Cyrtodactylus dianxiensis Liu & Rao, 2021 was originally described based on only two adult male specimens from Tongbiguan Nature Reserve, Dehong Autonomous Prefecture, western Yunnan, China. So far, no information on the females of this species is available. During comprehensive herpetofaunal investigations in 2022, one female specimen of C. dianxiensis was collected from Tongbiguan Nature Reserve. The female specimen agrees well with the original description of C. dianxiensis, and also shows some slight differences in coloration. This study reported the female specimen of this species for the first time, and provided a description and photos of the female specimen; meanwhile, we extended the diagnosis of this species.

bent-toed gecko, China, morphology, Yunnan

Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827 (bent-toed geckos) is the most speciose and ecologically diverse gekkonid genus, with more than 350 recognized species distributed from the Western Himalayas through southeast Asia to the Western Pacific (Wood et al. 2012; Uetz et al. 2024). Most species of Cyrtodactylus are karst-adapted or granite-adapted species (Grismer et al. 2020). With the in-depth investigation of karst areas, the underestimated biodiversity of Cyrtodactylus has been gradually revealed (Grismer et al. 2018; Liu et al. 2021, 2023).

So far, ten species of Cyrtodactylus have been recognized in China, and all are distributed in southwestern China, namely Yunnan Province and Tibet Autonomous Region. Four of them were recorded in Tibet: C. tibetanus (Boulenger, 1905), C. cayuensis Li, 2007, C. zhaoermii Shi & Zhao, 2010 and C. kamengensis Mirza, Bhosale, Thackeray, Phansalkar, Sawant, Gowande, Patel & Kamengensis, 2022. The other six were recorded in Yunnan: C. dianxiensis Liu & Rao, 2021, C. gulinqingensis Liu, Li, Hou, Orlov & Ananjeva, 2021, C. hekouensis Zhang, Liu, Bernstein, Wang & Yuan, 2021, C. zhenkangensis Liu & Rao, 2021, C. menglianensis Liu & Rao, 2022 and C. caixitaoi Liu, Rao, Hou, Wang & Ananjeva, 2023, among which, C. dianxiensis belong to the C. khasiensis species group, and the remaining belong to the C. chauquangensis species group.

Cyrtodactylus dianxiensis is similar to C. khasiensis and previously the species have been confused with one another (Liu and Rao 2021; Wang et al. 2022). Liu and Rao (2021) describe the population of C. khasiensis distributed in Western Yunnan as a new species, C. dianxiensis. Cyrtodactylus dianxiensis, currently the only forest-dwelling Cyrtodactylus species recorded in Yunnan Province, China, was described based on one adult male holotype (KIZL2019044) from Tongbiguan Township, Yingjiang County, and one adult male paratype (KIZ2003170) from Longchuan County, both in Tongbiguan Nature Reserve, Dehong Autonomous Prefecture, western Yunnan, China (Liu and Rao 2021); no female information about this species was available. Identification verification of C. khasiensis voucher specimens deposited in museums could potentially yield additional specimens of C. dianxiensis. However, we have not yet been given the opportunity to examine the relevant specimens in other museums.

During a comprehensive herpetofaunal survey of Tongbiguan Nature Reserve in 2022, one female specimen of Cyrtodactylus was collected from Tongbiguan Nature Reserve, Xueli Village, Taiping Town, Yingjiang County, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China (Fig. 1). Morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses revealed that the specimen is C. dianxiensis. Here, we provide morphological data for the newly collected female specimen of C. dianxiensis, and extend the diagnosis of this species.

Figure 1. 

Sampling sites of Cyrtodactylus dianxiensis: solid black star, the locality of the holotype; solid black triangle, the locality of the paratype; solid green circle, the locality of the newly collected female specimen.

Bayesian inference and ML trees showed consistent topology. The newly collected female specimen clustered with the specimens (including the holotype) of C. dianxiensis with strong support by both BI and ML (BI/ML=1/100, Fig. 2). The genetic distance (uncorrected p-distance) between the newly collected female specimen and the specimens (including the holotype) of C. dianxiensis was only 0.9% (Table 2).

Figure 2. 

Bayesian phylogram of the Cyrtodactylus khasiensis species group inferred from ND2 sequences. Numbers before slashes indicate Bayesian posterior probabilities and numbers after slashes indicate the ML ultrafast bootstrap. Values below 0.90/90 are not shown.

 Cyrtodactylus dianxiensis Liu & Rao, 2021

Figs 3, 4, Table 3

Specimen examined

KIZ2022159, adult female, collected on 13 September 2022 by Shuo Liu from Tongbiguan Nature Reserve, Xueli Village, Taiping Town, Yingjiang County, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China (24°26'35"N, 97°33'1"E; at an elevation of 380 m) (Fig. 1).

Figure 3. 

The female specimen (KIZ2022159) of Cyrtodactylus dianxiensis in life. A. Dorsal view; B. Close-up dorsal view of the head; C. Close-up dorsolateral view of the head.

