taxonID	type	description	language	source
7D7387FEFFF7FFC5FF371C34D36BF80C.taxon	description	Figs. 3, 4, 11 a; Appendix III; Table 2	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFF7FFC5FF371C34D36BF80C.taxon	materials_examined	Holotype. Adult male ([MZMU 2155]; Figs. 3), from nearby a dirt road connecting National Highway 217 with the west bank of the Simsang River (25.355763 ° N, 90.690746 ° E; elevation 100 m a. s. l.), outskirts of Siju village, South Garo Hills District, Meghalaya state, northeast India, collected on 21 November 2020 by Yashpal Singh Rathee, Jayaditya Purkayastha, Sanath C. Bohra and Suraj Chauhan. Paratypes. Two adult males (MZMU 2154, MZMU 2156), one adult female (MZMU 2153) same collection details as holotype (Appendix III). Definition. Cyrtodactylus karsticola sp. nov. is a moderate-sized gecko (adult SVL 63.7 – 70.7 mm); 10 – 11 supralabials; 9 – 10 infralabials; dorsal tubercles are rounded, bluntly conical and feebly keeled throughout, and are in 21 – 24 longitudinal rows; 34 – 39 paravertebral tubercles between the level of the axilla and the level of the groin; 35 – 39 mid-ventral scale rows; 34 – 38 precloacofemoral pores in males; scales posteriorly bordering the pore-bearing scale series are up to twice the size of pore-bearing scales; 13 pit bearing scales in precloacal series in females; 15 – 18 subdigital lamellae under IV toe; no single row of transversely enlarged subcaudal scales; dorsal markings are dark brown, irregular and distinct, somewhat parallel to each other and bordered by light body bands; tail with alternating dark and light bands.	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFF7FFC5FF371C34D36BF80C.taxon	description	Description of holotype (Fig. 3). Holotype in generally good preservation condition; the abdomen shows signs of blistering and discolouration. Adult male, SVL 63.9 mm. Head length slightly more than one-quarter of the snout to vent length (HL / SVL 0.28), longer than broad (HW / HL 0.63), somewhat depressed (HD / HW 0.58), and distinct from the neck; loreal region inflated with granular scales; interorbital region is flat; canthus rostralis broadly rounded; snout is less than half of the head length (SO / HL 0.39), less than twice as long as the orbit diameter (OD / SO 0.70); scales on the forehead, canthus rostralis and snout homogeneous. Scales from the posterior margin of the eyes to the nape are smaller than those of the forehead, somewhat blunt and juxtaposed; scales on the interorbital and occipital regions without distinct tubercles. Orbit diameter is approximately one-quarter of the head length (OD / HL 0.27); pupil vertical with crenulate margins; supraciliaries small but distinct, somewhat blunt, median supraciliaries are the largest, decreasing in size anteriorly and posteriorly; ear opening small (EL / HL 0.08) oval, obliquely orientated; eye to ear distance is less than the eye diameter (OE / OD 0.86). Rostral slightly wider than long (RL / RW 0.85), partially divided dorsally by a weakly developed rostral groove; single enlarged supranasal on either side, separated by two small internasals, about the same size as enlarged scales on the snout; rostral in contact with the first supralabials, nasals, supranasals and internasals; nostrils semicircular, opening laterally orientated, posterior half covered by the nasal pad, each nasal in broad contact with the rostral and surrounded by a supranasal, first supralabial, and two postnasals; two rows of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials; mental wider than long (ML / MW 0.74), triangular; two well developed postmentals on either side, the inner pair almost twice the size of the outer pair (PMIIL / PMIL 0.58); inner postmentals in contact with the mental, infralabial I, one outer postmental and three gular scales; outer postmental on each side is in contact with one inner postmental, infralabials I and II, and three gular scales; ten supralabials on each side, bordered by a row of slightly elongated scales; nine infralabials on each side, infralabials I to IV bordered ventrally by a row of enlarged gular scales, largest anteriorly; gular region mostly covered with small granular scales except for a few rows bordering the mental, postmentals and infralabials which are larger, flat and juxtaposed. Body moderately slender; trunk length is half of the snout to vent length (TRL / SVL 0.50); dorsal scales heterogeneous, mostly rounded granular scales, intermixed with irregularly arranged, enlarged tubercles (5 – 6 times larger than surrounding granular scales), bluntly conical and feebly keeled throughout, becoming more conical and slightly smaller towards the flanks, largest on the pre sacral and sacral regions; tubercles extend posteriorly from the occipital region to beyond the tail base; tubercles on the nape are smaller than those on the dorsum; 21 mid-body rows of dorsal tubercles; 39 paravertebral tubercles between the level of the axilla and the level of the groin; ventrolateral folds poorly developed with a single row of scattered conical enlarged, smooth tubercles; ventral scales much larger than dorsals, smooth, cycloid, imbricate to subimbricate, largest on the abdomen, slightly smaller under the thighs and on the region anterior to the cloacal opening; 35 mid-ventral scale rows; 38 precloacofemoral pores in a continuous series; scales posteriorly bordering the pore-bearing scale series are not enlarged relative to pore-bearing scales; three post cloacal tubercles on each side of the tail base. Forearm (FL / SVL 0.15) and tibia (CL / SVL 0.18) short; digits laterally compressed, without a scansorial pad, strongly inflected at each joint, all bearing robust, recurved claws; subdigital lamellae transversely widened beneath the basal phalanx; basal lamellae 4 – 5 – 5 – 5 – 5 on the left manus, 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 5 on the left pes; distal lamellae (intervening rows of nonlamellar granular scales between basal and distal lamellae series in parentheses): 8 (1) – 9 (2) – 11 (2) – 11 (2) – 10 (1) on the left manus, 9 (2) – 10 (3) – 11 (3) – 11 (3) – 11 (2) on the left pes; interdigital webbing absent from both the manus and pes; relative length of digits: I <V <II <III <IV on the left manus, I <II <V <III <IV on the left pes; scales on the palms and soles are smooth, weakly raised, subimbricate; scales on the forelimbs are heterogeneous in size, comprising flat, subimbricate scales on the upper arms, and those on the forearms are heterogeneous in size, ventral portion covered with heterogenous sized imbricate scales; scales on the hindlimbs are heterogeneous in