A New Species of Luperosaurus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Panay Island, Philippines, with Comments on the Taxonomic Status of Luperosaurus cumingii (Gray, 1845)

We describe a new species of Luperosaurus on the basis of three recently collected specimens from Panay Island, Philippines. The new species is phenotypically similar to L. cumingii, but differs from it by the absence of enlarged ventrolateral tail tubercles and spinose scales on the edges of the anterior cutaneous expansions of the limbs, by having fewer middorsal scales, fewer ornamented tubercles on the head, neck, and body, differences in ventral color pattern, and a larger maximum body size. Examination of all available specimens of L. cumingii demonstrates that this species exhibits a high degree of morphological variation correlated with patterns of lineage isolation on several Pleistocene aggregate island complexes (biogeographical subprovinces) of the Philippines. Although it is suspected that L. cumingii comprises a complex of multiple species, current sampling limitations prevent taxonomic subdivision beyond the recognition of the new species described here. The name L. cumingii probably should only be applied to populations from Luzon Island. Luperosaurus cf. cumingii from Camiguin Sur and Lubang Island may represent additional unnamed species.