‘Slender’ creature with striped lips found lurking in field. It’s a new species
As darkness settled across a field in central Cambodia, a “slender” creature with striped lips emerged from its hiding spot and moved along the ground. Something about the “leaf-toed” animal caught the attention of nearby scientists — and for good reason.
It turned out to be a new species.
A team of researchers with the Biodiversity Inventory for Conservation visited a pair of wildlife sanctuaries in Kratié Province in 2018 and 2022 to survey wildlife, according to a study published May 6 in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa.
During the visits, researchers found some lizards that looked vaguely similar to a known species, the study said. When they looked closer at the animals, they realized the resemblance was clearly “superficial” and they’d discovered a new species: Dixonius sambhupura, or the Sambhupura leaf-toed gecko.
Sambhupura leaf-toed geckos have “slender” bodies, reaching about 4 inches in length, the study said. Their “relatively long” heads have “short” snouts with striped lips and “oval” ear openings. Their legs and arms are “relatively short” and “slender” with “leaf-like” toes and “robust” claws.
A photo shows the “dull,” brown hue of the new species. Some darker brown and lighter white spots dot its back.
Sambhupura leaf-toed geckos were “locally abundant” and “found active at night” in cultivated fields, nearby bushes and other plants around the Mekong River, the study said. The geckos are “obviously able to thrive in anthropically highly degraded areas” and do “not seem to be under any immediate threat.”
Researchers said they named the new species after “the ancient name” of Kratié, a nearby city also known as Krong Kracheh or Kracheh, because of where it was first discovered.
So far, the new species has only been found at a few nearby sites in Kratié Province, a region of Cambodia bordering Vietnam.
The new species was identified by its size, scale pattern, spikes, coloring and other subtle physical features, the study said. DNA analysis found the new species had at least about 4% genetic divergence from other related species.
The research team included Olivier Pauwels, Sunandan Das, Merlijn Jocqué, Montri Sumontha, Nattasuda Donbundit, Denisa Magda, Gontran Sonet, Jonathan Brecko and Worawitoo Meesook.
This story was originally published May 7, 2025 at 1:24 PM with the headline "‘Slender’ creature with striped lips found lurking in field. It’s a new species."
