New species of lizard discovered in Vietnam

31/10/2007 00:00:00 A new species of Cyrtodactylus is described from the Truong Son (Annamite mountain range) of Quang Binh Province in central Vietnam. The new species is known only from the karst forests of Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park.

Specimens were collected from 7 July to 5 August 2006 by Dang Ngoc Kien, Astrid Heidrich and Ralf Hendrix and are deposited in the collections of the Zoological Museum of the Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNUH) and Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig (ZFMK), Bonn, Germany.

Natural history and distribution.
All observations of Cyrtodactylus cryptus took place at night. Specimens were found on karst cliffs, on tree trunks and in branches or leaves up to 2 m height, but also on rotten trees, on stones and one specimen even on the ground on a forest street. Many thanks to Cologne Zoo for the above information.