A new karst-dwelling bent-toed gecko(Squamata:Gekkonidae: Cyrtodactylus) from Xiangkhoang Province, northeastern Laos

We describe a new karst-dwelling Cyrtodactylus from Ban Thathom, Xiangkhoang Province, northeastern Laos. The new species can be distinguished from other congeners by having four dark dorsal bands between limb insertions, a discontinuous nuchal loop,10 precloacal pores in males or 10–12 precloacal pits(females) separated by a diastema from a series of enlarged femoral scales bearing 18 or 19 pores(male)or 8–10 pits(females) along each femur, 14–18 dorsal tubercle rows at midbody, no precloacal groove, 30–36 midbody scale rows across belly between ventrolateral skin folds, transversely enlarged subcaudal plates, and a maximal known snout-vent length of 75.5 mm. Our description brings to 22 the number of Cyrtodactylus species recorded from Laos.