Cyrtodactylus shwetaungorum GRISMER, WOOD, THURA, ZIN, QUAH, MURDOCH, GRISMER, LIN, KYAW & LWIN, 2017
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Cyrtodactylus shwetaungorum?
Cyrtodactylus shwetaungorum
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| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Shwetaung bent-toed gecko |
| Synonym | Cyrtodactylus shwetaungorum GRISMER, WOOD, THURA, ZIN, QUAH, MURDOCH, GRISMER, LIN, KYAW & LWIN 2017: 38 |
| Distribution | Myanmar (Mandalay Region) Type locality: 5.0 km north of Pyinyaung Village at the Apache Cement factory mining site, Mandalay Region (N20°52.191, E96°24.296; 624 m in elevation). |
| Reproduction | oviparous (manual imputation, fide Zimin et al. 2022) |
| Types | Holotype: LSUHC 12937, Adult male collected on 12 October 2016 at 1930 h by Thaw Zin, Evan S. H. Quah, L. Lee Grismer, Perry L. Wood, Jr., Myint Kyaw Thura, Matthew L. Murdoch and Htet Kyaw. Paratypes: Adult males LSUHC 12935 and BYU 52226 and subadult female BYU 52227 bear the same collection data as the holotype. Adult females LSUHC 12897 and BYU 52225 and juvenile female LSUHC 12896 were collected on 11 October 2016 between 1800 and 2200 h by L. Lee Grismer, Perry L. Wood, Jr., Myint Kyaw Thura, Evan S. H. Quah, Thaw Zin, Matthew L. Murdoch and Htet Kyaw from 5.3 km north of Pyinyaung Village at the Apache Cement factory mining site, Mandalay Region (N20°52.273, E96°24.319; 731 m in elevation). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Cyrtodactylus shwetaungorum sp. nov. differs from all congeners by having the unique combination of 7–9 supralabials; 6–8 infralabials; 31–35 paravertebral tubercles; 18–21 longitudinal rows of body tubercles; 33–40 ventral scales; relatively long digits with eight or nine expanded subdigital lamellae on the fourth toe proximal to the digital inflection, 11–14 unmodified distal subdigital lamellae and 20–22 total subdigital lamellae; low, weakly keeled, dorsal body tubercles; tubercles not extending beyond base of tail; enlarged femoral and precloacal scales continuous; 24–32 enlarged femoral scales; enlarged femoral scales nearly equal in size; 15–17 femoral pores in males; 8–10 enlarged precloacal scales; 8–10 precloacal pores in males; three rows of enlarged post-precloacal scales; transverse subcaudal scales twice as wide as long midway down the tail not extending onto the lateral subcaudal region; top of head blotched, bearing a yellow reticulum; nuchal loop not divided medially, not bearing an anterior, azygous notch, and having a straight posterior border; no band on nape; four dark, regularly shaped, dorsal bands with no paravertebral elements, much wider than interspaces, centres lightened, edged with light tubercles; no azygous notch in first dorsal band; dark markings in dorsal interspaces; anterodorsal margins of thighs, brachia and ventrolateral fold not whitish; eight or nine light caudal bands encircling tail, lacking dark markings; 7–9 dark caudal bands wider than light caudal bands; and fully regenerated tail not spotted. |
| Comment | The close morphological similarity between C. linnwayensis sp. nov. and C. shewtaungorum sp. nov. leaves open the hypothesis that these two species may be conspecific and their sister species relationship may be a result of sampling error despite their minimum sequence divergence of 10.2%. Although they are separated from one another by approximately 40 km straight-line distance across an intermontane valley and occur at different elevations in different climates and different types of forests—a cool, wet, upland forest at 1130 m in elevation for C. linnwayensis sp. nov. and a hot, dry, lowland forest at 642–735 m for C. shwetaungorm sp. nov.—they occupy a fairly continuous, mountainous terrain bearing sporadic karst habitats and caves that arc around the northern end of an intermontane valley. Plans have been made to collect from additional karst areas between their localities (if they exist) and to test the ‘different species and sampling error’ hypotheses. At this juncture, we believe the ecological, morphological and genetic data favour a separate species hypothesis. |
| Etymology | Named after the Shwe Taung Cement Company Limited for their genuine, proactive efforts to protect the biodiversity encompassed in their mining operations in Myanmar by setting aside areas to be reserved and not quarried. The company is particularly interested in setting aside specific areas to protect C. pyinyaungensis sp. nov. and C. shwetaungorum sp. nov. |
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