Cyrtodactylus aequalis, BAUER, 2003

Grismer, L. Lee, Wood, Perry L., Jr., Thura, Myint Kyaw, Zin, Thaw, Quah, Evan S. H., Murdoch, Matthew L., Grismer, Marta S., Lin, Aung, Kyaw, Htet & Lwin, Ngwe, 2018, Twelve new species of Cyrtodactylus Gray (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from isolated limestone habitats in east-central and southern Myanmar demonstrate high localized diversity and unprecedented microendemism, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 182, pp. 862-959 : 951

CYRTODACTYLUS AEQUALIS BAUER, 2003

Type locality: ‘ Kyaik-Hti-Yo Wildlife Sanctuary , Kyaik Hto Township, Mon State, Myanmar (17°26’38.1’’N, 97°05’56.8’’E)’. Holotype: CAS 222185 .

Remarks: The description of Cyrtodactylus aequalis was based on a single specimen that was purported to be an adult male in the ‘Holotype’ section of the description but in the ‘Description’ section it is referred to as an adult female ( Bauer, 2003). Bauer (2003) noted that the femoral and precloacal pores were ‘minute’ which is characteristic of most females of Cyrtodactylus , whereas the 13 femoral and five precloacal pores in the adult male examined here ( LSUHC 12895) are large and well-developed ( Fig. 4A).

Natural history: Although not reported in the original description, the holotype was collected at 436 m in elevation alongside a mountain road that terminates at the Golden Rock pilgrimage site. The habitat at the collection site is degraded, secondary forest with outcroppings of large granite boulders. LSUHC 12895 was taken at the end of this road on Kyaiktiyo Hill in the Paung-laung ridge of the Eastern Yoma Mountains (N17°28.819, E97°05.974) at 1101 m at 1600 h. The specimen was found within a crack between two large granite boulders ( Fig. 38). Although C. aequalis is part of the sinyineensis group that contains lowland, karst-adapted species, it is a granite dwelling species ranging from at least 436–1101 m above sea level. This would indicate that granite rock and not elevation is the limiting factor of its distribution. Being a relatively large species (maximum SVL = 90 mm; Bauer, 2003) nested within a species group composed of smaller (maximum SVL = 69.3–91.6 mm), karst-adapted species suggests that its use of granitic substrate is a microhabitat shift from karst to granite .