Cyrtodactylus dammathetensis, Grismer & Wood & Jr. & Thura & Zin & Quah & Murdoch & Grismer & Lin & Kyaw & Lwin, 2018

Grismer, L. Lee, Wood, Perry L., Jr., Thura, Myint Kyaw, Zin, Thaw, Quah, Evan S. H., Murdoch, Matthew L., Grismer, Marta S., Lin, Aung, Kyaw, Htet & Lwin, Ngwe, 2018, Twelve new species of Cyrtodactylus Gray (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from isolated limestone habitats in east-central and southern Myanmar demonstrate high localized diversity and unprecedented microendemism, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 182, pp. 862-959 : 923-925

CYRTODACTYLUS DAMMATHETENSIS SP. NOV.

DAMMATHET CAVE BENT-TOED GECKO

( FIG. 26; TABLE 15)

Holotype: Adult male LSUHC 12862 collected on 7 October 2016 at 2000 h by Matthew L. Murdoch, L. Lee Grismer, Marta S. Grismer, Myint Kyaw Thura, Evan S. H. Quah, Perry L. Wood, Jr., Thaw Zin and Htet Kyaw from Dammathet Cave 19.8 km east of Mawlamyine, Mawlamyine District, Mon State, Myanmar (N16°30.380, E97°48.629; 25 m in elevation).

Paratypes: Adult females LSUHC 12863–64 bear the same collection data as the holotype .

Diagnosis: Cyrtodactylus dammathetensis sp. nov. differs from all congeners by having the unique combination of nine supralabials; seven or eight infralabials; 13–15 longitudinal rows of body tubercles; 31–33 paravertebral tubercles; 25–28 ventral scales; relatively long digits with eight or nine expanded subdigital lamellae proximal to the digital inflection on the fourth toe, 12 or 13 unmodified distal subdigital lamellae,21 totalsubdigitallamellae;raised,moderately keeled, dorsal body tubercles; tubercles extend beyond base of tail; enlarged femoral and precloacal scales continuous; enlarged proximal femoral scales less than one-half the size of enlarged distal femoral scales; 31–36 enlarged femoral scales; 36 femoral pores in males; eight or nine enlarged precloacal scales; nine precloacal pores in males; three rows of enlarged post-precloacal scales; median subcaudal scales three times as wide as long, extending to lateral surface of tail; top of head darkly mottled, no yellow reticulum; nuchal loop variably paired, no pronounced, anterior, azygous notch, posterior border jagged; five jagged, dark, dorsal bands with paravertebral elements, wider than interspaces, lacking lightened centres, not edged with white tubercles; nape band present; dark markings in dorsal interspaces; ventrolateral folds faintly whitish; anterodorsal margins of thighs and brachia darkly pigmented; ten or 11 light caudal bands variably bearing dark markings, not encircling tail; and ten or 11 dark caudal bands wider than light caudal bands.

Description of holotype: Adult male SVL 69.3 mm; head moderate in length (HL/SVL 0.30), wide (HW/ HL 0.65), flat (HD/HL 0.38), distinct from neck, triangular in dorsal profile; lores inflated, prefrontal region shallowly concave, canthus rostralis rounded; snout elongate (ES/HL 0.41), rounded in dorsal profile, not flat in lateral profile; eye large (ED/HL 0.27); ear opening round, moderate in size (EL/HL 0.11); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye; rostral rectangular, partially divided dorsally by inverted Y-shaped furrow, bordered posteriorly by left and right supranasals and one azygous internasal, laterally by first supralabials; external nares bordered anteriorly by rostral, dorsally by supranasal, posteriorly by three postnasals, ventrally by first supralabial; 9(R,L) square supralabials extending to below midpoint of eye; 8(R)7(L) infralabials tapering posteriorly to below midpoint of eye; scales of rostrum and lores slightly raised, larger than granular scales on top of head and occiput; scales on top of head and occiput intermixed with small tubercles laterally; dorsal superciliaries not elongate or keeled; mental triangular, bordered laterally by first infralabials and posteriorly by large left and right trapezoidal postmentals contacting medially for 65% of their length posterior to mental; one row of slightly enlarged chinshields bordering all infralabials; and gular and throat scales small, flat, grading posteriorly into larger, subimbricate pectoral and ventral scales.

Body relatively short (AG/SVL 0.42) with well-defined ventrolateral folds; dorsal scales small, raised and interspersed with large, subconical, semi-regularly arranged, moderate to strongly keeled tubercles; tubercles extend from nape to beyond base of tail; tubercles on nape smaller than those on posterior portion of body, less sharply keeled; approximately 15 longitudinal rows of body tubercles; 33 paravertebral tubercles; 27 flat, subimbricate, ventral scales larger than dorsal scales; nine enlarged precloacal scales; nine precloacal pores; three rows of large post-precloacal scales; and no deep, precloacal groove or depression.

