Scratching the surface: a new species of Bent-toed gecko (Squamata, Gekkonidae, Cyrtodactylus) from Timor-Leste of the darmandvillei group marks the potential for future discoveries

Abstract

A new species of limestone-dwelling Bent-toed gecko (genus Cyrtodactylus) is described from Nino Konis Santana National Park in the far-east region of Timor-Leste. Both genetic and morphological data strongly support the evolutionary distinctness of the new species, which we describe herein as Cyrtodactylus santanasp. nov. Phylogenetic analysis based on the ND2 mitochondrial gene inferred the new species as part of the C. darmandvillei group with close genetic affinities to C. batucolus, C. seribuatensis, C. petani, C. sadleiri, and two undescribed lineages from the Moluccas in Indonesia. The new species represents the first species of Cyrtodactylus identified at the species level from Timor-Leste and fills an important gap in our understanding of the biogeography and evolutionary history of Cyrtodactylus especially in the Wallacean region. Our results strongly suggest that the diversity of Cyrtodactylus in Wallacea is still underestimated and many more unnamed species remain to be described.