Clawed creature falls from tree and lands on scientist in Thailand. It’s a new species

Aspen Pflughoeft
·3 min read
30

Under the cover of darkness, a clawed creature slinked through the canopy of trees in southern Thailand. The elusive animal had gone largely undetected — but not for much longer.

A team of researchers visited Phuket Island to survey wildlife in January 2022, according to a study published April 12 in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa. The island’s wildlife had generally been “very” well-studied.

But during the nighttime survey, a clawed lizard fell from a tree and landed on Andrey Bragin, one of the study’s co-authors, lead co-author Nikolay Poyarkov wrote in an April 13 Facebook post.

The tree-dwelling lizard didn’t look particularly unique, the study said. Its “overall body shape and color pattern” was similar to several other known species.

Still, researchers returned to the island, the largest in Thailand, in 2023 and encountered three more of these lizards. They analyzed the animal’s DNA and quickly realized they’d discovered a new species: Cyrtodactylus thalang, or the Thalang bent-toed gecko.

“Sometimes new species literally drop on you from the clouds,” Poyarkov wrote.

A Cyrtodactylus thalang, or Thalang bent-toed gecko, perched on a branch. Photo shared by Nikolay Poyarkov
A Cyrtodactylus thalang, or Thalang bent-toed gecko, perched on a branch. Photo shared by Nikolay Poyarkov

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Thalang bent-toed geckos can reach over 5 inches but were hard to measure because their tails often broke off, the study said. These geckos have “triangular” heads with “large,” gold eyes. Their tails are “square” and claws are “well-developed.”

Photos show the golden brown coloring of the Thalang bent-toed gecko. The lizard holds its tail in a tight spiral and generally blends in with its surroundings.

Thalang bent-toed geckos live in the canopies of tropical forests, the study said. They were usually seen at night “perched on the thin branches” at least 20 feet above the ground near a stream.

A Cyrtodactylus thalang, or Thalang bent-toed gecko, on a leaf. Photo from Nikolay Poyarkov via Grismer, Pawangkhanant, Bragin, Trofimets, Nazarov, Suwannapoom and Poyarkov (2024)
A Cyrtodactylus thalang, or Thalang bent-toed gecko, on a leaf. Photo from Nikolay Poyarkov via Grismer, Pawangkhanant, Bragin, Trofimets, Nazarov, Suwannapoom and Poyarkov (2024)

The new species is part of a group of tree-dwelling geckos whose preferred habitat and “cryptic behavior” make them hard to find, the study said. Encountering these geckos “will always” be “a chance event.”

Researchers said they named the new species after the Thalang district where it was discovered and, so far, the only area where it has been found. This district is on Phuket Island, located off the southern coast of Thailand, and about a 500-mile drive southwest of Bangkok.

The new species was identified by its scale pattern, arrangement of its spikes, habitat and other subtle physical features, the study said. DNA analysis found the new species had about 15% genetic divergence from other bent-toed geckos.

The research team included L. Lee Grismer, Parinya Pawangkhanant, Andrey Bragin, Alexey Trofimets, Roman Nazarov, Chatmongkon Suwannapoom and Nikolay Poyarkov.

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