Guwahati: A team of scientists and researchers from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, and London’s Natural History Museum has discovered six new species of bent-toed geckos in Northeast India.
This ground-breaking discovery was achieved using morphological characteristics supported by molecular analyses.
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The newly identified species were found in various locations across Northeast India: two each in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, and one each in Manipur and Mizoram.
The findings were published in the latest issue of the journal Vertebrate Zoology.
One of the notable discoveries is the Namdapha bent-toed gecko, found in the Namdapha Tiger Reserve.
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This species is widespread within the lowland evergreen forests of the Namdapha and Kamlang Tiger Reserves.
These nocturnal geckos were observed perching among vegetation along forest streams in areas such as 25 Mile, Burma Nullah, Gibbons Land, Motijheel Trail, and Hornbill Camp of the tiger reserve. In Kamlang, the geckos were spotted on rocks and vegetation near the Kamlang River at Sinabrai.
This marks the fourth new species discovered by WII researchers in the last two years, underscoring the hyper-diversity of the Namdapha-Kamlang landscape.
The second species from Arunachal Pradesh was found in the Siang Valley and named after this unique biodiversity-rich river valley.
In Mizoram, the Nengpui bent-toed gecko was discovered in the Ngengpui Wildlife Sanctuary in Lawngtlai district, a protected area known for its rich biodiversity.
The Manipur bent-toed gecko was found near Lamdan Kabui village, perched on a shrub about 1.5 meters high along the road connecting Leimatak and Charoikhullen.
Nagaland is home to two of the new species. The Barail Hills bent-toed gecko was discovered in the Athibung Reserve Forest in Peren district, located in the upper reaches of the Barail hill range.
This area provides a mountainous corridor between the Naga Hills and Assam, characterized by tropical to subtropical cloud forest with minimal human impact.
The Kiphire bent-toed gecko was found in Kiphire district at an elevation of 1,300 meters above sea level, in a subtropical forest with regenerating jhum fields.
These discoveries highlight the poorly known biodiversity status within Northeast India, emphasizing the importance of both protected areas and lesser-known regions, such as reserved forests and abandoned jhum fields, in conserving key components of biodiversity.
The description of these six new species of the bent-toed gecko genus Cyrtodactylus from Northeast India reveals hidden diversity and underscores the need for further exploration and conservation efforts in the region, the WII stated.