrtodactylus intermedius sensu stricto, C. phuquocensis and related populations) of the Cardamom mountains and associated highlands that have a sequence divergence ranging 3.4–8.9%. Additionally, each lineage is discretely diagnosable from one another based on morphology and color pattern and most occur in specific geographic regions (upland areas, karst formations or islands) that prevent or greatly restrict interpopulation gene flow. Six of these lineages were masquerading under the nomen C. intermedius and are described as the following: Cyrtodactylus auralensis sp. nov. endemic to Phnom Aural, the highest mountain in Cambodia; C. bokorensis sp. nov. endemic to the Bokor Plateau, Cambodia; C. cardamomensis sp. nov. from the main block of the Cardamom mountains; C. thylacodactylus sp. nov. endemic to Phnom Dalai the northernmost peak of the Cardamom mountains; C. laangensis sp. nov. endemic to the Phnom Laang karst formation, Cambodia; and C. septimontium sp. nov. from the Bảy Núi Hills of southwest Vietnam. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4758 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. LEE GRISMER ◽  
PERRY L. JR. WOOD ◽  
EVAN S. H. QUAH ◽  
MYINT KYAW THURA ◽  
JAMIE R. OAKS ◽  
...  

An integrative taxonomic analysis based on morphology, color pattern, and the mitochondrial gene ND2 recovered four new species of Hemiphyllodactylus Bleeker that are endemic to the Shan Plateau or Salween Basin in eastern Myanmar. Hemiphyllodactylus ngwelwini sp. nov. from the Shan Plateau is part of the earlier described “eastern Myanmar clade” renamed herein as the north lineage and H. kyaiktiyoensis sp. nov. and H. pinlaungensis sp. nov. of the Shan Plateau and H. zwegabinensis sp. nov. of the Salween Basin compose an entirely new Burmese clade herein referred to as the south lineage. Although the north and south lineages come within 46 km of one another on the Shan Plateau, they are not sister lineages but sequentially separated by two lineages from Yunnan, China and another from northwestern Thailand. Hemiphyllodactylus zwegabinensis sp. nov. is the first species of this genus to be recorded from the Salween Basin and is known only from a wind-blown cloud forest on the top of the insular, karstic mountain Zwegabin in Kayin State. All other Burmese species except for H. typus, are endemic to the various localities throughout the Shan Plateau. These four new species bring the total number of Hemiphyllodactylus in Myanmar to at least 10 which is certainly an extreme underestimate of the diversity of this genus given that we discover new species at every upland locality we survey. 


2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliano Ferrer ◽  
Laura M. Donin

ABSTRACT A new species of Ituglanis associated to the grasslands of the Pampa biome is described from the rio Uruguai basin, southern Brazil. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by the low number of ribs and by a unique color pattern composed of an outer layer with scattered round black blotches equivalent in size to the eye circumference over a reddish brown background on the lateral surface of the body. We provide the genetic sequences of the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome c Oxydase subunit I (COI) for three of the paratypes and discuss aspects about the recent discovery of the new species.


2021 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 763-779
Author(s):  
Chatmongkon Suwannapoom ◽  
L. Lee Grismer ◽  
Parinya Pawangkhanant ◽  
Mali Naiduangchan ◽  
Platon V. Yushchenko ◽  
...  

Abstract The integrated results of morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses confirmed the new species status of a recently discovered population of Ansonia from Suan Phueng District, Ratchaburi Province, Thailand. Ansonia karensp. nov. is separated from all other species of Ansonia by a unique combination of mensural, discrete morphological, and color pattern characteristics and is the sister species of A. thinthinae from Tanintharyi Division, Myanmar. This discovery fills a geographic hiatus of 350 km between it and A. kraensis from Ranong Province, Thailand. Ansonia karensp. nov. is the newest member of a long list of range-restricted endemics having been recently discovered in the northern Tenasserim Mountain region of western Thailand and continues to underscore the unexplored nature of this region and its need for conservation.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4949 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-288
Author(s):  
L. LEE GRISMER ◽  
PETER GEISSLER ◽  
THY NEANG ◽  
TIMO HARTMANN ◽  
PHILIPP WAGNER ◽  
...  

