VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese and German scientists have announced the discovery of a new bent-toed gecko species in Dai Lanh cape, Phu Yen province in central Vietnam.

The new bent-toed gecko species is named Cyrtodactylus kingsadai, after researcher Phouthone Kingsada of the National University of Laos. Phouthone is the co-author of a number of recent publications on this family of gecko. He unfortunately died of dengue last year.

The new species was announced this month in the Zootaxa journal by German and Vietnamese scientists.

Mr. Phung My Trung, a member of the research group said that the newly-discovered bent-toed gecko species is big in number, but they mostly appear at night to search for food.

Normally, they lie deep in rock caves in coastal forest around the Ca Pass and Dai Lanh cape in Phu Yen province to avoid the heat and sun.

The habitat of bent-toed geckos at Dai Lanh cape, Phu Yen Province. Photo: Phung My Trung.

"The males almost appear only in the mating season, so it is very difficult to collect samples of this species. After four times of surveys in four different times during the year, the research team collected only three male specimens for study," Trung said.

Kingsadai bent-toed geckos have the head and body length of 94 mm. Their body is in light brown, with a dark streak behind nape and four dark horizontal streaks on the body.

This is the 29th bent-toed gecko species recorded in Vietnam. Approximately 25 new species of bent-toed gecko have been found in the last two decades in Vietnam.

Na Son