Forelimbs moderate in stature, relatively short (FL/ SVL 0.16); raised scales of forearm larger than those on body, interspersed with small tubercles; palmar scales raised; digits well-developed, relatively long, inflected at basal, interphalangeal joints; digits much more narrow distal to inflections; widened proximal subdigital lamellae do not extend onto palm; claws well-developed, sheathed by a dorsal and ventral scale at base; hindlimbs more robust than forelimbs, moderate in length (TBL/SVL 0.19), covered dorsally by granular scales intermixed with large tubercles and bearing flat, slightly larger scales anteriorly; ventral scales of thigh flat, imbricate, larger than dorsals, one row of 18(R,L) enlarged femoral scales in contact with enlarged precloacal scales; enlarged femoral scales generally equal in size; 18(R,L) femoral pores; subtibial scales flat, imbricate; small postfemoral scales form abrupt union with larger, flat ventral scales of posteroventral margin of thigh; plantar scales raised; digits relatively long, well-developed, inflected at basal, interphalangeal joints; 9(R,L) transversely expanded subdigital lamellae on fourth toe proximal to joint inflection, 12(R,L) unmodified subdigital lamellae distal to inflection, 21 total subdigital lamellae; claws well-developed, base of claw sheathed by a dorsal and ventral scale.

Tail moderate in proportions, 80.0 mm in length, last 10.0 mm regenerated, 7.9 mm in width at base, tapering to a point; dorsal scales of tail flat; median subcaudal scales three as wide as long, extending onto lateral surface of tail; 3(R)4(L) enlarged postcloacal tubercles at base of tail on hemipenal swellings; and postcloacal scales flat.

Coloration in life ( Fig. 26): Dorsal ground colour of head body, and limbs tan, that of anterior portion of tail dull-yellow; top of head and rostrum bearing a network of dark-brown, diffuse mottlings, no yellow reticulum; superciliary scales yellow; dark-brown, nuchal band distinct, unnotched anteromedially, and bearing a jagged posterior margin; short, jagged band on nape; five jagged body bands not bearing light centres, wider than interspaces, bearing paravertebral elements; one sacral band; interspaces bearing distinct, dark, medial spot; banding on limbs distinct, irregular; thighs and brachia; ventrolateral body folds faintly whitish; dark caudal bands bear lightened centres, wider than white caudal bands; light caudal bands usually immaculate, not encircling tail; ventral surfaces deeply pigmented, dusky in appearance; subcaudal region dark-brown with lighter mottling.

Variation ( Fig. S8): The female paratypes differ to varying extents from the holotype in aspects of the dorsal colour pattern. LSUHC 12864 has a paired nuchal loop and dark markings in the lateral regions of the dorsal interspaces. The paravertebral aspects of the dorsal bands are more prominent in the paratypes and in LSUHC 12863 the anteromedial margin of the nuchal loop is nearly notched. Meristic and mensural differences are presented in Table 15 .

Distribution: Cyrtodactylus dammathetensis sp. nov. is known only from Dammathet Cave 19.8 km east of Mawlamyine, Mawlamyine District, Mon State, Myanmar ( Fig. 20).

Etymology: The specific epithet, dammathetensis , is a noun in apposition in reference to the type locality of Dammathet Cave.

Natural history: Dammathet Cave is located immediately south of Dammathet Village and situated on the north end of a thin, westward projecting ridge of a larger karst hill approximately 274 m wide, 1250 m long and 170 m high that is surrounded by paddy fields. The opening of the cave is narrow and behind a locked door controlled by a nearby monastery. The interior of the cave is high (~ 20 m), open and filled with religious statues and murals along the walls, leaving little in the way of microhabitat for Cyrtodactylus . We searched the cave during the afternoon but saw only Hemidactylus frenatus . The exterior of the cave along the base of the hill is shaded by vegetation and the limestone is very porous, deeply incised in places, and has several cracks and holes ( Fig. 27). We returned here 2 days later after dark and observed four specimens and caught three. All were found on dry surfaces on the karst hillside sheltering from light rain. They were syntopic with Hemidactylus brookii .

Comparisons: Cyrtodactylus dammathetensis sp. nov. is part of the sinyineensis group. The PCA and DAPC analyses indicate that the species of this group are completely separate in morphospace where the first two principal components account for 63% of the total variation ( Fig. 12) and load most heavily for numbers of infralabials, longitudinal rows of tubercles, expanded subdigital lamellae on the fourth toe and post-precloacal scale rows ( Table S3). Cyrtodactylus dammathetensis sp. nov. is well-differentiated from C. aequalis , C. sinyineensis sp. nov. and C. welpyanensis sp. nov. by having varying combinations of statistically different mean values of infralabial scales, ventral scales, enlarged femoral scales, post-preprecloacal scale rows, longitudinal rows of body tubercles, precloacal scales and body bands ( Table 3). It differs further from C. sinyineensis sp. nov. and C. welpyanensis sp. nov. in having paravertebral elements in the dorsal banding pattern ( Table 8). Morphological and colour pattern differences from other species in the Indo-Chinese clade are listed in Table 8. Genetic distances among the species of this group range from 11.0 to 16.5% ( Table 10).