Gekko boehmei Luu, Calame, Nguyen, Le &amp; Ziegler, 2015, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Luu, Vinh Quang
name: Calame, Thomas
name: Nguyen, Truong Quang
name: Le, Minh Duc
name: Ziegler, Thomas
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Squamata
Gekkonidae
Gekko
Gekko boehmei

description: <i>Gekko boehmei</i> sp. nov. (Fig. 9) <b>Holotype.</b> VFU R. 2014.09, adult male, in karst forest of Bualapha Town (17 o 18.312 ’N, 105 o 43.726 ’E, at an elevation of 196 m a.s.l.), Khammouane Province, central Laos, collected by Vinh Quang Luu and Kieusomphone Thanabuaosy on 19 June 2014. <b>Paratypes.</b> Two adult males ZFMK 97195 and IEBR A. 2015.31, one adult female ZMB 82028, and one subadult female NUOL R- 2015.2, the same data as the holotype. <b>Diagnosis.</b> <i>Gekko boehmei</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> is distinguished from its congeners in the <i>Gekko petricolus</i> group by a combination of the following characters: a medium-sized gecko species (maximum SVL 105.3 mm); supralabials 10–15; infralabials 8–11; dorsal tubercle rows 12–15; ventral scale rows from mental to cloacal slit 141–152; scale rows at midbody 101–114; ventral scales 30–34; webbing weakly developed between fingers and toes; dorsal surface of hindlimbs and tail with enlarged tubercles; precloacal pores 10 or 11 in males, absent in females; postcloacal tubercles 1 or 2; subcaudals enlarged; vertebral part with a row of oval grey and dark dots from nape to sacrum, vertical yellow blotches on flank. <b>Description of holotype.</b> Size moderate, total length 227.4 mm (SVL 102.6 mm, TaL 124.8); body robust, elongate (ratio of AG/SVL 0.46); head longer than wide (ratio of HL/HW 1.38); rostral rectangular, nearly two times wider than high (ratio of RW/RH 1.98), and wider than mental (ratio of RW/MW 1.54 mm), with a medial suture in Y–shape; nostril surrounded by rostral, first supralabial scales, supranasal, and two nasals posteriorly; posterior nasal region concave; supranasals in contact anteriorly and slightly separated by a small scale posteriorly; interorbitals 27–32; preorbital region concave; eye large (OD/HL ratio 0.22), pupil vertical; ear opening oblique; mental triangular, wider than long (MW/ML ratio 1.10); postmentals 2, rhomboid, twice as long as wide; postmental in contact with six gular scales posteriorly, outer scales larger than inner ones; supralabials 15 / 15; infralabials 11 / 11; dorsal tubercle rows 12, 3 or 4 times larger than adjacent scales, surrounded by nine dorsal scales; enlarged tubercles present on dorsal surface of hindlimbs; lateral fold weakly developed, without tubercles; ventral scales 30; scale rows around midbody 101; ventral scales in a row from mental to cloacal slit 141; webbing between fingers and toes weakly developed; claw absent on inner finger and toe; lamellae under first finger 13 / 13, under fourth finger 16 / 16, under first toe 14 / 15, under fourth toe 17 / 17; precloacal pores 11; femoral pores absent; enlarged scales from precloacal pores towards cloaca in 6 rows; postcloacal tubercle one; tail thickened at base, enlarged tubercles present on dorsal surface of tail base; subcaudals flat, enlarged. <b>Coloration in life.</b> Dorsal surface of head dark grey with light and black blotches; lateral head with some grey lines radiating from orbit; dorsal part of body with light and black spots together along backbone, lateral sides with yellow symmetrical patches; limbs mottled and marked with irregular dark blotches; dorsal tail with 13 yellowish light bands; throat, venter, precloacal region, and underside of tail yellowish grey with dark marbling near lateral fold. <b>Sexual dimorphism.</b> Measurements and scalation characters of the paratypes are given in Table 6. The males differ from females by having a larger size (SVL: 93.9–105.3 in males <i>versus</i> 68.0– 89.6 in females), and precloacal pores present in males (<i>versus</i> absent in females). The remaining paratypes have intersupranasals in contact with rostral except for the holotype and one paratype ZFMK 96123. In addition, ZFMK 96123 has a pair of postcloacal tubercles on each side (<i>versus</i> one on each side in other type specimens). <b>Comparisons.</b> Based on examination of specimens and data obtained from the literature (Panitvong <i>et al</i>. 