Cyrtodactylus miriensis DAVIS, DAS, LEACHÉ, KARIN, BRENNAN, JACKMAN, NASHRIQ, CHAN & BAUER, 2021
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Cyrtodactylus miriensis
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| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Cyrtodactylus miriensis DAVIS, DAS, LEACHÉ, KARIN, BRENNAN, JACKMAN, NASHRIQ, CHAN & BAUER 20121 Cyrtodactylus pubisulcus — HIKIDA 1990 |
| Distribution | Malaysia (Miri and Limbang Divisions, Sarawak, Borneo) Type locality: Gunung Mulu National Park, Miri Division, Sarawak, Malaysia |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: CAS 262994 Paratypes: CAS 262989; UNIMAS 9620; UNIMAS 9621; UNIMAS 9622; UNIMAS 9623 |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Cyrtodactylus miriensis can be distinguished from all Cyrtodactylus species by a combination of the following characters: maximum SVL of at least 71 mm; 10–14 supralabials; 10–11 infralabials; weak tuberculation on dorsal surface of body; no tubercles on ventral surface of body; 47–57 paravertebral tubercles; 12–20 longitudinal tubercle rows; 33–45 ventral scales; 17–21 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; no femoral pores; no enlarged femoral scales; 1–5 precloacal pores; precloacal slit; blotches, indistinct dorsal body bands, and/or longitudinal stripes; no rostral chevron; and no single row of enlarged caudal scales. The species can further be distinguished using fixed genetic differences (Davis et al. 2021). Comparisons: Cyrtodactylus miriensis differs from most of its Bornean congeners by one or more morphological characteristics. The new species is distinguished from C. baluensis (Mocquard) in having a precloacal slit as opposed to a pit and fewer precloacal pores (0–5 versus 9–12); it is distinguished from C. cavernicolus in having fewer ventral scales (33–45 versus 51–58) and fewer subdigital lamellae on the fourth toe (17–21 versus 22–26); it is distinguished from C. consobrinus (Peters) in having a smaller maximum SVL (71 mm versus 125 mm), no reticulated pattern on the parietal, and a precloacal slit as opposed to a pit; it is distinguished from C. ingeri Hikida in having a precloacal slit as opposed to a pit, fewer subdigital lamellae (17–21 versus 23–27), and ventral scales slightly imbricate as opposed to non-overlapping; it is distinguished from C. limajalur in having a smaller maximum SVL (71 mm versus 94 mm), no enlarged femoral scales as opposed to 5–6, and precloacal slit as opposed to a pit; it is distinguished from C. malayanus in having a lower number of ventral scales (33–45 versus 58–62), a smaller maximum SVL (71 mm versus 83 mm), and no reticulated pattern on the parietal; it is distinguished from C. muluensis in having a varied color pattern with dark blotches as opposed to bands, fewer precloacal pores (0–5 versus 4–5), and a smaller maximum SVL (71 mm versus 88 mm); it is distinguished from C. matsuii in having a smaller SVL (71 mm versus 105 mm) and no single row of enlarged subcaudals; and it is distinguished from C. yoshii in having a smaller maximum SVL (71 mm versus 96 mm), fewer subdigital lamellae on the fourth toe (17–21 versus 25–30), and fewer ventral scales (33–45 versus 50–58). No morphological characters consistently distinguish C. miriensis from C. pubisulcus or C. hantu. Noticeable trends separating the three lineages are seen: C. miriensis and C. hantu males can have zero precloacal pores opposed to C. pubisulcus which has at least five pores. All three species have a high degree of variation in dorsal coloration but C. hantu seems to express longitudinal stripes more frequently than C. miriensis or C. pubisulcus. Cyrtodactylus miriensis has a higher maximum number of paravertebral tubercles (47–57) than C. pubisulcus (41–55) and C. hantu (37–48). The combination of these features can often be used to identify each species, but there is definitive genetic data to distinguish them. Using genetic differences in our ND2 alignment, C. pubisulcus can be differentiated from the other two species by an amino acid change at base pair position 105 from a Methionine to an Alanine; C. miriensis can be distinguished by a three nucleotide insertion at position 633, and an amino acid shift from Alanine to Leucine at position 454 (Alignment S1) (Davis et al. 2021). Color in life: Dorsal color of head, body, limbs, and tail brown; wide dark-brown nuchal loop that extends to the tip of the snout, edged by white line; seven dark-brown bands between nuchal loop and the posterior portion of the limb insertion, each edged anteriorly and posteriorly by thin dark-brown lines; body bands wider than interspaces; limbs with light-brown band/blotch pattern; ventral portion of body uniform light cream color; tail bearing ten dark bands separated by eleven, narrower grey bands dorsally, uniform beige ventrally (Davis et al. 2021). |
| Comment | Similar species: C. pubisulcus; C. hantu |
| Etymology | The specific epithet miriensis is in reference to the distribution of the species in the Miri Division of Sarawak. |
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