Cyrtodactylus ranongensis Sumontha, Pauwels, Panitvong, Kunya & Grismer, 2015, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Sumontha, Montri
name: Pauwels, Olivier S. G.
name: Panitvong, Nonn
name: Kunya, Kirati
name: Grismer, L. Lee
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Squamata
Gekkonidae
Cyrtodactylus
Cyrtodactylus ranongensis

description: Cyrtodactylus ranongensis sp. nov.
(Figs. 1–6)
Holotype. THNHM 22545 (field number MS 190); adult male from Ban (=Village) Ton Kloy (09o 20' 22" N, 98o 27' 05" E), Tambon (= Subdistrict) Kampuan, Amphoe (= District) Suk Samran, Ranong Province, southern Thailand. Collected by Montri Sumontha on 5 July 2006.
Paratypes. PSUZC-RT 2012.7 (field number MS 328), adult male, collected by Thanin Kaewmanee on 26 January 2007 at the same locality as the holotype. THNHM 22546 (field number MS 191), adult female, collected by Montri Sumontha on 6 July 2008 along a street near Phetchkasem Road at Ban Kampuan (09o 22' 03" N, 98o 24' 58" E), Tambon Kampuan, Amphoe Suk Samran, Ranong Province, by the same collector as holotype. PSUZC-RT 2012.8 (field number MS 358), adult female, collected by Thanin Kaewmanee on 23 February 2008 at same locality as the holotype.
Diagnosis. Cyrtodactylus ranongensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other congeneric species by the unique combination of characters including its maximal known SVL of 59.6 mm; moderately-sized, conical, keeled dorsal tubercles arranged in 18–20 regular longitudinal rows at midbody; tubercles occurring from occiput on to tail base and on hind limbs, forelimbs lacking tubercles; 35–40 midbody scale rows across belly between ventrolateral skin folds; absence of transversely enlarged, median subcaudal scales; a continuous row of enlarged femoro-precloacal scales; absence of femoral and precloacal pores in males and females; absence of a precloacal groove; blotched dorsal pattern lacking symmetric longitudinal dark bands; tail with 10 to 13 light rings; and reddish iris.
Description of holotype. Adult male. SVL 58.2 mm; TailL 67.1 mm, original. Head relatively long (HeadL / SVL ratio 0.29), moderately wide (HeadW/HeadL ratio 0.55), depressed (HeadH/HeadL ratio 0.36), distinct from slender neck. Loreal region not inflated, canthus rostralis weakly marked. Snout moderately elongate (SnOrb/ HeadL ratio 0.37), pointed, longer than orbit diameter (OrbD/SnOrb ratio 0.64); scales on snout small, rounded, granular to weakly conical, mostly homogeneous, larger than those on crown, interorbital and occipital regions. Eye large (OrbD/HeadL ratio 0.24); pupil vertical; supraciliaries short, anteriormost longest. Ear opening vertically elliptical, small (EarL/HeadL ratio 0.05); orbit to ear distance equal to diameter of orbit. Rostral wider (2.1 mm) than deep (1.6 mm), rostral crease about half of rostral height. Two slightly enlarged supranasals separated from each other by two small scales transversally aligned. Rostral in contact with first supralabials, nostrils, supranasals, and two internasals. Nostrils oval, more-or-less laterally directed, each surrounded by supranasal, rostral, first supralabial, and two slightly enlarged postnasals. Two or three rows of small scales separate orbit from supralabials. Mental triangular, slightly wider (2.3 mm) than deep (2.0 mm). A single pair of enlarged postmentals in broad contact behind mental; each postmental bordered anteromedially by mental, anterolaterally by first infralabial, posterolaterally by an enlarged lateral chinshield, and posteriorly by four (left) or three (right) granules. Supralabials to midorbital position 9/8; enlarged supralabials to angle of jaws 12/11. Infralabials 11/10. Interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal bone 29.
Body slender, elongate (AG/SVL ratio 0.44) with poorly defined, non-denticulate ventrolateral folds. Dorsal scales weakly heterogeneous, domed to slightly conical; regularly distributed tubercles (3–4 times size of adjacent scales), extending from shoulder region on to tail base, smaller tubercles on postocular region, crown, occiput and nape; most tubercles bearing a keel, those on lower part of flanks often lacking a distinct keel, those on posterior trunk and sacral region most prominent; tubercles in 20 regular rows at midbody, typically separated from one another by 2–3 dorsal granules. Ventral scales larger than dorsals, smooth, oval and subimbricate, larger in precloacal region. Midbody scale rows across belly between ventrolateral skin folds 40. Gular region with homogeneous, smooth, juxtaposed granular scales. A continuous series of 12/12 enlarged femoral scales in contact with a patch of enlarged precloacal scales, following a row of femoral scales itself smaller but slightly enlarged compared to the granular scales covering the underside of hind legs. No precloacal or femoral pores. No precloacal groove or depression. No postcloacal spur (Fig. 2).
Scales on palm and sole smooth, rounded to oval or hexagonal, flat or slightly domed. Scalation on dorsal surfaces of limbs similar to body dorsum, the forelimbs lacking tubercles, the hind limbs with enlarged tubercles interspersed among smaller scales. Fore and hind limbs moderately long, slender (ForeaL/SVL ratio 0.14, TibiaL/ SVL ratio 0.18). Digits long, slender, inflected at interphalangeal joints, all bearing robust, slightly recurved claws. Basal subdigital lamellae broad, ovoid to rectangular, without scansorial surfaces (4-5-6-7-5 right manus, 5-6-7-8- 7 right pes); narrow lamellae distal to digital inflection and not including ventral claw sheath: 9-9-10-10 -9 (right manus), 10-11-11-10-10 (right pes). Tail original, gently tapering to pointed tip, longer than SVL (TailL/SVL ratio 1.15); tail without enlarged median subcaudal plates. Additional morphometric data are provided in Table 1.