size, on dorsal surfaces of thighs and shanks with small granular scales, intermixed with scattered, enlarged, conical, feebly keeled tubercles; anterior portion of the thighs and ventral surfaces of hindlimbs with enlarged, smooth, imbricate scales. Tail (description based on specimen in life: tail not preserved) mostly original, complete, with a regenerated tip, slender, gradually tapering from the base to the pointed tip; poorly developed rows of enlarged, flat, weakly pointed, smooth, tubercles positioned paravertebrally on tail base only, remaining dorsal caudal scales smooth, rounded, subimbricate, similar in size dorsally but becoming larger on lateral aspect; subcaudal scales quite large, smooth, imbricate, forming a mid-ventral series of enlarged paired scales; no transversely enlarged subcaudal plates. Colouration in life (Fig. 4): Dorsum of the head, body and limbs are dark brown; head is primarily dark brown in colour with a few yellowish patches towards the posterior end of the head; a small but distinct white streak is present on the posterior end of both orbits; nape has a few cream coloured spots on brown ground coloured blotches .. The dorsal markings consist of a pair of elongated dark brown blotches anteriorly, which break up posteriorly into six parallel pairs of smaller blotches. The tail was mostly complete with regenerate tip, having 11 distinct transverse greyish-brown bands separated by dark brown bands. The hind limbs and forelimbs are primarily brown with indistinct cream coloured blotches or crossbars. Ventral region is off white in colour. Colouration in preservative (Fig. 3; Appendix III): The colour is pale in comparison to the live specimen. The dark spots on the dorsum have turned brownish-black. Variation. Refer to Table 2 for morphometric and basic pholidosis variation within the type series of Cyrtodactylus karsticola sp. nov., comprising three adult males and one adult female. MZMU 2153, the only female in the type series has a meshed dorsal blotch pattern rather than elongated blotches (Appendix III); scales posteriorly bordering the pore-bearing scale series are approximately twice the size of pore-bearing scales in MZMU 2154 and MZMU 2156; MZMU 2153, the only female paratype, has 13 pit-bearing scales in its precloacal series and no pitbearing femoral scales. Comparison. Cyrtodactylus karsticola sp. nov. is a member of khasiensis group in the Indo-Burman clade (Fig. 2), differing from other members of the clade by an uncorrected p - distance of 6.5 – 22.6 % for the ND 2 gene (Table 2). Cyrtodactylus karsticola sp. nov. differs from the following species by having a smaller maximum adult size, SVL 70.7 mm, N = 4 (versus C. kazirangaensis 80.0 mm, N = 3; C. ayeyarwadyensis 78.0 mm, N = 25; C. arunachalensis 81.7 mm, N = 5; C. jaintiaensis 96.2 mm, N = 3; C. montanus 78.2 mm, N = 5; C. khasiensis 81.1 mm, N = 7; C. martinstolli 82.0 mm, N = 18; C. tamaiensis 90.0 mm, N = 1; C. cayuensis 79.7 mm, N = 18; C. urbanus 74.0 mm, N = 7); from the following species by having a larger maximum adult size, SVL 70.7 mm, N = 4 (versus 64.5 mm, N = 2 in C. himalayicus; 65.2 mm, N = 2, in C. septentrionalis); from the following species by having a non-overlapping PcFP number, 34 – 38 (versus 10 – 28 PcP / PcFP, N = 25, in C. ayeyarwadyensis; 8 – 10 PcP, N = 5, in C. montanus; 10 – 11 PcP, N = 3, in C. kazirangaensis; 10 – 12 PcP, N = 7, in C. khasiensis; 14 PcP, N = 2, in C. septentrionalis; 10 PcP, N = 2, in C. himalayicus; 5 + 1 PcP, N = 1, in C. mandalayensis; 7 PcP, N = 1, in C. markuscombaii; 0 – 8 PcP, N = 18, in C. martinstolli; 40 PcFP, N = 1, in C. tamaiensis; 6 – 9 PcP, N = 18, in C. cayuensis; 9 – 12 PcP, N = 7, in C. urbanus; 6 – 10 PcP, N = 5 in C. arunachalensis); from C. arunachalensis by having a lower number of dorsal tubercle rows, DTR 21 – 24, N = 4 (versus 24 – 26, N = 5); from C. jaintiaensis by having a higher number of paravertebral tubercles, PVT 34 – 39, N = 4 (versus 30 – 34, N = 3); from the following species by having 13 pitted precloacal scales in females, N = 4 (vs. 19 – 29 pitted scales, N = 11 in C. tripuraensis; six depressions, N = 2, in C. nagalandensis); from the following species by having a higher number of MVSR 35 – 39, N = 4 (versus 30 – 35, N = 8 in C. guwahatiensis; 34 – 35, N = 2 in C. nagalendensis; 30 – 34, N = 7, in C. urbanus); from C. kazirangaensis by having slightly lower number of supralabials, 10 – 11, N = 4 (vs. 11 – 12, N = 3); from the following species by having a higher number of DTR 21 – 24, N = 4 (versus 18, N = 1, in C. mandalayensis; 14 – 15, N = 2 in C. markuscombaii; 19 – 21, N = 11 in C. tripuraensis); from the following species by the absence of enlarged plate like subcaudals, N = 4 (versus present in C. khasiensis, N = 7; C. martinstolli, N = 18 and C. cayuensis, N = 18); from C. himalayicus by scales posteriorly bordering the pore-bearing scale series are up to ca. 2 x enlarged relative to pore-bearing scales N = 4 (versus ca. 3 x larger than pore-bearing scales, N = 2, in C. himalayicus).	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFF7FFC5FF371C34D36BF80C.taxon	distribution	Distribution and natural history (Fig. 1; Appendix VII.). This species is only known from the type locality and area surrounding Siju village (Fig. 1). The type series was collected on 21 November 2020 from inside a limestone cave owned by a local villager several kilometres east of Siju village. Hatchlings and gravid females were also observed during this visit which were assumed to be conspecific with this species. Being a strictly nocturnal species, they are most active two to five hours after dark and are mostly seen in and around limestone caves, rocks, roots of large trees (Ficus sp.) and loose soils in association with running hill streams. The habitat is comprised largely of agricultural land with small patches of heavily disturbed secondary tropical evergreen forest.	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFF7FFC5FF371C34D36BF80C.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The specific epithet karsticola, is derived from the German noun “ Karst ” referring to a limestone landscape, and Latin suffix - cola meaning inhabitant of / dwelling in, with reference to the limestone cave habitat of the species. Suggested common name. Karst dwelling bent-toed gecko.	