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Abstract

The Parachute Gecko Gekko lionotum (Annandale, 1905) has been reported to be distributed across parts of Mizoram state (India), Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia. A phylogeographic study revealed that the species is paraphyletic and comprises multiple cryptic species. Earlier studies included samples from most parts of the species range except for India, and the status of the Indian population remained unresolved. We conducted surveys in Mizoram and collected specimens, which allowed us to assess the systematic status of the Indian population. Morphology and molecular data suggest that the Indian population represents a distinct species and is here described as new. The new species is most similar to its sister species Gekko popaensis, from which it differs in having an uncorrected pairwise sequence divergence of 7–14% and by discrete differences in morphology and colour pattern. The discovery of the new species and several other reptiles from northeast India highlights the poor state of biodiversity documentation and the need for dedicated efforts to document this region’s biota.