2010; Ngo &amp; Gamble 2011) we compared the new species from Laos with the remaining congeners of the <i>Gekko petricolus</i> group sensu Rösler <i>et al.</i> (2011) (see Table 7). <i>Gekko boehmei</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> has enlarged tubercles on the dorsal surface of hindlimbs, and thus differs from <i>G. badenii G. canaensis</i>, <i>G. grossmanni</i>, <i>G. lauhachindaei</i> Panitvong, Sumontha, Konler &amp; Kunya, <i>G. russelltraini</i>, and <i>G. takouensis</i>, which are absent in the latter ones. <b>TABLE 6.</b> Measurements (in mm) and morphological characters of the type series of <i>Gekko boehmei</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> (for abbreviations see material and methods, “*” = regenerated). VFUR. 2014.09 ZFMK 97195 IEBR A. 2015.31 Min–Max M±SD ZMB 82028 NUOL R- 2015.2 (holotype) (paratype) (paratype) (paratype) (paratype) male male male female subadultfemale SVL 102.6 105.3 93.9 93.9–105.3 100.6 ±6.0 89.6 68.0 Hinlimb tubercles present present present present present <b>TABLE 7.</b> Comparisons of selected characteristics among <i>Gekko petricolus</i> – species group. n/a = data not available (modified after Panitvong <i>et al.</i> 2010; Ngo &amp; Gamble 2011). maximum snout-vent length (in mm); 2 —number of dorsal tubercle rows; 3 —number of ventrals; 4 —number of scales around midbody; 5 —number of precloacal pores (only in males); 6 — number of subdigital lamellae under the fourth toe; 7 —number of supralabials; 8 —number of sublabials; 9 —number of interorbitals; 10 —number of postcloacal tubercles; 11 —ratio of SE/OD; — vertebral on dorsum light marking; 13 — transverse bars on dorsum; 14 — vertical bars on flank; 15 —tubercles on hind limbs; 16 —distribution. ” = presence of character state; “0” = absence of character state. ” = contribution of this study. <i>Gekko boehmei</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> is most similar to <i>G. petricolus</i> Taylor in the presence of dorsal tubercles on hindlimbs and the number of cloacal and femoral pores in males. However, the new species can be distinguished from the latter by its larger size (SVL up to 105.3 <i>versus</i> 98.0 mm), more precloacal pores in males (10–11 <i>versus</i> 9–10), the absence of precloacal pores in females (<i>versus</i> present in females), fewer interorbital scales (27–32 <i>versus</i> 36–40), and the presence of light bars on flank (<i>versus</i> absent). <b>Distribution.</b> The new species is only known from the type locality in Khammouane Province, central Laos (Fig. 5). <b>Etymology.</b> The specific epithet honors Professor Dr. Wolfgang Böhme from the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig (ZFMK), Bonn, Germany to acknowledge his great contributions to herpetological research. In particular we dedicate the new species to Wolfgang on the occasion of his 70 th birthday. We suggest as common names: Boehme’s Gecko (English), Kap Ke Boehme (Laotian), and Böhmes Gecko (German). <b>Natural history.</b> The specimens of <i>Gekko boehmei</i> were collected on karst walls between 20:00 and 21:00 after heavy rain, from 1.5 to 3 m above the forest floor, at an elevation of 196 m. The location was close to rice fields and about 100 m distant from the main road (Fig. 10).
description: Published as part of <i>Luu, Vinh Quang, Calame, Thomas, Nguyen, Truong Quang, Le, Minh Duc &amp; Ziegler, Thomas, 2015, Morphological and molecular review of the Gekko diversity of Laos with descriptions of three new species, pp. 279-306 in Zootaxa 3986 (3)</i> on pages 299-302, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3986.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/234805
description: {"references": ["Panitvong, N., Sumontha, M., Konlek, K. &amp; Kunya, K. (2010) Gekko lauhachindai sp. nov., a new cave-dwelling gecko (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from central Thailand. Zootaxa, 2671, 40 - 52.", "Ngo, V. T. &amp; Gamble, T. (2011) Gekko canaensis (Squamata: Gekkonidae), a new endemic gecko from Southern Vietnam. Zootaxa, 2890, 53 - 64.", "Rosler, H., Bauer, A. M., Heinicke, M., Greenbaum, E., Jackman, T., Nguyen, Q. T. &amp; Ziegler, T. (2011) Phylogeny, taxonomy, and zoogeography of the genus Gekko Laurenti, 1768 with the revalidation of G. reevesii Gray, 1831 (Sauria: Gekkonidae). Zootaxa, 2989, 1 - 50."]}