Cyrtodactylus nangunhe Liu, Li, Duan, Hou & Rao, 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Liu, Shuo
name: Li, Zhimin
name: Duan, Wenguang
name: Hou, Mian
name: Rao, Dingqi
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Squamata
Gekkonidae
Cyrtodactylus
Cyrtodactylus nangunhe

description: Cyrtodactylus nangunhe sp. nov.
Figs 2, 3, 4, 5, 7
Type material.
Holotype. China • ♂; Yunnan, Cangyuan; 23°13'19"N, 99°1'2"E; 950 m; 17 Aug. 2024; Shuo Liu leg.; KIZ 2024083. Paratype. China • ♀; same locality; 24 Aug. 2024; Shuo Liu leg.; KIZ 2024084.
Diagnosis.
Body size relatively large (SVL 89.5–97.0 mm); tail long (TaL / SVL 1.07–1.14); head relatively long (HL / SVL 0.27–0.28), moderately widened (HW / HL 0.67–0.68); snout long (SE / HL 0.40); body slender (AG / SVL 0.43–0.44); 16–18 longitudinal rows of dorsal tubercles at midbody, 25–27 paravertebral tubercles; ventrolateral fold distinct, interspersed with tubercles; 29–31 longitudinal ventral scale rows at midbody; eight precloacal pores separated by one poreless scale in male; precloacal pores absent, three indistinct shallow pits on enlarged precloacal scales in female; 7–8 slightly enlarged femoral scales beneath each thigh in male, four slightly enlarged femoral scales beneath each thigh in female; enlarged femoral scales separated from enlarged precloacal scales by some smaller scales; femoral pores absent in both sexes; 3–4 shallow pits on enlarged femoral scales on each side in male, absent in female; 1–2 postcloacal tubercles on each side; 19–22 lamellae under finger IV, 24–25 lamellae under toe IV; two rows of subcaudals enlarged; dorsal ground color brownish-black; distinct reticulated pattern composed of thin, light-yellow stripes on dorsal head; six irregular, narrow, light-yellow, transverse bands on dorsum; 6–7 light bands on dorsal tail.
Description of holotype.
Adult male, SVL 89.5 mm; head clearly distinguished from neck, relatively long (HL / SVL 0.28), moderately widened (HW / HL 0.67), depressed (HH / HL 0.44); nare oval, surrounded by supranasal dorsally, rostral anteriorly, first supralabial ventrally, and two postnasals posteriorly; snout long (SE / HL 0.40), round anteriorly, longer than diameter of orbit (SE / OD 1.29); snout scales much larger than those in frontal and parietal regions; eye large (OD / HL 0.31), pupils vertical; upper eyelid fringe with spinous scales; ear opening oval, much small in size (ED / HL 0.05); rostral large (RW / HL 0.17), wider than high (RW / RH 1.54), medially divided dorsally by a suture, reaching to approximately half down rostral, in contact with first supralabial laterally on each side and two supranasals and one internasal dorsally; mental triangular, wider than high (MW / ML 1.31), slightly narrower than rostral (MW / RW 0.88); two postmentals, enlarged, in contact posteriorly, bordered by mental anteromedially, first infralabial anterolaterally and one enlarged chin scale posterolaterally on each side, and small chin scales posteriorly; 8 / 8 supralabials; 8 / 8 infralabials.
Body slender (AG / SVL 0.42), ventrolateral fold distinct, interspersed with tubercles; dorsal scales granular; dorsal tubercles heterogeneous, conical, in approximately 18 longitudinal rows at midbody, largest ones approximately five times size of adjoining scales and surrounded by 10 granular scales, approximately 25 paravertebral tubercles; gular region with homogenous small smooth scales; ventral scales smooth, homogenous, larger than those of dorsum and in gular region, subimbricate, in approximately 29 longitudinal rows at midbody; precloacal groove absent; precloacal scales significantly enlarged; eight precloacal pores separated by one poreless scale in middle, round or oval; 8 / 7 slightly enlarged femoral scales, separated from enlarged precloacal scales by some smaller scales; femoral pore absent, four indistinct shallow pits on enlarged femoral scales on left side, three distinct shallow pits on enlarged femoral scales on right side.
