Grismer L Lee, Rujirawan Attapol, Termprayoon Korkhwan, Ampai Natee, Yodthong Siriporn, Wood Perry L Jr, Oaks Jamie R, Aowphol Anchalee
Herpetology Laboratory, Department of Biology, La Sierra University, 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside, California 92515, USA..
Zootaxa. 2020 Sep 17;4852(4):zootaxa.4852.4.1. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4852.4.1.
A new gekkonid lizard, Cyrtodactylus maelanoi sp. nov., from Mae Hong Son Province of the Thai Highlands is described using an integrative taxonomic analysis based on morphology, color pattern, and the mitochondrial gene NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) and its flanking tRNAs. Phylogenetic analyses place the new species within clade 1 of the C. sinyineensis group and as the sister species to C. inthanon with an uncorrected pairwise sequence divergence of 3.9%. Collection data gathered in the field indicate that C. maelanoi sp. nov. is a habitat generalist. Reconstruction of the ancestral habitat preference for the C. sinyineensis group by way of stochasitc character mapping (SCM) indicates that karstic environments were the ancestral condition out of which the general habitat preference of the ancestor of C. maelanoi sp. nov. and C. inthanon and that of C. amphipetreaus and C. doisuthep evolved three times independently. Additionally, SCM demonstrated that the evolution of a granitic habitat preference from a karst-adapted ancestor happened in C. aequalis. The discovery of a new upland species in the Thai Highlands brings into focus the understudied nature of the mountain systems of western Thailand and the need for their continued exploration and conservation.
基于形态学、色斑模式以及线粒体基因烟酰胺腺嘌呤二核苷酸脱氢酶亚基2（ND2）及其侧翼转运RNA，运用综合分类学分析方法，对泰国高地夜丰颂府发现的一种新的半叶趾虎属蜥蜴——梅拉诺半叶趾虎（Cyrtodactylus maelanoi sp. nov.）进行了描述。系统发育分析将该新物种置于中华半叶趾虎组的分支1内，作为因他农半叶趾虎的姐妹物种，未校正的成对序列差异为3.9%。在野外收集的采集数据表明，梅拉诺半叶趾虎是一种栖息地泛化物种。通过随机特征映射（SCM）对中华半叶趾虎组的祖先栖息地偏好进行重建，结果表明岩溶环境是祖先的栖息条件，梅拉诺半叶趾虎和因他农半叶趾虎的祖先以及双栖半叶趾虎和素贴山半叶趾虎的一般栖息地偏好是从该条件下独立进化而来的三次。此外，SCM表明，在平等半叶趾虎中，从适应岩溶的祖先进化出了对花岗岩栖息地的偏好。在泰国高地发现一个新的高地物种，凸显了泰国西部山区系统研究不足的现状以及对其持续探索和保护的必要性。