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFFBFFC3FF371E1FD339FDC8.taxon	description	Figs. 5, 6, 11 b; Appendix IV; Table 2	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFFBFFC3FF371E1FD339FDC8.taxon	materials_examined	Holotype. Adult male (MZMU 2160; Fig. 5), from nearby National Highway 217 (25.358962 ° N, 90.664637 ° E; elevation 270 m asl.), outskirts of Siju village, South Garo Hills District, Meghalaya state, northeast India, collected on 22 November 2020 by Yashpal Singh Rathee, Jayaditya Purkayastha, Sanath C. Bohra and Suraj Chauhan. Paratypes. Three adult males (MZMU 2157; MZMU 2159; MZMU 2161), one sub-adult male (MZMU 2158), same collection details as holotype (Appendix IV). Definition. Cyrtodactylus agarwali sp. nov. is a moderate-sized gecko (adult SVL 56.4 – 71.8 mm); 9 – 12 supralabials; 8 – 10 infralabials; dorsal tubercles are rounded, conical to weakly keeled and are in 21 – 25 longitudinal rows; 34 – 38 paravertebral tubercles; 32 – 39 mid-ventral scale rows; 11 – 18 precloacal pores in males; 15 – 19 subdigital lamellae under toe IV; no single row of transversely enlarged subcaudal scales; 8 – 9 pairs of dark brown blotches on the dorsum of the body; original tail with 14 alternating dark and light bands.	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFFBFFC3FF371E1FD339FDC8.taxon	description	Description of holotype (Fig. 5). Holotype in generally good preservation condition, tail autotomised from the third post-pygal segment and not preserved with the specimen. Adult male, SVL 69.3 mm. Head more than one-quarter of SVL (HL / SVL 0.27), longer than broad (HW / HL 0.63), depressed (HD / HW 0.64), distinct from neck; loreal region inflated with granular scales; interorbital area flat, canthus rostralis broadly rounded; snout less than half of the head length (SO / HL 0.39), less than twice as long as the orbital diameter (OD / SO 0.70); scales on the forehead, canthus rostralis and snout are homogeneous; scales from the posterior margin of the eyes to the nape are smaller than those of the forehead, somewhat blunt and juxtaposed; scales on the interorbital and occipital regions heterogeneous in size, without distinct tubercles; eye approximately one-quarter of the head length (OD / HL 0.27); pupil vertical with crenulate margins; supraciliaries moderate in size, blunt and hexagonal, those present in the mid-portion of the supraciliaries (above the orbit) are the largest and are more prominent; ear opening oval, obliquely orientated, small (EL / HL 0.09); eye to ear distance is less than the eye diameter (OE / OD 0.90); rostral wider than long (RL / RW 0.75), partially divided dorsally by a weakly developed rostral groove; single enlarged supranasal on either side, separated by two small internasals, about the same size as enlarged scales on the snout; rostral in contact with the first supralabials, nasals, two supranasals and an internasal; nostrils semicircular, openings laterally orientated, the posterior half covered by the nasal pad, each nasal is in broad contact with the rostral and surrounded by the supranasal, first supralabial, and three postnasals; two rows of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials; mental wider than long (ML / MW 0.64), triangular; two well developed postmentals on either side; the inner pair of postmentals almost twice the size of the outer pair (PMIIL / PMIL 0.64), bordered by the mental, infralabial I, the outer postmental and four gular scales; outer postmentals bordered by inner postmental, infralabials I and II, and four gular scales on either side; nine supralabials on each side, bordered by a row of large, flat, somewhat elongated scales; eight infralabials on each side, infralabials I to III are bordered ventrally by a row of enlarged gular scales, largest anteriorly; gular region with small granular scales throughout except for a few scale rows bordering the mental, postmentals and infralabials which are larger, flat and juxtaposed. Body moderately slender, trunk length approximately half of the snout to vent length (TRL / SVL 0.48); dorsal scales heterogeneous, mostly small rounded granular scales, intermixed with irregularly arranged, enlarged tubercles (3 – 4 times the size of granular scales), bluntly conical and feebly keeled throughout, becoming more conical and slightly smaller towards the flanks, the largest on the sacral region; tubercles extend posteriorly from the occipital region to the second segment of the tail; tubercles on the nape are smaller than those of the dorsum; 21 mid-dorsal tubercle rows; 34 paravertebral tubercles between the level of the axilla and the level of the groin; ventrolateral folds are weakly developed, not denticulate but with a single row of continuous, projected smooth tubercles; ventral scales much larger than dorsals, smooth, cycloid, imbricate to subimbricate, slightly smaller in size under thighs; 39 mid-ventral scale rows; 12 distinct precloacal pores in a continuous series; a row of enlarged scales present below the precloacal pores bearing scales; two postcloacal tubercles on each side of the tail base. Forearm (FL / SVL 0.15) and tibia (CL / SVL 0.17) short; digits narrow, without a scansorial pad, strongly inflected at each joint, all bearing robust, recurved claws; sub-digital lamellae transversely widened beneath the basal phalanx; basal lamellae 6 – 5 – 5 – 5 – 5 on the left manus, 5 – 5 – 6 – 6 – 4 on the right pes; distal lamellae (intervening rows of nonlamellar granular scales between the basal and distal lamellae series in parentheses): 6 (2) – 7 (3) – 9 (2) – 10 (0) – 7 (2) on the left manus, 6 (3) – 9 (1) – 10 (3) – 9 (3) – 10 (2) on the right pes; interdigital webbing absent from both the manus and pes; relative length of digits: I <V <II <III <IV on the right manus, I <II <V <III <IV on the right pes; scales on the palms and soles are smooth, weakly raised, subimbricate; scales on the forelimbs are heterogeneous in size, comprising flat, subimbricate scales on the upper arms, and those on forearms are heterogeneous in size, ventral portion covered with heterogenous sized imbricate scales; scales on the hindlimbs are heterogeneous in size, dorsal surfaces of the thighs and shanks have larger scales, intermixed with scattered, enlarged, conical, feebly keeled tubercles; anterior portion of thighs and ventral aspect of hindlimbs have enlarged, smooth, imbricate scales. Tail incomplete, autotomised beyond the third post-pygal segment, oval in cross-section, dorsoventrally depressed; dorsal tubercles on the tail base (tail portion containing the hemipenes) are enlarged, flat, and weakly pointed; few enlarged, flat and distinctly keeled, tubercles randomly scattered on the first two segments of the tail, remaining dorsal caudal scales smooth, flat, heterogenous in size and shape; subcaudal scales distinctly larger than the dorsals, largest medially; enlarged paired subcaudals form a longitudinal