A new micro-endemic species of Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the lowlands of Northeast India, with additional morphological notes on Cyrtodactylus khasiensis Jerdon, 1870 based on topotypical specimens from Meghalaya, India
Abstract
We provide additional morphological notes on Cyrtodactylus khasiensis Jerdon, 1870 sensu stricto based on topotypical specimens from Meghalaya, northeast India, thereby clarifying its diagnostic morphological traits and extending its distribution further westwards based on molecular data. In addition, based on an integrative systematic approach, we describe a new species of bent-toed gecko namely Cyrtodactylus jayadityai sp. nov. from the lowlands of North Tripura, northeast India. Genetically, the new species is a member of the ‘C. khasiensis’ group and is a strongly supported sister to C. tripuraensis Agarwal, Mahony, Giri, Chaitanya & Bauer, 2018 from which it differs by a pairwise genetic distance of 4.7–5.2% in the mitochondrial ND2 gene. The investigation of morphological characters such as the precloacal-femoral pores in males and pre-cloacal pits in females further supports the distinctiveness of the new species and morphologically differentiates it from its congeners. This increases the number of Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827 in northeast India to 31 species, underscoring the importance of the region as a hotspot for herpetofaunal research and conservation. At present, based on the current population status and distribution, we propose that the new species should be considered as Data Deficient (DD) under the IUCN Red List criteria.
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