Abstract
The first integrative taxonomic analysis of the Cyrtodactylus brevipalmatus group of Southeast Asia recovered two newly discovered populations from the Tenasserim Mountains in Suan Phueng District, Ratchaburi Province, Thailand as a new species described here as C. rukhadeva sp. nov. Based on 1397 base pairs of the mitochondrial gene NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2), C. rukhadeva sp. nov. is the well-supported sister species to a clade containing three undescribed species, C. ngati, and C. cf. interdigitalis with a large uncorrected pairwise sequence divergence from other species in the brevipalmatus group ranging from 15.4–22.1%. Cyrtodactylus elok and C. brevipalmatus are recovered as poorly supported sister species and the well-supported sister lineage to the remainder of the brevipalmatus group. Cyrtodactylus rukhadeva sp. nov. is putatively diagnosable on the basis of a number of meristic characters and easily separated from the remaining species of the brevipalmatus group by a number of discrete morphological characters as well as its statistically significant wide separation in multivariate morphospace. The discovery of C. rukhadeva sp. nov. continues to underscore the unrealized herpetological diversity in the upland forests of the Tenasserim Mountains and that additional field work will undoubtedly result in the discovery of additional new species.
Highlights
Taxonomic partitioning of closely related, highly specialized, cryptic species has always been challenging because strong selection pressures on morphological characters can result in high degrees of parallel evolution
The tangled taxonomic history among the species of the brevipalmatus group revolves around their general morphological similarity (Fig. 9)—likely resulting from selection pressures from their unique, secretive, arboreal life style—and the fact that no detailed morphological analysis incorporating genetic data had ever been conducted
Smith’s (1935) report of C. brevipalmatus from Ban Pa Che, Raheang (Umphang in Ellis and Pauwels 2012) Tak Province in western Thailand was based on material he did not examine and his account merely re-described his specimens from the type locality at Khao Luang, Nakon Sri Thammarat Province (Smith 1923, 1930)
Summary
Taxonomic partitioning of closely related, highly specialized, cryptic species has always been challenging because strong selection pressures on morphological characters can result in high degrees of parallel evolution. In the most recent taxonomic study, Grismer (2008) noted a number of errors and misinterpretations in the literature based on misidentifications between C. interdigitalis and C. brevipalmatus Smith (Smith, 1923, 1930, 1935; Welch 1990; Ulber 1993; Manthey and Grossmann 1997; Nabhitabhata et al 2004) These errors stemmed from the fact that these two species are extremely similar in morphology and color pattern, and if not examined carefully across a broad range of characters, are confused with one another. Populations from Laos and Thailand outside the type locality generally referred to as C. interdigitalis (e.g. Manthey and Grossmann 1997; Cox et al 1998; Chan-ard et al 1999, 2015; Stuart 1999; Nabhitabhata and Chan-ard 2005; Ellis and Pauwels 2012; Nurngsomsri et al 2014; Grismer and Davis 2018; Chomej et al 2021) are treated here as C. cf. interdigitalis pending further investigations
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