Blotchy ‘slender’-limbed creature found near tourist site. It’s a new species
As nighttime settled across a national park in Vietnam, a blotchy creature with “slender” limbs emerged and climbed along the rocks near a waterfall. Its “large” eyes scanned the tourist site, but it wasn’t the only one looking around.
Visiting scientists found the lurking animal — and discovered a new species.
A team of researchers visited Chu Yang Sin National Park in 2023 to survey its biodiversity, according to a study published Sept. 3 in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa.
Chu Yang Sin National Park is situated in a mountainous forest region “with many rare flora and fauna,” making it “an ideal destination for many researchers as well as domestic and foreign tourists,” according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
During their nighttime surveys, researchers found several unfamiliar-looking lizards near a waterfall, the study said. They took a closer look at the animals and soon realized they’d discovered a new species: Cyrtodactylus chuyangsinensis, or the Chuyangsin bent-toed gecko.
Chuyangsin bent-toed geckos can reach about 7.5 inches long, the study said. They have “relatively long” heads with “blunt” snouts and “large” eyes. Their limbs are “moderately slender.”
Photos show the blotchy brown coloring of the new species. Its head has “small, irregularly shaped dark-brown blotches,” and a “loop”-like marking stretches across the back of its neck, researchers said.
Chuyangsin bent-toed geckos were found at night “on stacked granite rocks and cliffs” near a waterfall used for “tourism activities,” the study said. These activities as well as park campfires “represent a potential threat” to the lizards.
“A comprehensive assessment of the species’ population status and tourism-related impacts are necessary to formulate effective conservation strategies,” the study said.
Researchers said they named the new species after Chu Yang Sin National Park where it was first discovered and, so far, the only place where the lizards have been found. The park is in Dak Lak Province of central Vietnam and a roughly 200-mile drive northeast from Ho Chi Minh City.
The new species was identified by its coloring, scale pattern, body proportions and other subtle physical features, the study said. DNA analysis found the new species had at least 7% genetic divergence from related species.
The research team Thuong Huyen Nguyen, Vinh Quang Huu Nguyen, Trung Thanh Nguyen, Hong Bich Ha, Sang Van Le, L. Lee Grismer and Vinh Quang Luu.
This story was originally published September 5, 2025 at 11:51 AM with the headline "Blotchy ‘slender’-limbed creature found near tourist site. It’s a new species."
