Family : GEKKONIDAE
Species :  Cyrtodactylus tiomanensis
Size (snout to vent) : 8.7 cm
Size (total length) : ~ 19 cm

This nocturnal gecko has so far only been found on the island of Tioman, which lies in the South China Sea around 40 km off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, and is the largest island in the Seribuat Archipelago. The species was first described in 2000 (Das & Jim, 2000).

It inhabits dense, undisturbed forest : adults are mainly found on rocky outcrops, and juveniles on vegetation or on the forest floor (Grismer, 2011). 

Its body is of medium size for a Cyrtodactylus gecko, with a snout-vent length of up to 8.7 cm.

The ground colour of its body is brown and this is stippled with small, pale tubercles. There are four pale, yellowish bands running across the body, and a yellow band running through the eye which connects across the rear of the head. The original tail also bears pale bands. A pale vertebral stripe is often present, as in the example shown here.

Fig 1 : Adult specimen with regrown tail, seen at night on the mossy surface of a rock outcrop. This example exhibits the banding that is typical of the species, and has a clearly defined vertebral stripe. Photo thanks to Serin Subaraj.

Fig 2 : The island of Tioman, in the South China Sea, off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The highest peak, called Gunung Kajang, is in the centre of this image.


References :

Das, I. & Jim, L. L. (2000). A new species of Cyrtodactylus (Sauria: Gekkonidae) from Pulau Tioman, Malaysia. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 48(2), 223-231.

Grismer, L. L. (2011). Lizards of Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, and their Adjacent Archipelagos. Their Description, Distribution, and Natural History. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main. 728 pp.