Phyllodactylus ngiwa RAMÍREZ-REYES, DURÁN-ARCEO, PALACIOS-AGUILAR & FLORES-VILLELA, 2025
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Phyllodactylus ngiwa
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| Higher Taxa | Phyllodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Valley gecko S: salamanquesa del Valle de Tehuacan-Cuicatlan |
| Synonym | Phyllodactylus ngiwa RAMÍREZ-REYES, DURÁN-ARCEO, PALACIOS-AGUILAR & FLORES-VILLELA 2025: 165 Phyllodactylus bordai — DIXON 1964 Phyllodactylus bordai — CASAS-ANDREU et al. 1996 Phyllodactylus bordai — MURPHY et al. 2009 Phyllodactylus bordai — CANSECO-MÁRQUEZ & GUTIÉRREZ-MAYEN 2010 Phyllodactylus bordai — LARA-RESÉNDIZ et al. 2013 Phyllodactylus bordai — MATA-SILVA et al. 2015; 2021 Phyllodactylus bordai — Woolrich-Piña et al. 2017 Phyllodactylus bordai — RAMÍREZ-REYES et al. 2017 Phyllodactylus bordai — RAMÍREZ-REYES et al. 2020 Phyllodactylus bordai — RAMÍREZ-REYES et al. 2022 Phyllodactylus bordai — LEMOS-ESPINAL & SMITH 2020 Phyllodactylus bordai — LEMOS-ESPINAL & SMITH 2024 |
| Distribution | Mexico |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. Adult male (MZFC-HE 37273) collected ~2 km N of San Juan Bautista Cuicatlan Botanical Garden, municipality of San Juan Bautista Cuicatlán, Oaxaca, Mexico (17.821888 N, -96.963666 W WGS84), on October 22, 2024, by Tonatiuh Ramírez Reyes, Ricardo Palacios Aguilar, and Daniel R. Duran Arceo. Paratypes (12). Adult female (MZFC-HE 37264), adult male (MZFC-HE 37265), and adult male (MZFC-HE 37266) collected at Cabañas Zapotitlan Salinas Botanical Garden, Puebla (18.328972, -97.452972) on October 21, 2024; adult male (MZFC-HE 37267) and adult female (MZFC-HE 37268) collected 200 m SE from Cabañas Zapotitlan Salinas Botanical Garden, Puebla (18.326888, -97.453388) on October 21, 2024; adult male (MZFC- HE 37271), adult female (MZFC-HE 37272), and adult female (MZFC-HE 37274) collected ~2 km N of San Juan Bautista Cuicatlan Botanical Garden, municipality of San Juan Bautista Cuicatlán, Oaxaca (17.821888 N, - 96.963666 W WGS84), on October 22, 2024; adult female (MZFC-HE 37278), adult male (MZFC-HE 37279), adult female (MZFC-HE 37280), and adult female (MZFC-HE 37281) collected 2 km N of San Juan Bautista Cuicatlan Botanical Garden, municipality of San Juan Bautista Cuicatlán, Oaxaca (17.824944 N, -96.963666 W WGS84). All paratypes were collected by Tonatiuh Ramírez Reyes, Ricardo Palacios Aguilar, and Daniel R. Duran Arceo. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: To compare values of measurements and counts, we give more weight in this section to the values reported in the monographic reviews by Dixon (1964; 1966) for the high number of specimens analyzed and scientific collections visited, as well as to the original descriptions for each species, taking into account the taxonomic changes that have occurred to date. Phyllodactylus ngiwa is a medium-sized gecko species (mean SVL = 47.7 mm, max. SVL = 59.9 mm, median SVL = 50.5 mm) whose distribution is limited to the Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Valley in the southern Mexican states of Puebla and Oaxaca. Although body size is a character with limited information for differentiating P. ngiwa from other Phyllodactylus species in Mexico, the combination of longitudinal and transversal counts of ventral scales allows for differentiating all species belonging to Clade I (Table 5): P. ngiwa (mean LVS = 48.1, mean TVS = 25.1), P. bordai (mean LVS = 56.8, mean TVS = 28), Phyllodactylus from Morelos (mean LVS = 45, mean TVS = 22.8), P. isabelae (mean LVS = 69.4, mean TVS = 28.7), P. kropotkini (mean LVS = 67, mean TVS = 30), P. papenfussi (mean