The Dixonius genus is a genus of Asian geckos called the leaf-toed geckos.
Researchers have described a leaf-toed gecko new to science from Thailand. The gecko, Dixonius hinchangsi sp. nov. was found near Hin Chang Si Khon Kaen province. This province is located in northeastern Thailand. According to researchers, Dixonius hinchangsi sp. nov. is different from all known Dixonius lizard species based on its different morphological characteristics. These characteristics include size, scale pattern, coloring, glands, spikes, etc. The species has a maximum known snout to vent length of 50.1mm, 12 longitudinal rows of dorsal tubercles; 30 to 34 paravertebral tubercles; 23 to 27 longitudinal rows of ventral scales across the abdomen, according to an abstract describing the species.
The Dixonius Genus
The Dixonius genus is a genus of Asian geckos called the leaf-toed geckos. Dixonius hinchangsi is described as living in sandstones in Hin Chang Si Khon Kaen province. There are currently 14 known species of gecko in the genus. The genus is named in honor of American herpetologist James R. Dixon. Dixon died in 2015. He was professor emeritus and curator emeritus of amphibians and reptiles at the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection at Texas A&M University.
The genus, Dixonius, was named after him in 1997. A frog, the white lipped peeping frog, Eleutherodactylus dixoni was also named after Dixon as was the gray checkered whiptail (Cnemidophorus dixoni ) and of course, the Dixon’s leaf-toed gecko, Phyllodactylus dixoni . The other known species are D. aaronbaueri, D. dulayaphitakorum, D. fulbrighti, D. hangseesom, D. kaweesaki, D. lao, D. melanostictus, D. mekongensis, D. minhlei, D. pawangkhananti, D. siamensis, D. somchanhae, D. taoi, and D. vietnamensis.
The researchers describing the species are Olivier Pauwels, Sunandan Das, Kirati Kunya, Montri Sumontha, Nattasuda Donbundit, Thomas Pauwels, Gontran Sonet, Jonathan Brecko and Worawitoo Meesook.
An abstract of the research paper, “A new sandstone-dwelling leaf-toed gecko (Gekkonidae: Dixonius hinchangsi) from Khon Kaen Province, northeastern Thailand” can be read on the Mapress.com website.
