Research Publication Details

Abstract

Abstract A new species of Lepidodactylus is described from Gunung Alab in the Crocker Range in Sabah, East Malaysian Borneo. It is the sister species of Lepidodactylus ranauensis which occurs on Mount Kinabalu. Apart from its allopatric distribution, the new species, Lepidodactylus crockerensis sp. nov. is genetically distinct from its closest congeners and can be further distinguished based on statistically different aspects of its morphological measurements and digital scalation. The new species can be further separated from other species of Lepidodactylus by having the unique combination morphological characters: 10–14 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; slight webbing between toes III and IV; 32–40 contiguous, pore bearing, femoro-precloacal pores in males; tail subcylindrical without a lateral fringe of enlarged scales; dorsum in life varies from brownish-grey in its light phase with lighter grey mottling and chevron markings or spots in vertebral region to dark brown in its dark phase with markings in light brown or cream; pair of sacral spots present in some specimens; top of tail banded, venter beige to cream with mottling; underside of limbs and cloacal region yellowish, and underside of tail cream to salmon coloured. We also provide additional morphological measurements for L. ranauensis that was previously described based on a single specimen. Lepidodactylus crockerensis sp. nov. is the third species of the genus recorded from Borneo and highlights the importance of the Crocker Range in Sabah as a site for herpetological discoveries and insular and montane endemism. Key words: East Malaysia, biodiversity, endemic, herpetology, herpetofauna, Mourning gecko, reptile, Sabah, conservation, upland