Coloration in life. Dorsal ground color of neck, body and limbs brown. Dorsal ground color of head of the same brown, except above orbits, where the skin is light-bluish. Dorsal ground color of tail brown anteriorly, gradually turning into white posteriorly. Dorsal surface of head with numerous irregular dark-brown spots, some of them forming in the parietal area a Y whose fork is pointing forwards. The dorsum has irregularly shaped large dark-brown blotches; the upper surfaces of limbs and fingers have smaller irregular blotches of the same color. The tail has 13 light rings, completely encircling the tail; the ground color of the undersurface of the tail is dark-brown.
There is a short postocular stripe, of the same color as the dorsal dark-brown blotches. The upper surfaces of head, dorsum, members and tail are heavily mottled with light-brown and whitish spots. The undersurfaces of the head, the throat and the venter are uniformly beige; the undersides of members are uniform but slightly darker. Iris reddish.
Variation. Main morphometric and meristic characters of the type series are provided in Table 1. Morphological and coloration characters of the paratypes agree in most respects with those of the holotype, differing only in minor details. Unlike in the holotype, postcloacal spurs of all three paratypes bear two enlarged conical scales. Like in the holotype, the supranasals of all paratypes are separated from each other by two transversally aligned small scales. As in the holotype, there is a continuous series of a dozen of enlarged femoral scales on each hind limb of the paratypes (except on the right hind limb of PSUZC-RT 2012.7 where the scales are abnormally irregular in size), in contact with the patch of enlarged precloacal scales. Femoral and precloacal pores or pits absent in all specimens. All known individuals of Cyrtodactylus ranongensis sp. nov. show a Y-shaped mark on occiput (Figs. 1, 3–6). PSUZC-RT 2012.7 and PSUZC-RT 2012.8 both have an original tail with 10 light rings, encircling the tail. The only known subadult (Fig. 6) has a whitish background dorsal color with dark-brown dorsal blotches separated by a thin whitish vertebral line and its dorsal pattern is more contrasted than in adults.
Distribution and natural history. Cyrtodactylus ranongensis sp. nov. is currently known only from its type locality in Ranong Province (Fig. 7). The area is one of the wettest parts of Thailand, having an average rainfall of more than 4,000 mm each year. The adult female THNHM 22546 was collected in a papaya salad (som-tam) shop along the street (Fig. 8) a few hundred meters from Phetchkasem Road, in an urbanized environment. The other types were collected a few hundred meters away from the street, on tree trunks in highly disturbed secondary forest and in plantations. More animals were spotted climbing on large tree trunks along a perennial stream in lowland tropical rain forest. Reptiles found in the same secondary forest in syntopy with the new species include Acanthosaura cf. crucigera Boulenger, Bronchocela cristatella (Kuhl), Calotes emma Gray (Agamidae), Cyrtodactylus brevipalmatus (Smith), Hemidactylus frenatus (Schlegel), H. garnotii Duméril & Bibron, H. platyurus (Schneider), Gehyra mutilata (Wiegmann), Gekko gecko (Linnaeus), Ptychozoon lionotum Annandale (Gekkonidae), Ahaetulla mycterizans (Linnaeus), A. prasina (Boie), Boiga dendrophila (Boie), B. drapiezii (Boie) (Colubridae), Rhabdophis nigrocinctus (Blyth), Xenochrophis trianguligerus (Boie) (Natricidae), Pareas carinatus (Boie) (Pareatidae), and Python reticulatus (Schneider) (Pythonidae). Given that the species can obviously cope with a high degree of anthropogenic disturbance, that it is found in lowland areas and does not seem to be associated with any particular geological or ecological feature, it is surprising that is has never been found elsewhere in Ranong Province, where the first author lives and has done extremely extensive herpetological surveys, nor in the nearby provinces of Chumphon, Krabi, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phang-Nga, Phuket, or Surat Thani where two of us (MS and OSGP) have been regularly doing herpetological surveys for more than ten years (see, among other contributions to the knowledge of the lizards of southern peninsular Thailand, Grismer et al. 2010, 2012; Pauwels et al. 2000, 2002, 2004, 2013; Sumontha et al. 2012). Although there does not seem to be any current threat to its conservation, especially due its high tolerance to anthropogenic disturbance, C. ranongensis sp. nov. might be threatened by potential collecting for the pet trade because of its limited geographical distribution.
Etymology. The specific epithet ranongensis is an adjective referring to Ranong Province, in which the type locality is situated. We suggest the following common names: Took-kai Ranong (Thai), Ranong bent-toed gecko (English), Cyrtodactyle de Ranong (French), Ranong Bogenfingergecko (German), Ranongkromvingergekko (Dutch).
description: Published as part of Sumontha, Montri, Pauwels, Olivier S. G., Panitvong, Nonn, Kunya, Kirati & Grismer, L. Lee, 2015, A new lowland forest Bent-toed Gecko (Squamata: Gekkonidae: Cyrtodactylus) from Ranong Province, peninsular Thailand, pp. 106-118 in Zootaxa 3911 (1) on pages 107-113, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3911.1.6, http://zenodo.org/record/240432