Hemiphyllodactylus ziegleri sp. nov. (Squamata, Gekkonidae), a new karst-dwelling gecko species from Son La Province, Vietnam

Based on morphological and molecular analyses, a new species of Hemiphyllodactylus is described from Son La Province, northern Vietnam. Hemiphyllodactylus ziegleri sp. nov. differs from its sister taxon, a paraphyletic H. yunnanensis, and other members of the genus Hemiphyllodactylus by at least 14 % in terms of genetic divergence based on a fragment of the ND 2 mitochondrial gene and a combination of the following morphological characters: SVL of adult males 38.7–41.9 mm and adult females 47.0– 49.3 mm; dorsal scale rows 21–27; ventral scale rows 12–16; chin scales bordering mental and first infralabial distinctly enlarged; digital lamellae formula 3444 (forefoot) and 4555 / 4 (hindfoot); femoral pores absent; precloacal pores 21–23 in males, absent in females; cloacal spur single, present in both sexes; dorsal trunk pattern yellowish grey; body with a discontinuous light dorsolateral stripe.

Our discovery increases the number of species within the genus to 73.