LVS = 50.3, mean TVS = 24.3), P. benedettii (mean LVS = 62.6, mean TVS = 22), P. lupitae (mean LVS = 73.1, mean TVS = 27.5), P. lanei (mean LVS = 65, mean TVS = 30.2), P. rupinus (mean LVS = 69, mean TVS = 34). This combination of characters also differentiates between species belonging to Clades II and III: P. magnus (mean LVS = 58.9, mean TVS = 27.2), P. saxatilis (mean LVS = 55, mean TVS = 26.3), P. cleofasensis (mean LVS = 61, mean TVS = 27.2), P. davisi (mean LVS = 57.6, mean TVS = 31), P. muralis (mean LVS = 61.6, mean TVS = 29.6), P. delcampi (mean LVS = 72.9, mean TVS = 30), P. homolepidurus (mean LVS = 59.9, mean TVS = 30.3), P. nolascoensis (mean LVS = 59, mean TVS = 30), P. santacruzensis (mean LVS = 57, mean TSV = 34), P. partidus (mean LVS = 61, mean TVS = 30), P. xanti (mean LVS = 59.7, mean TVS = 33.6), P. nocticolus (mean LVS = 65, mean TVS = 36), P. unctus (mean LVS = 58, mean TVS = 29.4), P. bugastrolepis (mean LVS = 48, mean TVS = 29), P. duellmani (mean LVS = 50, mean TVS = 23.6), P. paucituberculatus (mean LVS = 63.7, mean TVS = 25.2), P. apricus (mean LVS = 62, mean TVS = 38), P. coronatus (mean LVS = 63, mean TVS = 33), P. angelensis (mean LVS = 62, mean TVS = 36). Despite P. ngiwa having a unique combination of mean values for the two different counts of ventral scales, three species (P. papenfussi, P. bugastrolepis, and P. duellmani) present similar mean values and likely show overlapping values or even display the same combination in some individuals. In this case, other combinations of characters can be used to differentiate these four species. In the case of P. papenfussi, adult body size is highly informative, since this is the smallest species of Phyllodactylus in Mexico (adult SVL 30.3–36.6, 33.95 ± 2.1; juvenile SVL 22.5 and 28.9; Murphy et al. 2009); meanwhile, adult P. ngiwa reach a maximum SVL of 59.9 mm, nearly double the size of P. papenfussi. Additionally, P. ngiwa has 19.5 interorbital scales, 21.9 paravertebral tubercles, and 5.7 axilla-groin tubercles, while P. papenfussi presents 17.5 interorbital scales, 33.2 paravertebral tubercles, and 18.9 axilla-groin tubercles (Murphy et al. 2009). Furthermore, the number of labial scales in contact with the postmental scales vary in P. ngiwa, with the most frequent combination being 2-2 (66.6%), while in P. papenfussi this character does not vary from the combination of 1-1 (100%) (Murphy et al. 2009). Phyllodactylus duellmani is also a small species of gecko (maximum known SVL: 43 mm) and presents 15.6 interorbital scales, 37.1 paravertebral tubercles, 24 axilla-groin tubercles, and lacks tubercles on the tail (Dixon 1964), unlike P. ngiwa (19.5 interorbital scales, 21.9 paravertebral tubercles, 5.7 axilla-groin tubercles, and 4.7 tail tubercles). Finally, P. bugastrolepis is a medium species of insular gecko (maximum known SVL: 49 mm), presents 23 interorbital scales, 39 paravertebral tubercles, 15 rows of dorsal tubercles, and 23 axilla-groin tubercles (Dixon 1966). The combination of morphometric, meristic, and climatic characteristics allows us to identify and differentiate P. ngiwa populations from the rest of the Phyllodactylus species and populations in Mexico. (RAMÍREZ-REYES et al. 2025) Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 6022 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Distribution: see map in RAMÍREZ-REYES et al. 2025: 154 (Fig. 1), and p. 170 (Fig. 12). |
| Etymology | Named after the Ngiwa language (and Ngiwa people). The name of this indigenous people was selected because the territory of Ngiwa language speakers is similar to the distribution of P. ngiwa. |
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