Discovery of another new lizard species in limestone forests of Cao Bang Province

02/12/2013

A new species of lizard was recently described by scientists from Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources - VAST, Hanoi Nationnal University - Vietnam and Cologne, Germany based on morphological comparisons and molecular phylogenetic analyses. The description of the new species was published in Zootaxa in November, 2013 (No. 3736). The new species, Hemiphyllodactylus zugi Nguyen, Lehmann, Le, Duong, Bonkowski & Ziegler, 2013, was named after Prof. George Zug from the Smithsonian Institution, USA, in recognition of his contribution to herpetological research in Southeast Asia.

The Zug’s Slender Gecko can be identified by a combination of the following morphological characters: body depressed; size small, snout-vent length 41-47 mm; tai short, depressed; femoral and precloacal pore series continuous, 18–21 in total in males; dorsal surface of head and body yellowish grey with dark brown marks, reticulation-like on neck or irregular bands on dorsum and tail base; dark stripe on lateral head indistinct, from behind the eye to shoulder, edged above by a narrow white stripe; upper zone of flank with a series of large light spots, from behind forelimb to tail base, edged above and below in dark grey; distinct postsacral mark with middorsal dark brown spot bordered behind and laterally by white V- or U-shaped arms; throat, venter, and precloacal region yellowish cream. The new species inhabits secondary limestone forests in Ha Lang District, Cao Bang Province, at elevations between 450–600 m. This is the second new species of lizard, besides the Adler’s Gecko Gekko adleri, both were discovered from Cao Bang Province in 2013.

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