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Type: Articles
Published: 2006-06-29
Page range: 59–68
Abstract views: 69
PDF downloaded: 3

A new species of Cyrtodactylus (Lacertilia: Gekkonidae) from Papua New Guinea

Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice St., Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice St., Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Reptilia lizard gecko Milne Bay Woodlark Island new species

Abstract

We describe a new gecko, Cyrtodactylus murua, from Woodlark Island, off the southeastern tip of Papua New Guinea. The new species differs from all Papuan congeners except C. louisiadensis (de Vis) and C. aaroni Günther & Rösler in having a single row of enlarged subcaudal scales. From C. louisiadensis, the new species is easily distinguished by its color pattern and by having fewer rows of enlarged dorsal tubercles; from C. aaroni by its larger size and fewer dark dorsal bands. The new species is almost certainly restricted to Woodlark Island and represents the first endemic reptile described from that island.

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