Description of the female specimen

SVL 75.0 mm; head relatively large (HL/SVL 0.26, HW/HL 0.68), depressed (HH/HL 0.45), distinct from neck; loreal and interorbital region concave, canthus rostralis slightly swollen; snout moderately long (SE/HL 0.40); eye large (ED/HL 0.24); pupil vertical with crenulated margins; ear opening oval, obliquely oriented (EL/HL 0.08); rostral with midrostral suture dorsally; two large supranasals, separated by one small internasal; dorsal head scales heterogeneous, rounded, granules; mental triangular with a pair of enlarged postmentals followed by some gradually decreasing chin-shields; scales on other region of the ventral head almost homogeneous, small, rounded, granules; supralabials seven to midorbital position on both sides, nine to angle of the jaw on right side and ten to angle of the jaw on the left side; infralabials nine on right side and seven on left side.

Figure 4. 

The female specimen (KIZ2022159) of Cyrtodactylus dianxiensis in preservative. A. Dorsal view; B. Ventral view; C. Close-up view of the precloacal and femoral regions.

Body slender (TRL/SVL 0.45); dorsal scales heterogeneous, primarily small rounded granules, intermixed with irregularly arranged large circular tubercles, tubercles on nape and occipital region smaller than those on dorsum; ventrolateral folds present; ventral scales larger than dorsal; enlarged femoral scales and femoral pores absent; precloacal scales enlarged, precloacal pores absent; no precloacal groove; cloacal spurs indistinct.

Table 3.

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Measurements (mm) and meristic data for the female specimen of Cyrtodactylus dianxiensis. See Materials and methods for abbreviations.

	KIZ2022159		KIZ2022159
SVL	75.0	EE	5.9
TRL	33.8	EL	1.6
BW	11.6	IN	2.5
TL	73.7	IO	2.6
TW	6.8	FP	0
HL	19.3	PcP	0
HW	13.2	MVSR	35
HH	8.6	PVT	32
FL	11.5	DTR	17
CL	13.3	SL (R/L)	9(7)/10(7)
ED	4.6	IL (R/L)	9/8
NE	6.1	LF4	17/16
SE	7.8	LT4	20/20

Limbs slender (FL/SVL 0.15, CL/SVL 0.18); digits strongly inflected at each joint, all bearing robust, recurved claws; relative length of digits: I<II<V<III<IV (manus) and I<II<III<V<IV (pes); scales on dorsal forelimbs heterogeneous, granules, with small tubercles interspersed, scales on dorsal hind limbs heterogeneous, granular, with large conical tubercles interspersed; ventral scales of limbs almost homogeneous, granular, smaller than those on ventral body.

Original tail broken but exists, subequal to body length (TL/SVL 0.98); dorsal tail scales heterogeneous, with small tubercles interspersed; two rows of subcaudal scales slightly enlarged.

Coloration in life

Dorsal surface of head almost uniform brownish gray; upper lip brownish gray with many white spots, an indistinct black postorbital streak that extends backwards above ear opening on each side; a disconnected W-shaped black stripe on the occiput; dorsal surface of body brownish gray with many short black and white streaks roughly forming longitudinal rows; dorsal surface of limbs gray with indistinct white bands and spots; dorsal surface of tail grayish black with ten white bands; ventral surfaces of head, body, and limbs white, ventral surface of tail checkered with brownish gray and white; iris bronze with dark reticulations, edge of pupil orange red.

Extended diagnosis

Body size moderate (SVL 73.8–79.9 mm in adults); 9–12 supralabials; 8–11 infralabials; 17–19 longitudinal rows of rounded, conical dorsal tubercles; 31–32 paravertebral tubercles; 35–41 ventral scales between ventrolateral folds; no precloacal groove; femoral scales not enlarged, no femoral pores; 7–8 precloacals in males, no precloacal in female; 16–17 total subdigital lamellae beneath finger IV, 19–20 total subdigital lamellae beneath toe IV; subcaudal scales not transversely enlarged or two median rows slightly enlarged. Dorsum with light and dark blotches roughly forming longitudinal markings; a W-shaped black stripe present on occipital region; tail with 8–10 alternating dark and light bands; iris blueish gray or bronze with orange red edge.

The female specimen agrees well with the original description (Liu and Rao 2021) of C. dianxiensis in measurements and meristic counts, however, there are some slight differences in coloration between them. The female specimen has a relatively lighter body color; the dorsal head of the holotype of C. dianxiensis is mixed with brown and grayish white, while it is almost uniform brownish gray in the female specimen; the iris of the holotype is blueish gray with no orange red edge, while the iris is bronze with orange red edge in the female specimen. Therefore, in this species, the coloration of dorsal head is not always mottled, but may also be uniform; in addition, the iris of this species has two color types, blueish gray and bronze with orange red edge.

The holotype of C. dianxiensis was collected at an altitude of 1170 m and the paratype was collected at an altitude of 1200 m (Liu and Rao 2021). However, the female specimen was collected at a much lower altitude. This record extends the lowest elevational distribution of this species to 380 m.

Cyrtodactylus dianxiensis was previously known based on only two adult males and one juvenile (Liu and Rao 2021). This study reported the female specimen of this species for the first time, and provided a detailed description and photos of the female of this species. However, we have only collected one female specimen of this species, and it is unknown whether some differences between male and female are permanent. In addition, the range and population status of this species will need to be determined by collecting more specimens in the future.

Thanks to the editors and reviewers for their work on the manuscript. We also would like to thank Yunnan key laboratory of biodiversity and ecological conservation of Gaoligong Mountain for its support. This study was supported by the Science-Technology Basic Condition Platform from the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China (No. 2005DKA21402) and Yunnan Applied Basic Research Projects (No. 202301AT070312).