row. Colouration in life (Fig. 6). Dorsum somewhat dark grey in colour; head is primarily dark brown with a few dirty white coloured patches towards the posterior end of the head; nape has distinct whitish blotches on the brown base colour; the mid-dorsum of the trunk has nine pairs of distinct dark brown blotches, each of the markings in a pair are parallel to each other, and bordered by whitish margins; hind limbs and forelimbs have indistinct cream coloured blotches or crossbars intermixed with black blotches. The attached segments of the tail have the same background coloration as the dorsum with a dark brown “ w ” shaped blotch on each segment. Ventral surface off white in colour. Colouration in preservative (Fig. 5; Appendix IV). The colour is pale in comparison to the live specimen. The dark spots on the dorsum have darkened to brownish-black. Variation. Refer to Table 2 for morphometric and basic pholidosis variation within the type series of Cyrtodactylus agarwali sp. nov., comprising four adult males and one sub-adult male. The paratype series morphologically generally agree with the holotype description, but with the following exceptions: MZMU 2157 has a higher number of PcP (18) in comparison to holotype (12) or other members of the type series (11 – 13). Comparison. Cyrtodactylus agarwali sp. nov. is a member of the khasiensis group and differs from other members of lowland subclade within the Indo-Burman clade by an uncorrected p - distance of 6.5 – 22.6 % for the ND 2 gene (Fig. 2; Table 1). Cyrtodactylus agarwali sp. nov. is most closely related to Cyrtodactylus karsticola sp. nov. with 6.5 % uncorrected p - distance (Fig. 2; Table 1) but morphologically differs from the latter by having 11 – 18 PcP, N = 5 (versus 34 – 38 PcFP, N = 3); smaller, conical and closely spaced dorsal tubercles (versus relatively larger, flatter and sparsely placed dorsal tubercles). Cyrtodactylus agarwali sp. nov. differs from the following species by having a smaller maximum adult size, SVL 71.8 mm, N = 5 (versus C. kazirangaensis 80.0 mm, N = 3; C. ayeyarwadyensis 78.0 mm, N = 25; C. arunachalensis 81.7 mm, N = 5; C. montanus 78.2 mm, N = 5; C. jaintiaensis 96.2 mm, N = 3; C. khasiensis 81.1 mm, N = 7; C. martinstolli 82.0 mm, N = 18; C. tamaiensis 90.0 mm, N = 1; C. cayuensis 79.9 mm, N = 18; C. urbanus 74.0 mm, N = 7); from the following species by having a larger maximum adult size, SVL 71.8 mm, N = 5 (versus 64.5 mm, N = 2 in C. himalayicus; 65.2 mm, N = 2, in C. septentrionalis); from the following species by possessing 11 – 18 PcP, N = 5 (versus 26 – 39 PcFP, N = 8, in C. guwahatiensis; 6 – 10 PcFP, N = 5 in C. arunachalensis; 10 – 11 PcP, N = 3 in C. kazirangaensis; 29 – 37 PcFP, N = 11, in C. tripuraensis; 10 PcP, N = 2, in C. himalayicus; 5 + 1 PcP, N = 1, in C. mandalayensis; 7 PcP, N = 1, in C. markuscombaii; 0 – 8 PcP, N = 18, in C. martinstolli; 40 PcFP, N = 1, in C. tamaiensis; 6 – 9 PcP, N = 18, in C. cayuensis; 6 – 10, N = 5, in C. arunachalensis); from the following species by having higher number of DTR, 21 – 25, N = 5 (versus 19 - 20, N = 3, in C. jaintiaensis; 16 – 18, N = 2, in C. nagalandensis; 18, N = 1, in C. mandalayensis; 14 – 15, N = 2, in C. markuscombaii); from C. septentrionalis by having lesser number of PVT (34 – 38, N = 5 versus 38 – 42, N = 2 in C. septentrionalis) from the following species by having enlarged plate like subcaudals absent, N = 5 (versus present in C. khasiensis, N = 7; C. martinstolli, N = 18 and C. cayuensis, N = 18); from the following species by having a different number of transverse series of blotches in the dorsum, 8 – 9, N = 5 (versus 6 – 8, N = 7, in C. urbanus; 9 – 11, N = 25, in C. ayeyarwadyensis; 6 – 7, N = 3, in C. kazirangaensis; indistinct light and dark blotches forming longitudinal markings on neck and forebody, N = 2, in C. nagalandensis); from C. montanus by having a higher number of mid-ventral scale rows, 32 – 39, N = 5 (versus 21 – 23, N = 5); from C. himalayicus by scales posteriorly bordering the pore-bearing scale series are up to ca. 1.8 times enlarged relative to pore-bearing scales, N = 5 (versus ca. 3 times larger than pore-bearing scales in C. himalayicus, N = 2); from C. urbanus by the absence of a mid-dorsal stripe (versus present) and “ V ” - shaped PcP series, N = 5 (versus “ U ” - shaped in C. urbanus, N = 7).	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFFBFFC3FF371E1FD339FDC8.taxon	distribution	Distribution and natural history (Fig 1. Appendix VII). The type series was collected from nearby Siju village from a rocky cave very close to a fast-flowing stream (Appendix 1). This species was also observed (but not collected) in and around limestone caves, and on loose soils in association with running hill streams. For a detailed description of the habitat and potential conservation issues at the Siju locality see the Distribution and natural history section of Cyrtodactylus karsticola sp. nov.	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFFBFFC3FF371E1FD339FDC8.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The specific epithet agarwali is an eponym honouring Ishan Agarwal for his extensive and ongoing contributions in the field of systematics and taxonomy of Indian lizards, particularly geckos. The name is masculine and formed in the genitive case. Suggested common name. Agarwal’s bent-toed gecko.	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFFFFFDBFF37187ED366FD54.taxon	description	Figs. 7, 8, 11 c; Appendix V; Table 2	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFFFFFDBFF37187ED366FD54.taxon	materials_examined	Holotype. Adult male (MZMU 2015), from Durtlang, North (23.797266 ° N, 92.728791 ° E; elevation 1285 m asl.), Aizawl District, Mizoram state, northeast India, collected on 17 October 2020 by Lalengzuala Tochhawng and Lal Biakzuala. Paratypes. Three adult males (MZMU 2012, MZMU 2021, MZMU 2032), from Mizoram University Campus (23.737361 ° N, 92.667412 ° E; elevation 840 m asl.), Aizawl District, Mizoram state, northeast India, collected on 2 November 2020 by Lal Muansanga and Ht Decemson; adult female (MZMU 2067) and adult male (MZMU 2020), from Tamdil National Wetland (23.738656 ° N, 92.951839 ° E; elevation 760 m asl.), Saitual district, Mizoram state, northeast India, collected on 20 November 2020 by Ht Decemson, H. T. Lalremsanga, Lal Muansanga and Lal Biakzuala; adult male (MZMU 2014), from Zawngtahlipui stream, Sihphir (23.821281 ° N, 92.750986 ° E; elevation 840 m asl.), Aizawl district, Mizoram state, northeast India, collected on 12 September 2020 by Ht Decemson and Lalhunthara Chawngthu; two adult females (MZMU 2018, MZMU 2056), same collection details as holotype (Appendix V). Definition. Cyrtodactylus aaronbaueri sp. nov. is a moderate-sized gecko (adult SVL 54.2 – 69.5 mm); 8 – 11 supralabials; 8 – 12 infralabials; dorsal tubercles are rounded, conical to weakly keeled and are in 22 – 28 longitudinal rows; 36 – 39 paravertebral tubercles; 35 – 40 mid-ventral scale rows; 7 – 8 precloacal pores in males; 14 – 19 subdigital lamellae under toe IV; no single row of transversely enlarged subcaudal scales; 9 – 11 dark brown blotches on the dorsum of the body often forming a reticulating pattern; original tail with 11 – 12 alternating dark and light bands.	