Limbs relatively long (ForeaL / SVL 0.16, SL / SVL 0.19), fore limbs slender, hind limbs robust; tubercles on dorsal surface of limbs heterogeneous, conical, ones on fore limbs smaller than most dorsal tubercles, ones on hind limbs approximately as large as most dorsal tubercles; interdigital webbing absent; lamellae under finger IV 21 / 22, under toe IV 24 / 24; relative length of fingers I <II ≈ V <III ≈ IV, relative length of toes I <II <III <V <IV.
Tail original, long (TaL / SVL 1.14); 2 / 2 postcloacal tubercles; dorsal tail base with tubercles; subcaudals smooth, two irregular rows enlarged.
Color of holotype in life.
Dorsal ground color brownish-black; dorsal surface of head with distinct reticulated pattern composed of thin, light-yellow stripes; nape with irregular thin, light-yellow stripes; dorsum with six irregular, narrow, light-yellow, transverse bands and one longitudinal, continuous, thin, vertebral stripe; flanks scattered with some small light-yellow spots; dorsal surfaces of limbs with indistinct light-yellow bands; dorsal surface of tail black with seven light bands, first two yellowish-gray, last five grayish-white; ventral surface of head pinkish-white, ventral surfaces of body and limbs grayish-white, some light-yellow spots on ventral surfaces of limbs and on ventrolateral surfaces of head and body; ventral surface of tail base gray with some light-yellow spots, other region of ventral tail black; iris bronze.
Variations.
Morphometric and meristic data for the type specimens are presented in Table 3. The female paratype (KIZ 2024084) resembles the holotype except that it has no precloacal pores but three indistinct shallow pits on the enlarged precloacal scales, fewer enlarged femoral scales, and no pits on the enlarged femoral scales. Color pattern of the female paratype (KIZ 2024084) also resembles the holotype except that it has no longitudinal vertebral stripe on dorsum and six light bands on the dorsal surface of the tail.
Distribution.
This species is currently known only from Yunnan Nangunhe National Nature Reserve in Cangyuan County, Yunnan Province, China (Fig. 6).
Natural history.
There is no karst landform in the area where the type specimens were collected. This species was found on rocks or tree trunks in the virgin evergreen broadleaved forest at night. Individuals were slow and easy to catch. In addition, this species was found on the wall of an abandoned house near the collection site of the type specimens by locals (Fig. 7). The only female specimen did not carry eggs and no juveniles were found, so the reproductive season of this species is unknown. Other reptiles found at the type locality of the new species include Acanthosaura rubrilabris Liu, Rao, Hou, Orlov, Ananjeva & Zhang, 2022, Boiga multomaculata (Boie, 1827), Calotes emma Gray, 1845, Hemidactylus garnotii Duméril & Bibron, 1836, Lycodon fasciatus (Anderson, 1879), and Ptyas korros (Schlegel, 1837).
Etymology.
The specific epithet nangunhe is a noun in apposition, and therefore invariable; it refers to Yunnan Nangunhe National Nature Reserve, where the new species was found.
Comparisons.
Cyrtodactylus nangunhe sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other members of the C. chauquangensis species group by a unique combination of morphological characters. Cyrtodactylus nangunhe sp. nov. differs from C. auribalteatus Sumontha, Panitvong & Deein, 2010, C. bichnganae Ngo & Grismer, 2010, C. doisuthep Kunya, Panmongkol, Pauwels, Sumontha, Meewasana, Bunkhwamdi & Dangsri, 2014, C. dumnuii Bauer, Kunya, Sumontha, Niyomwan, Pauwels, Chanhome & Kunya, 2010, C. erythrops Bauer, Kunya, Sumontha, Niyomwan, Panitvong, Pauwels, Chanhome & Kunya, 2009, C. gulinqingensis, C. huongsonensis Luu, Nguyen, Do & Ziegler, 2011, C. kunyai Pauwels, Sumontha, Keeratikiat & Phanamphon, 2014, C. luci Tran, Do, Pham, Phan, Ngo, Le, Ziegler & Nguyen, 2024, C. ngoiensis Schneider, Luu, Sitthivong, Teynié, Le, Nguyen & Ziegler, 2020, C. phamiensis Grismer, Aowphol, Grismer, Aksornneam, Quah, Murdoch, Gregory, Nguyen, Kaatz, Bringsøe & Rujirawan, 2024, C. phukhaensis Chomdej, Pradit, Pawangkhanant, Naiduangchan & Suwannapoom, 2022, C. soni Le, Nguyen, Le & Ziegler, 2016, and C. sonlaensis Nguyen, Pham, Ziegler, Ngo & Le, 2017 by the absence of femoral pores (vs femoral pores present).
