It is the sister species of C. septimontium, which hails from southern Vietnam, according to the synopsis announcing the new species.
Researchers have discovered a new species of lizard from the Cyrtodactylus intermedius group (intermediate bow-fingered gecko). The lizard, C. kiriromensis sp. nov. was found in Cambodia’s Kirirom National Park of Phnom Sruoch. The park is located in the Cardamom Mountains.
Cyrtodactylus kiriromensis is different based on “mitochondrial (ND2) phylogeny and statistically diagnosed using meristic, morphometric, and color pattern characters,” according to the research paper announcing the new species.
It is the sister species of C. septimontium, which hails from southern Vietnam, according to the synopsis announcing the new species. It is in the clade with six other site-specific endemic species that are found in the mountains and islands in southeastern Cambodia and southwestern Vietnam.
This discovery, the researchers say, underscores the importance of the region as a “source of speciation” and the contribution the area is to herpetological diversity of Cambodia.
An abstract of the paper, “A new species of the Cyrtodactylus intermedius group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) continues to underscore the high degree of site-specific endemism in the Cardamom Region, Cambodia” can be read on Mapress.com