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFFFFFDBFF37187ED366FD54.taxon	description	Description of holotype. Holotype in generally good preservation condition (Fig. 7); tail is complete and preserved with the specimen. Adult male, SVL 62.0 mm. Head length slightly more than one-quarter of the snout to vent length (HL / SVL 0.27), longer than broad (HW / HL 0.61), somewhat depressed (HD / HW 0.66), and distinct from the neck; loreal region is inflated with granular scales; interorbital region is flat; canthus rostralis broadly rounded; snout is slightly less than half of the head length (SO / HL 0.41) and is almost twice as long as the orbit diameter (OD / SO 0.51); scales on the forehead, canthus rostralis and snout homogeneous. Scales from the posterior margin of the eyes to the nape are slightly smaller than those of the forehead, somewhat blunt and juxtaposed; scales on the interorbital and occipital regions without distinct tubercles. Orbit diameter is slightly more than one-fifth of the head length (OD / HL 0.21); pupil vertical with crenulate margins; supraciliaries small but distinct, somewhat blunt, uniform throughout the orbit, median supraciliaries are the largest, decreasing in size anteriorly and posteriorly the anterior end as well as posterior end of the orbit; ear opening small (EL / HL 0.09) oval, obliquely orientated; eye to ear distance is slightly more than the eye diameter (OD / OE 0.89). Rostral slightly wider than long (RL / RW 0.66), partially divided dorsally by a weakly developed rostral groove; single enlarged supranasal on either side, separated by two small internasals, almost about the same size as enlarged scales on the snout; rostral in contact with the first supralabial, nasals, supranasals and internasals; nostrils semicircular, opening laterally orientated, posterior half covered by the nasal pad, each nasal in broad contact with the rostral and surrounded by a supranasal, first supralabial, and two postnasals; a single row of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials; mental wider than long (ML / MW 0.84), triangular; two well developed postmentals on either side, the inner pair almost twice the size of the outer pair (PMIIL / PMIL: 0.59); inner postmentals in contact with the mental, infralabial I, one outer postmental and three gular scales; outer postmental on each side is in contact with one inner postmental, infralabials I and II, and two gular scales; ten supralabials on each side, bordered by a row of slightly elongated scales; ten infralabials on each side, infralabials II to VI bordered ventrally by a row of enlarged gular scales, largest anteriorly; gular region mostly covered with small granular scales except for a few rows bordering the outer postmental and infralabials which are larger, flat and juxtaposed. Body moderately slender; trunk length is slightly more than half of the snout to vent length (TRL / SVL 0.55); dorsal scales heterogeneous, mostly rounded granular scales, intermixed with irregularly arranged, enlarged tubercles (5 – 6 times larger than surrounding granular scales), bluntly conical and feebly keeled throughout, becoming more conical and slightly smaller towards the flanks, largest on the presacral and sacral regions; tubercles extend posteriorly from the occipital region to beyond the tail base; tubercles on the nape are smaller than those on the dorsum; 26 mid-body rows of dorsal tubercles; 37 paravertebral tubercles between the level of the axilla and the level of the groin; ventrolateral folds poorly developed with a single row of scattered conical enlarged, smooth tubercles; ventral scales much larger than dorsals, smooth, cycloid, imbricate to subimbricate, largest on the abdomen, slightly smaller under the thighs and on the region anterior to the cloacal opening; 36 mid-ventral scale rows; 8 precloacal pores in a continuous series; three enlarged scales posteriorly bordering the pore-bearing scales are present in a continuous series; postcloacal tubercles present on the tail base, four on the left side and three on the right. Forearm (FL / SVL 0.15) and tibia (CL / SVL 0.18) short; digits laterally compressed, without a scansorial pad, strongly inflected at each joint, all bearing robust, recurved claws; subdigital lamellae transversely widened beneath the basal phalanx; basal lamellae 4 – 5 – 5 – 5 – 4 on the right manus, 4 – 5 – 5 – 6 – 5 on the right pes; distal lamellae (intervening rows of nonlamellar granular scales between basal and distal lamellae series in parentheses): 5 (2) – 6 (2) – 7 (3) – 7 (3) – 7 (3) on the right manus, 6 (3) – 7 (3) – 8 (4) – 8 (5) – 8 (4) on the right pes; interdigital webbing absent from both the manus and pes; relative length of digits: I <II <V <III <IV on the right manus, I <II <V <III <IV on the right pes; scales on the palms and soles are smooth, weakly raised, subimbricate; scales on the forelimbs are heterogeneous in size, comprising flat, subimbricate scales on the upper arms, and those on the forearms are heterogeneous in size, ventral portion covered with heterogenous sized imbricate scales; scales on the hindlimbs are heterogeneous in size, on dorsal surfaces of thighs and shanks with large small granular scales, intermixed with scattered, enlarged, conical, feebly keeled tubercles; anterior portion of the thighs and ventral surfaces of hindlimbs with enlarged, smooth, imbricate scales. Tail (description based on specimen in life: tail preserved along with the specimen), mostly original, complete, slender, gradually tapering from the base towards the tip; poorly developed transverse rows of enlarged, flat, weakly pointed, feebly keeled, tubercles positioned paravertebrally on tail base only (just above the hemipenis), remaining dorsal caudal scales smooth, rounded, subimbricate, similar in size dorsally but becoming larger on lateral aspect; subcaudal scales, smooth, imbricate, forming a mid-ventral series of granular scales; no transversely enlarged subcaudal