Cyrtodactylus nangunhe sp. nov. differs from C. bobrovi Nguyen, Le, Pham, Ngo, Hoang, Pham & Ziegler, 2015, C. chauquangensis Hoang, Orlov, Ananjeva, Johns, Hoang & Dau, 2007, C. houaphanensis Schneider, Luu, Sitthivong, Teynié, Le, Nguyen & Ziegler, 2020, C. menglianensis, C. otai Nguyen, Le, Van Pham, Ngo, Hoang, The Pham & Ziegler, 2015, C. spelaeus Nazarov, Poyarkov, Orlov, Nguyen, Milto, Martynov, Konstantinov & Chulisov, 2014, and C. wayakonei by having enlarged femoral scales (vs femoral scales not enlarged).
Cyrtodactylus nangunhe sp. nov. differs from C. caixitaoi by having different dorsal coloration (brownish-black ground color with thin stripes on head and narrow bands on dorsum vs orange brown or pinkish-brown ground color with thick stripes on head and wide bands on dorsum), more longitudinal rows of dorsal tubercles at midbody (16–18 vs 14–15), and more paravertebral tubercles (25–27 vs 20–21).
Cyrtodactylus nangunhe sp. nov. differs from C. cucphuongensis Ngo & Chan, 2011 by the different conditions of precloacal pores in males (present vs absent).
Cyrtodactylus nangunhe sp. nov. differs from C. martini Ngo, 2011 by having more precloacal pores in males (eight vs four), fewer longitudinal ventral scale rows (29–31 vs 39–43), and enlarged femoral scales separated from enlarged precloacal scales by smaller scales (vs enlarged femoral scales continuous with enlarged precloacal scales).
Cyrtodactylus nangunhe sp. nov. differs from C. puhuensis Nguyen, Yang, Le, Nguyen, Orlov, Hoang, Nguyen, Jin, Rao, Hoang, Che, Murphy & Zhang, 2014 by having more precloacal pores in males (eight vs five), enlarged femoral scales separated from enlarged precloacal scales by smaller scales (vs enlarged femoral scales continuous with enlarged precloacal scales), and two rows of subcaudals enlarged under original tail (vs one row).
Cyrtodactylus nangunhe sp. nov. differs from C. taybacensis Pham, Le, Ngo, Ziegler, Nguyen, 2019 by having fewer precloacal pores in males (eight vs 11–13), ventrolateral fold with interspersed tubercles (vs without), and two rows of subcaudals enlarged under original tail (vs one row).
Cyrtodactylus nangunhe sp. nov. differs from C. vilaphongi Schneider, Nguyen, Duc Le, Nophaseud, Bonkowski & Ziegler, 2014 by being larger (SVL 89.5–97.0 mm vs 60.9–86.1 mm), dorsal head with a distinct reticulated pattern (vs indistinct), and having enlarged subcaudals (vs not enlarged).
Cyrtodactylus nangunhe sp. nov. differs from its sister species C. zhenkangensis by enlarged femoral scales separated from enlarged precloacal scales by smaller scales (vs enlarged femoral scales continuous with enlarged precloacal scales), femoral pores absent (vs femoral pores present), having fewer pitted precloacal scales in females (three vs 7–9), fewer longitudinal rows of dorsal tubercles at midbody (16–18 vs 20–24), more lamellae under toe IV (24–25 vs 21–23), thin stripes on head and narrow bands on dorsum (vs thick stripes on head and wide bands on dorsum), fewer light bands on tail (6–7 vs 8–10), and most light bands on tail not connected on ventral surface of tail (vs connected on ventral surface of tail).
description: Published as part of Liu, Shuo, Li, Zhimin, Duan, Wenguang, Hou, Mian & Rao, Dingqi, 2025, A new species of Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827 (Squamata, Gekkonidae) from Yunnan Nangunhe National Nature Reserve, China, pp. 69-86 in ZooKeys 1223 on pages 69-86, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1223.137184