Cyrtodactylus phongnhakebangensis Ziegler, Roesler , Herrmann & Vu, 2002

Luu, Vinh Quang, Nguyen, Truong Quang, Calame, Thomas, Hoang, Tuoi Thi, Southichack, Sisomphone, Bonkowski, Michael & Ziegler, Thomas, 2013, New country records of reptiles from Laos, Biodiversity Data Journal 1, pp. 1015-1015 : 1015

Cyrtodactylus phongnhakebangensis Ziegler, Roesler, Herrmann & Vu, 2002

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: V. Q. Luu; individualCount: 9; sex: 4 males, 5 females; Location: country: Laos; stateProvince: Khammouane; verbatimLocality: Hin Nam No National Protected Area; verbatimElevation: 180-580 m; verbatimLatitude: 17 º15'-17º; verbatimLongitude: 105 º43'-106º; Event: eventDate: 2013-05-07/2013-06-30; Record Level: institutionCode: IEBR, VFU, NUOL, ZFMK

Description

(Fig. 3)

Specimens examined (n = 9): Four adult males and five adult females, all collected by V. Q. Luu in Hin Nam No NPA, Khammouane Province: IEBR A.2013.89, adult male, 7 May 2013, from Hang Toi region, Noong Ma Commune (17°17.766'N, 106°08.803'E, elevation 580 m a.s.l.); VFU A.2013.1 and NUOL R-2013.2, adult males, 9 June 2013, from Vang Ma No Commune (17°30.778'N, 105°49.259'E, elevation 180 m a.s.l.); IEBR A.2013.90, adult male, 11 June 2013, from Ban Dou Commune (17°30.385'N, 105°49.160'E, elevation 183 m a.s.l.); ZFMK 95235, adult female, 8 May 2013, from Hang Toi region, Noong Ma Commune (17°17.763'N, 106°08.778'E, elevation 555 m a.s.l.); ZFMK 95236, adult female, 30 May 2013, from Noong Choong Region, Cha Lou Commune (17°20.248'N, 105°56.693'E, elevation 252 m a.s.l.); VFU A.2013.2-A.2013.3, adult females, 9 June 2013, from Vang Ma No Commune (17°30.778'N, 105°49.259'E, elevation 180 m a.s.l.); NUOL R-2013.3, adult female, 11 June 2013, from Ban Dou Commune (17°31.545'N, 105°49.086'E, elevation 197 m a.s.l.).

Morphological characters: SVL males 83.6-92.5 mm (mean ± SD 87.9 ± 4.9 mm), females 95-100.6 mm (mean ± SD 93.8 ± 5.0 mm); tail length (TaL) 101.6 mm in males, 108.3 mm in females; head depressed (HL/HW 1.6 in males, 1.5 in females), distinct from neck; snout longer than diameter of ocular (SE/OD 2 in males, 1.9 in females); snout scales small, homogeneous, granular, larger than those in frontal and parietal regions; rostral wider than high with a Y-shape in the middle; supranasals in contact; rostral bordered by first supralabial and nostril on each side; nares oval, surrounded by supranasal, rostral, first supralabial, and two enlarged postnasals; ear oval-shaped; mental triangular; postmental two, enlarged, in broad contact posteriorly; supralabials 9-12; infralabials 8-10; dorsal scales granular to flattened; dorsal tubercles triangular, conical, present on occiput, back and tail base, each surrounded by 8-9 granular scales, in 14-19 irregular longitudinal rows at midbody; ventral scales smooth, medial scales 2-3 times larger than dorsal scales, round, in 35-48 longitudinal rows at midbody; ventrolateral folds present; gular region with homogeneous smooth scales; precloacal groove absent; enlarged femoral scales present; femoral and precloacal pores 36-44 in males, pitted scales 0-28 in females; postcloacal tubercles 4-6; subcaudals enlarged; dorsal surface of fore and hind limbs with small tubercles; fingers and toes without distinct webbing; lamellae under fourth finger 16-21, under fourth toe 19-22. Coloration in preservative: Ground coloration of dorsal head and back greyish brown with dark spots; nuchal loop distinct, in U-shape, from posterior corner of eye through tympanum to the neck, dark brown, edged in white; body bands between limb insertions four to five, somewhat irregular, dark brown, edged in white; dorsal surface of fore and hind limbs with dark bars; tail brown dorsally with seven to eight light brown bands, edged in white; chin, throat, and belly cream; upper and lower lips with dark brown bars; tail ventrally grey with light dots (determination after Ziegler et al. 2002).

Ecology

Specimens were found between 19:00 and 22:00 on karst walls, ca. 0.5-3 m above the ground, near cave entrances in limestone forests, at elevations from 180 to 580 m a.s.l.

Distribution

Cyrtodactylus phongnhakebangensis has been known from Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park, Quang Binh Province, central Vietnam ( Nguyen et al. 2009). This is the first record of the species from Laos.

Notes

The Laotian specimens differ from the original description of Ziegler et al. (2002) by having somewhat higher femoral and precloacal pore counts in males (36-44 versus 32-42).