plates. Colouration in life (Fig. 8): Dorsum of the head, body and limbs are dark brown; head is primarily dark brown in colour intermixed with a few whitish spots towards the posterior end of the head; a small but distinct white streak is present on the posterior side of both the orbits; nape has a few cream coloured spots on dark brown coloured blotches; dorsum of the trunk exhibits a total of ca. 11 paired dark brown blotches forming a crisscross pattern; middorsal stripe absent. The tail is complete and is having nine distinct dark-brown bands separated by transverse greyish bands. The thigh, hind limbs and forelimbs are primarily dark brown with indistinct cream coloured blotches. Ventral region is off white in colour. Colour in preservative (Fig. 7; Appendix V). The colour is pale in comparison to the live specimen. The dark spots on the dorsum have turned brownish-black. Variation. Refer to Table 2 for morphometric and basic pholidosis variation within the type series of Cyrtodactylus aaronbaueri sp. nov. The type series of C. aaronbaueri sp. nov. comprises of six adult males and three adult females. Paratypes MZMU 2032 and MZMU 2056 have a light dorsal colouration along with a distinct middorsal line running from the nape to the sacral region. All the female paratypes (MZMU 2018, MZMU 2056, and MZMU 2067) have visible pitted scales in their precloacal region (6 – 8). Comparison. Cyrtodactylus aaronbaueri sp. nov. is a species of the mountain clade within the south of Brahmaputra clade (see Agarwal et al. 2018). Based on ND 2 gene sequence, Cyrtodactylus aaronbaueri sp. nov. showed a p-distance of just 0.016 - 0.018 to a sample from near Aizawl, Mizoram (KM 255197, Agarwal et. al. 2014) and together is a sister taxa to C. montanus (p-distance: 0.100 - 0.105). Morphologically, Cyrtodactylus aaronbaueri sp. nov. can be differentiated from the following species by having a smaller maximum adult size, SVL 69.5, N = 9 (versus C. kazirangaensis 80.0 mm, N = 3; C. arunachalensis 81.7 mm, N = 5; C. ayeyarwadyensis 78.0 mm, N = 9; C. khasiensis 81.1 mm, N = 7; C. martinstolli 82.0 mm, N = 18; C. tamaiensis 90.0 mm, N = 1; C. cayuensis 79.78 mm, N = 18; C. urbanus 74.0 mm, N = 7; C. jaintiaensis 96.2 mm, N = 3; C. montanus 78.2 mm, N = 5; C. markuscombaii 72.0 mm, N = 2); from C. himalayicus by having a larger maximum adult size, SVL 69.5 mm, N = 9 (versus 64.5 mm, N = 2); from the following species by the presence of non-overlapping PcP number, 7 – 8, N = 9 (versus 10 – 28 PcP / PcFP, N = 25, in C. ayeyarwadyensis; 10 – 11 PcP, N = 3, in C. kazirangaensis; 10 – 12 PcP, N = 7, in C. khasiensis; 14 PcP, N = 2, in C. septentrionalis; 10 PcP, N = 2, in C. himalayicus; 5 + 16 PcP, N = 1, in C. mandalayensis; 8 PcP, N = 18, in C. martinstolli; 40 PcFP, N = 1, in C. tamaiensis; 9 – 12 PcP, N = 7, in C. urbanus; 26 – 39 PcFP, N = 8, in C. guwahatiensis; 8 – 10 PcP, N = 5, in C. montanus; 29 – 37 PcFP, N = 11, in C. tripuraensis; 6 – 10 PcFP, N = 5 in C. arunachalensis); from the following species by having a higher number of mid-ventral scale rows, 35 – 40, N = 9 (versus 30 – 34, N = 8, in C. guwahatiensis; 30 – 34, N = 7 in C. urbanus; 34 – 35, N = 2, in C. nagalandensis; 28 – 34, N = 18, in C. cayuensis); from the following species by having a larger number of dorsal tubercle rows, 22 – 28, N = 9 (versus 19 – 21 rows, N = 11, in C. tripuraensis; 21 rows, N = 1, in C. tamaiensis; 19 – 20 rows, N = 3, in C. jaintiaensis; 16 – 18 rows, N = 2, in C. nagalandensis; 19 – 21 rows, N = 2, in C. himalayicus; 14 – 15 rows, N = 2, in C. markuscombaii; 18 rows, N = 1, in C. mandalayensis); from C. septentrionalis by having a higher number of dark blotches on the dorsum, 9 – 11, N = 9 (versus 6 – 9, N = 2); from the following species by the absence of enlarged plate like subcaudals, N = 9 (versus presence of enlarged subcaudals in C. khasiensis, N = 7; C. martinstolli, N = 18 and C. cayuensis, N = 18).	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFFFFFDBFF37187ED366FD54.taxon	distribution	Distribution and natural history (Fig 1; Appendix VII). The species is currently recorded from localities within Aizawl city area and Tamdil National Wetland, Mizoram state of north-eastern India. All specimens were encountered during night-time surveys. The holotype, and two paratypes (MZMU 2056 and MZMU 2018) were captured from crevices and clefts of retaining walls nearby human settlements at Durtlang North locality, Aizawl city area. One individual (MZMU 2014) was encountered from the streambed adjoining boulder at the Zawngtahlipui stream, Sihphir village. The paratypes (MZMU 1067 and MZMU 2020) were collected from bryophyte-covered rock walls along the jungle trail in the vicinity of Tamdil lake, Tamdil National Wetland located ca. 86 km road distance towards east from the state capital Aizawl. The Wetland is surrounded by sub-tropical pine virgin forests, endowed with rich herpetofaunal diversity. From this place, a megophryid frog Leptobrachella tamdil was described (Sengupta et al. 2010), Fejervarya multistriata was recorded for the first time in the country (Lalbiakzuala & Lalremsanga 2019 a) and recently, the Assam Kukri Snake Oligodon catenatus was rediscovered from the country (Lalbiakzuala & Lalremsanga 2020). The paratype (MZMU 2021) and two specimens MZMU 2012 and MZMU 2032 were captured from a parapet at Lianchhiari road, nearby the Mizoram University (MZU) Guest House, and open jungle track in the MZU Campus, respectively. The area is surrounded by a mixture of secondary and virgin forests. Specimens were usually encountered during monsoon and early post monsoon seasons.	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFFFFFDBFF37187ED366FD54.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The specific epithet aaronbaueri is an eponym honouring Dr. Aaron Bauer for his unparalleled contribution to the field of gekkotan taxonomy. The name is masculine and formed in the genitive case. Suggested common name. Aaron Bauer’s bent-toed gecko.	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFE7FFD7FF3718C2D352FEB4.taxon	description	Figs. 9, 10, 11 d; Appendix VI; Table 2	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFE7FFD7FF3718C2D352FEB4.taxon	materials_examined	Holotype. Adult male (MZMU 1989), from Sailam Community Reserved Forest (23.342758 ° N, 92.800058 ° E; elevation 1372 m asl.), outskirts of Sailam village, Aizawl District, Mizoram state, northeast India, collected on 14 October 2020 by Lal Muansanga, Ht Decemson, Gospel Zothanmawia Hmar, and Fanai Malsawmdawngliana. Paratypes. Two adult males (MZMU 1987; Figs. 5 b, 7 a; MZMU 1990), three adult females (MZMU 1985; MZMU 1986; MZMU 1988), same collection details as holotype (Appendix VI). Definition. Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai sp. nov. is a moderate-sized gecko (adult SVL 54.9 – 72.5 mm); 9 – 11 supralabials; 7 – 11 infralabials; dorsal tubercles are rounded, conical to weakly keeled and are in 22 – 26 longitudinal rows; 35 – 41 paravertebral tubercles; 37 – 42 mid-ventral scale rows; 5 – 7 precloacal pores in males; 15 – 19 subdigital lamellae under toe IV; no single row of transversely enlarged subcaudal scales; 7 – 9 pairs of dark brown blotches on the dorsum of the body.	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFE7FFD7FF3718C2D352FEB4.taxon	description	Description of holotype (Figs. 9). Holotype body curved clockwise, generally in a well-preserved condition. Adult male, SVL 63.5 mm. Head longer than broad (HW / HL 0.65), little less than one-third of the SVL (HL / SVL 0.31), distinct from neck. Loreal region inflated; interorbital area flat; canthus rostralis prominent, broadly rounded; snout is less than half of the head length (SO / HL 0.39), scales on the forehead, canthus rostralis and snout homogeneous. Scales from the posterior margin of the eyes to the nape are smaller than those of the forehead, somewhat blunt and juxtaposed; scales on the interorbital and occipital regions without distinct tubercles. Orbit diameter is less than one-quarter of the head length (OD / HL 0.19); pupil vertical with crenulate margins; supraciliaries small but distinct, somewhat blunt, median supraciliaries are the largest, decreasing in size anteriorly and posteriorly; ear opening small (EL / HL 0.08) oval, obliquely orientated; eye to ear distance is more than the eye diameter (OE / OD 1.4). Rostral wider than long (RL / RW 0.79), divided dorsally by a weakly developed rostral groove; single enlarged supranasal on either side, separated by two small internasals, about the same size as enlarged scales on the snout; rostral in contact with the first supralabials, nasals, supranasals and internasals; nostrils ovel, opening laterally orientated, posteriorly covered by the nasal pad, each nasal in broad contact with the rostral and surrounded by a supranasal, first supralabial, and three postnasals; three rows of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials; mental almost as wide as long (ML / MW 1.05), triangular; two well developed postmentals on either, the inner pair almost twice the size of the outer pair (PMIIL / PMIL 0.53); inner postmentals in contact with the mental, infralabial I, one outer postmental and four gular scales; outer postmental on each side is in contact with one inner postmental, infralabials I and II, and three gular scales; ten supralabials on each side bordered by a row of slightly elongated scales; ten infralabials on each side, infralabials I to IV bordered ventrally by a row of enlarged gular scales, largest anteriorly; gular region mostly covered with small granular scales except for a few rows bordering the mental, postmentals and infralabials which are larger, flat and juxtaposed. Body moderately slender; trunk length is less than half of the snout to vent length (TRL / SVL 0.46); dorsal scales heterogeneous, mostly rounded granular scales, intermixed with enlarged tubercles, bluntly conical and feebly keeled throughout, becoming more conical towards the flanks, largest in the mid-body; tubercles extend posteriorly from the occipital region to beyond the tail base; tubercles on the nape are smaller than those on the dorsum; 24 mid-body rows of dorsal tubercles; 41 paravertebral tubercles between the level of the axilla and the level of the groin; ventrolateral folds poorly developed with a single row of smooth tubercles; ventral scales much larger than dorsals, smooth, cycloid, imbricate to subimbricate, largest on the abdomen, slightly smaller under the thighs and on the region anterior to the cloacal opening; 39 mid-ventral scale rows; 5 precloacal pores in a continous series; scales anteriorly and posteriorly bordering the pore-bearing scale series are also enlarged, slightly smaller than pore-bearing scales; three postcloacal tubercles on each side of the tail base. Forearm (FL / SVL 0.15) short and tibia (CL / SVL 0.19) moderate; digits laterally compressed, without a scansorial pad, strongly inflected at each joint, all bearing robust, recurved claws; subdigital lamellae transversely widened beneath the basal phalanx; basal lamellae 4 – 5 – 5 – 7 – 4 on the left manus, 4 – 4 – 6 – 8 – 5 on the left pes; distal lamellae (intervening rows of nonlamellar granular scales between basal and distal lamellae series in parentheses): 7 (1) – 8 (2) – 9 (3) – 9 (3) – 7 (2) on the left manus, 7 (2) – 8 (3) – 10 (3) – 10 (3) – 9 (4) on the left pes; interdigital webbing absent from both the manus and pes; relative length of digits: I <V <II <III <IV on the left manus, I <II <III <V <IV on the left pes; scales on the palms and soles are smooth, weakly raised, subimbricate; scales on the forelimbs are heterogeneous in size, ventral portion covered with heterogenous sized imbricate scales; scales on the hindlimbs are heterogeneous in size, on dorsal surfaces of thighs and shanks with small granular scales, intermixed with scattered, enlarged, conical, feebly keeled tubercles; anterior portion of the thighs and ventral surfaces of hindlimbs with smooth and imbricate scales. Tail regenerated from the second tail segment. Dorsal surface of the tail with small granular scales intermixed with tubercles and the ventral surface with small imbricate scales heterogeneous in size being larger in the middle. Three large conical tubercle present on each side of the ventral surface of at the tail base. No transversely enlarged subcaudal plates. Colouration in life (Fig. 10): Dorsal surface of the head is primarily yellowish brown with dark brown patches forming a reticulation pattern. Dark brown chevron marking on the nape. On the lateral side of the head, a prominent dark brown stripe runs from the snout to the eye passing through below the eye, terminating just above the ear opening. Ventral side of the head off white in colour without any markings. Dorsum yellowish brown with dark brown markings often bordered by white patches. Three dark brown stripes extend from behind the chevron marking of the nape to the axillary region. Dark brown blotches forming a pair runs along the body from just behind axilla to the groin. A total of seven pairs of such blotches are present. Ventral surface of the body off white in colour without any markings. Three fourth of the tail regenerated without