Spiky creature — with ‘bent’ toes — found lurking by mountain stream is a new species
The gurgling of a mountain stream filled the warm night air in Vietnam. Scientists approached the water and noticed a spiky creature perched on a nearby rock. It was one of two new species.
Researchers conducting wildlife surveys ventured into the darkened forests of Chu Mu mountain in 2014, according to a study published June 19 in the European Journal of Taxonomy.
Walking along the “rocky stream,” they spotted a pair of lizards lurking on the rocks. They collected the small reptiles and, after taking a closer look, realized they’d discovered a new species.
The new species was named Cyrtodactylus chumuensis, or the Chu Mu bent-toed gecko, researchers said. The Chu Mu bent-toed gecko can reach about 4.7 inches in size, even with a regenerated tail. It has a “slender” body with spiky bumps running along its back.
Photos show the gecko’s “light-brown” coloring with dark brown bands and yellow speckles scattered along its body.
The Chu Mu bent-toed gecko was named after the mountain where it was discovered, researchers said. Chu Mu mountain is in Dak Lak province and about 250 miles northeast of Ho Chi Minh City.
The researchers also discovered a second new species of gecko while surveying Binh Dinh province in 2016, the study said. They spotted the lizards on trees and rocks at night, also near a stream.
Binh Dinh province is about 360 miles northeast of Ho Chi Minh City.
The second new species was named Cyrtodactylus arndti, or Arndt’s bent-toed gecko. The gecko was named after Hartmut Arndt “in recognition of his support for biodiversity research in Vietnam,” researchers said.
Arndt’s bent-toed gecko can reach about 6.8 inches in size, the study said. The geckos have a “slender” body, “sheathed” claws and rows of spiky bumps along their back. Photos show the gecko’s light brown coloring and darker brown blotches. Its eyes appear to have a yellow rim.
Researchers identified the new species as distinct based on their scale patterns and other morphological features, the study said.
DNA analysis confirmed the new gecko species were genetically distinct. Both new species had at least about 11% genetic divergence from other gecko species, the study said.
“The next step after the discovery is to investigate population status and evaluate current threats” to the new species conservation, the study’s lead co-author Hanh Thi Ngo told McClatchy News.
“Many areas in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam where (geckos) might occur are still poorly studied,” researchers said. “Urgent research is needed … for providing a better understanding of the population status, threats, and distribution of (gecko) species.”
The research team included Ngo, Helene Hormann, Minh Duc Le, Cuong The Pham, Trung My Phung, Dang Trong Do, Sabrina Ostrowski, Truong Quang Nguyen and Thomas Ziegler.
The researchers are part of a multi-national and multi-organizational team aimed at better understanding “various threatened reptile species in Vietnam” to help protect the animals, Ngo told McClatchy News.
UPDATE (7/4): The story was updated to include additional comments from Hanh Thi Ngo. The updated article appears above.
This story was originally published July 3, 2023 at 8:35 AM with the headline "Spiky creature — with ‘bent’ toes — found lurking by mountain stream is a new species."
