Scientists discover four new gecko species

January 18, 2008

Herpetologists discovered four new species of geckos in isolated mountains and islands in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

L. Lee Grismer with La Sierra University in the United States and Ngo Van Tri from Vietnam's Institute of Tropical Biology published their 2007 findings in the journal Herpetologica, the Vietnam News Agency reported Friday.

The reptiles are of the genus Cnemaspis and have the species names caudanivea, auranticopes, nuicamensis and tucdupensis.

The geckos' length ranges from about 4-6 inches from head to tail.

The first gecko of this species in Vietnam was discovered in 1887 and the new find bring the total number of Cnemaspis species in the nation to five.

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