The integrated results of maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) analyses, principal component analyses (PCA), and a multiple factor analysis (MFA) recover a new, widely allopatric species of the Cyrtodactylus intermedius species group. Cyrtodactylus kulenensis sp. nov is endemic to the Phnom Kulen sandstone massif of the Phnom Kulen National Park, Siem Reap Province, in the lowlands of northwestern Cambodia. A phylogenetic analysis from a short read (275 base pairs) of the mitochondrial gene NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) from C. kulenensis sp. nov. was aligned with 1449 base pairs from all other species in the intermedius group.  The analysis recovered C. kulenensis sp. nov. as the sister species to a lineage composed of populations from the widely separated hilly regions of Sa Keao and Sakaerat in eastern Thailand. Multivariate (PCA, DAPC, and MFA) and univariate analyses (ANOVA) using combinations of meristic (scale counts), mensural (morphometric), and categorical (color pattern and morphology) characters from 52 specimens encompassing all species of the intermedius group clearly demonstrate C. kulenensis sp. nov. is significantly different and discretely diagnosable from all other species in the intermedius group. This new discovery further highlights the herpetological diversity and high levels of range-restricted endemism in basin-habitat-island landscapes throughout Indochina and the continued need for field work in the landscapes that remain unsurveyed. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4624 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. LEE GRISMER ◽  
PERRY L. JR. WOOD ◽  
EVAN S. H. QUAH ◽  
MYINT KYAW THURA ◽  
JAMIE R. OAKS ◽  
...  

An integrative taxonomic analysis of the Cyrtodactylus linnwayensis group of the Shan Plateau recovered two new populations from isolated karst habitats near Pinlaung Town, Shan State as a new species, C. pinlaungensis sp. nov. Cyrtodactylus pinlaungensis sp. nov. is most closely related to a clade comprising C. linnwayensis and C. ywanganensis from the western edge of the Shan Plateau approximately 90 km to the northwest. Cyrtodactylus pinlaungensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from all members of the C. linnwayensis group by a number of statistically different morphological characters, discrete color pattern differences, and its heavy tuberculation. It also bears an uncorrected pairwise sequence divergence of 5.0–7.6% from all other species combined based on the mitochondrial gene ND2 and its flanking tRNAs. The discovery of this new species on the Shan Plateau continues to underscore the fact that this region is rapidly emerging as a herpetological diversity hot-spot for Myanmar. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4577 (2) ◽  
pp. 274 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. LEE GRISMER ◽  
PERRY L. JR. WOOD ◽  
MYINT KYAW THURA ◽  
NAY MYO WIN ◽  
EVAN S. H. QUAH

Two new species of Bent-toed Geckos of the Cyrtodactylus peguensis group are described from foothill areas occurring on opposite sides of the Ayeyarwady Basin. Cyrtodactylus nyinyikyawi sp. nov. from the Shwe Settaw Wildlife Sanctuary, Magway Region in the east and C. pyadalinensis sp. nov. from the Panluang-Pyadalin Wildlife Sanctuary, Shan State in the west bear unique suits of morphological and color pattern character states separating them from all species in the peguensis group. Additionally, a molecular phylogeny based on the mitochondrial gene ND2 indicates that neither species is nested within, nor sister to any known species in the group. This study augments recent and ongoing studies showing that the Ayeyarwady Basin is herpetologically more diverse than previously considered and should be incorporated into ongoing discussions concerning conservation efforts in Myanmar. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2302 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARK-OLIVER RÖDEL ◽  
JOSEPH DOUMBIA ◽  
ALEX T. JOHNSON ◽  
ANNIKA HILLERS

A new small West African Arthroleptis from the rainforest at the south-eastern tip of Mount Nimba, Liberia is described. The new species differs from all known congeners by the combination of a unique color pattern, a rounded canthal region and a completely smooth skin. The comparison of 592 base pairs of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA from the new species with Arthroleptis samples from all over West Africa, revealed genetic distances between 13.4–17.9%. From the morphologically similar A. aureoli the new species differed by 17.9%. Future research may reveal the necessity to establish a new genus for this peculiar new frog.


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