Scratching the surface: a new species of Bent-toed gecko (Squamata, Gekkonidae, ) from Timor-Leste of the group marks the potential for future discoveries.

A new species of limestone-dwelling Bent-toed gecko (genus ) is described from Nino Konis Santana National Park in the far-east region of Timor-Leste. Both genetic and morphological data strongly support the evolutionary distinctness of the new species, which we describe herein as Phylogenetic analysis based on the ND2 mitochondrial gene inferred the new species as part of the group with close genetic affinities to , , , , and two undescribed lineages from the Moluccas in Indonesia. The new species represents the first species of identified at the species level from Timor-Leste and fills an important gap in our understanding of the biogeography and evolutionary history of especially in the Wallacean region. Our results strongly suggest that the diversity of in Wallacea is still underestimated and many more unnamed species remain to be described.