Scratching the surface: a new species of Bent-toed gecko (Squamata, Gekkonidae, Cyrtodactylus) from Timor-Leste of the darmandvillei group marks the potential for future discoveries

A new species of limestone-dwelling Bent-toed gecko (genus Cyrtodactylus) is described from Nino Konis Santana National Park in the far-east region of Timor-Leste. Both genetic and morphological data strong-ly support the evolutionary distinctness of the new species, which we describe herein as Cyrtodactylus santana sp. nov. Phylogenetic analysis based on the ND2 mitochondrial gene inferred the new species as part of the C. darmandvillei group with close genetic affinities to C. batucolus, C. seribuatensis, C. petani, C. sadleiri, and two undescribed lineages from the Moluccas in Indonesia. The new species represents the first species of Cyrtodactylus identified at the species level from Timor-Leste and fills an important gap in our understanding of the biogeography and evolutionary history of Cyrtodactylus especially in the Wal-lacean region. Our results strongly suggest that the diversity of Cyrtodactylus in Wallacea is still underesti-mated and many more unnamed species remain to be described.

Automated summary

A new species of limestone-dwelling Bent-toed gecko, Cyrtodactylus santana sp. nov., was discovered in Nino Konis Santana National Park in Timor-Leste. Genetic and morphological data supported the distinctiveness of the new species, which belongs to the C. darmandvillei group and shows close genetic affinities to other species in Indonesia. This finding fills an important gap in the understanding of the biogeography and evolutionary history of Cyrtodactylus in the Wallacean region.