any features. The dorsal surface of the original portion of the tail light brown with three pairs of dark brown markings as in the dorsum. Ventral surface of the tail of white in colour with intermittent dark patches limited to anterior portion of the tail. Colouration in preservative (Fig. 9; Appendix VI): The colour is pale in comparison to the live specimen. The dark spots on the dorsum have turned into lighter shades. Variation. Refer to Table 2 for morphometric and basic pholidosis variation within the type series of Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai sp. nov. Specimen MZMU 1986 has a meshed dorsal blotch pattern rather than elongated blotches. Females have pit bearing scales (4 – 5) in the precloacal region (MZMU 1985: 5, MZMU 1986: 4, and MZMU 1988: 4). Comparison: Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai sp. nov. is a species of the mountain clade within the south of Brahmaputra clade (see Agarwal et al. 2018). Based on ND 2 gene sequence Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai sp. nov. is sister to the above described C. aaronbaueri and C. montanus and differs by an uncorrected p-distance of 0.085 – 0.121 from C. aaronbaueri and 0.108 – 0.121 from C. montanus. Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai sp. nov. can be morphologically distinguished from C. aaronbaueri by having a lower TRL / SVL ratio (min 0.43, max 0.49, avg 0.46 versus min 0.5, max 0.56, avg 0.52 in C. aaronbaueri). Except for single specimen (MZMU 1990) with seven PcP Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai sp. nov. has the least number of PcP (5) of all the examined specimens (versus 7 - 8 in C. aaronbaueri). Furthermore, female specimen of Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai sp. nov. have 4 - 5 pitted scales in precloacal region (versus 6 - 8 in C. aaronbaueri). Morphologically, Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai sp. nov. can be differentiated from the following species by having a smaller maximum adult size, SVL 72.5, N = 6 (versus C. kazirangaensis 80.0 mm, N = 3; C. arunachalensis 81.7 mm, N = 5; C. ayeyarwadyensis 78.0 mm, N = 9; C. khasiensis 81.1 mm, N = 7; C. martinstolli 82.0 mm, N = 18; C. tamaiensis 90.0 mm, N = 1; C. cayuensis 79.78 mm, N = 18; C. urbanus 74.0 mm, N = 7; C. jaintiaensis 96.2 mm, N = 3; C. montanus 78.2 mm, N = 5); from C. himalayicus by having a larger maximum adult size, SVL 72.5 mm, N = 6 (versus 64.5 mm, N = 2); Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai sp. nov. has the lowest number of precloacal pores in males, 5 – 7, N = 6 (versus 10 – 11 PcP, N = 3, in C. kazirangaensis; 10 – 12 PcP, N = 7 in C. khasiensis; 14 PcP, N = 2 in C. septentrionalis; 9 – 12 PcP, N = 7 in C. urbanus; 11 – 12 PcP, N = 3, in C. jaintiaensis; 8 – 10 PcP, N = 5 in C. montanus; 7 PcP, N = 2, in C. markuscombaii; 10 PcP, N = 2, in C. himalayicus; 10 – 28 PcFP, N = 25, in C. ayeyerwadyensis; 26 – 39 PcFP, N = 8, in C. guwahatiensis; 29 – 37 PcFP, N = 11, in C. tripuraensis and 40 PcFP, N = 1, in C. tamaiensis. Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai sp. nov. has a higher MVSR, N = 6 (37 – 42) than C. guwahatiensis, N = 8 (30 – 34); C. septentrionalis, N = 2 (35 – 38); C. ayeyarwadyensis, N = 25 (32 - 37); C. montanus, N = 5 (21 - 23); C. urbanus, N = 7 (30 – 34) and C. nagalandensis N = 2 (34 – 35). Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai sp. nov. has higher DTR, N = 6 (22 – 26) in comparison to C. tripuraensis, N = 11, (19 – 21); C. tamaiensis, N = 1, (21); C. jaintiaensis, N = 3, (19 – 20); C. nagalandensis, N = 2 (16 – 18); C. himalayicus, N = 2, (19 – 21); C. mandalayensis, N = 1 (18); C. markuscombaii, N = 2 (14 – 15). Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai sp. nov. differs from C. kazirangaensis, N = 3 (11 – 12) by having a lower number of supralabials, N = 6 (9 – 11 in Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai sp. nov.). Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai sp. nov. does not have enlarged plate like scales in subcaudals, N = 6 (versus present in C. khasiensis N = 7; C. martinstoli, N = 18 and C. cayuensis, N = 18). Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai sp. nov. has a single row of enlarged scales below PcP bearing scales (versus 3 - 4 rows of enlarged scales in C. arunachalensis, N = 5).	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFE7FFD7FF3718C2D352FEB4.taxon	distribution	Distribution and natural history (Fig. 1, Appendix VII). All specimens were encountered and collected during night surveys at ca. 18: 30 – 23: 00 hrs on 14 October 2020. The holotype of Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai sp. nov. was collected from a fern leaf near a slow flowing stream Sabual that discharged from a seasonal pond inside the Community Reserved Forest, near Sailam village. On the same day, other specimens (MZMU 1985 – 1988) were collected from fissures and crevices of rocky walls along the same stream. One specimen (MZMU 1990) was captured, from the rocky banks of Lengleh stream, inside the Community Reserved Forest. So far, the species is recorded only from its type locality in Sailam Community Reserved Forest, located ca. 77 km road distance south from Aizawl city, Mizoram. The type locality is a hilly region with an elevation range of approx. 1300 – 1440 m a. s. l., not far from Hmuifang Community Reserved Forest (ca. 11 km aerial distance north from Sailam), type locality of the recently discovered Mizoram endemic snake species Blythia hmuifang Vogel, Lalremsanga, Vanlalhrima, 2017. Based on the terrain and elevation gradients, we expect the distribution of the species to be within a radius of at least 20 km, in the adjoining hill ranges starting from Hmuifang Community Reserved Forest to as far as Serchhip town, Serchhip District, Mizoram state.	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
7D7387FEFFE7FFD7FF3718C2D352FEB4.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The specific epithet bengkhuaiai is an eponym honouring Bengkhuaia (~ 1830 – 1879), the Mizo chief of Sailam village, one of the most formidable chiefdoms. Suggested common name. Bengkhuaiai bent-toed gecko.	en	Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Bohra, Sanath Chandra, Biakzuala, Lal, Decemson, H. T., Muansanga, Lal, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Chauhan, Suraj, Rathee, Yashpal Singh (2021): Four new Bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus Gray: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeast India. Zootaxa 4980 (1): 451-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.3.2
