Bioacoustics of Gekko tesselatus

Comparisons. Based on both morphological and molecular evidence, Gekko tesselatus sp. nov. is closely related to G. fengshanensis , G. kwangsiensis , G. liboensis , and G. paucituberculatus . Detailed morphological comparisons between Gekko tesselatus sp. nov. and four closest species are shown in Table 5 and Fig. 10 . Gekko tesselatus sp. nov. can be distinguished from G. fengshanensis by (1) MBSR 98–106 (vs. 149–161), (2) VS 31–39 (vs. 40–49), (3) SMC 130–157 (vs. 197–213), (4) DTR 12–15 (vs. 9–11), (5) PP 6–8 (vs. 9–12), (6) LF 1 7–10 (vs. 11–13), (7) LT 1 7–9 (vs. 12–14), and (8) LT 4 9–12 (vs. 13–15). It can be distinguished from G. kwangsiensis by (1) MBSR 98–106 (vs. 143–156), (2) VS 31–39 (vs. 41–45), (3) SMC 130–157 (vs. 185–208), (4) DTR 12–15 (vs. 9–11), (5) PP 6–8 (vs. 9–10), (6) LT 1 7–9 (vs. 11–13), (7) IOS 24–28 (vs. 29–31), and (8) LT 4 9–12 (vs. 14–18). It can be distinguished from G. liboensis by (1) MBSR 98–106 (vs. 131–140), (2) SMC 130–157 (vs. 183–195), (3) DTR 12–15 (vs. 9–10), (4) PP 6–8 (vs. 9), (5) LF 1 7–10 (vs. 12–13), (6) LF 4 9–12 (vs. 14–17), (7) LT 1 7–9 (vs. 12–13), (8) IOS 24–28 (vs. 32–35), and (9) LT 4 9–12 (vs. 14–15). Furthermore, it can be distinguished from G. paucituberculatus by (1) MBSR 98–106 (vs. 136–142), (2) VS 31–39 (vs. 42–44), (3) SMC 130–157 (vs. 189–192), (4) DTR 12–15 (vs. 4), (5) PP 6–8 (vs. 12), and (6) IOS 24–28 (vs. 37). Species G. tesselatus sp. nov. G. fengshanensis G. kwangsiensis G. liboensis G. paucituberculatus N = 14 N = 6 N = 6 N = 2 N = 2 SVLmax (mm) 65.3 79.9 69.7 79.7 85.9 NS 3 or 4 3 3 3 3 INS 0 or 1 0 0 or 1 0 0 SL 10 or 11 9–13 10–13 11 11 IL 9–12 10–13 11–13 9–11 9–10 IOS 22 – 26 22–27 29–31 32–35 37 PO 12–15 15–19 18–20 17–18 14–18 PM 2 (rarely 1) 2 2 2 2 GP 3–6 3–6 4–6 4–6 4–6 DTR 12 – 15 9–11 9–11 9–10 4 GSDT 7–9 9–10 8–10 9–10 8 SMC 130–157 197–213 185–208 183–195 189–192 MBSR 98 – 106 149–161 143–156 131–140 136–142 VS 31 – 39 40–49 41–45 38–41 42–44 LF 1 7–10 11–13 10–13 12–13 10–11 LF 4 9–12 12–16 12–14 14–17 12–13 LT 1 7–9 12–14 11–13 12–13 11 LT 4 9–12 13–15 14–18 14–15 11–13 PP 6 – 8 9–12 9–10 9 12 PAT 1 (rarely 2) 1 1 1 1 Web Absent Present, weakly Present, weakly Present, weakly Pesent, weakly Fore tubercles Absent Absent Absent Absent Absent Hind tubercles Present Absent Absent Absent Absent Tail tubercles Present Absent Present – Absent Sources This study Huang et al. (2025) Yang et al. (2015) Huang et al. (2025) Wang et al. (2024) The main characteristics that distinguish Gekko tesselatus sp. nov. from other species of the subgenus Japonigekko are summarized in Table 6 . By having 6–8 precloacal pores in males, the new species can be easily distinguished from G. aaronbaueri Tri, Thai, Phimvohan, David & Teynié, 2015 , G. adleri Nguyen, Wang, Yang, Lehmann, Le, Ziegler & Bonkowski, 2013 , G. canhi Rösler, Nguyen, Van Doan, Ho, Nguyen & Ziegler, 2010 , G. chinensis , G. jinjiangensis Hou, Shi, Wang, Shu, Zheng, Qi, Liu, Jiang & Xie, 2021 , G. kaiyai Zhang, Wu & Zhang, 2023 , G. khunkhamensis Sitthivong, Lo, Nguyen, Ngo, Khotpathoom, Le, Ziegler & Luu, 2021 , G. liui Zhou, Zhou, Wang, Li, Zhang, Li, Shen, Liu & Rao, 2025 , G. melli , G. palmatus Boulenger, 1907 , G. prep , G. scabridus Liu & Zhou, 1982 , G. scientiadventura Rösler, Ziegler, Vu, Herrmann & Böhme, 2004 , G. sengchanthavongi Luu, Calame, Nguyen, Le & Ziegler, 2015 , G. shibatai Toda, Sengoku, Hikida & Ota, 2008 , G. similignum , G. tawaensis Okada, 1956 , G. thakhekensis Luu, Calame, Nguyen, Le, Bonkowski & Ziegler, 2014 ; G. truongi Phung & Ziegler, 2011 ; and G. vertebralis Toda, Sengoku, Hikida & Ota, 2008 (vs. 3–4 in G. aaronbaueri , 17–21 in G. adleri , 5 in G. canhi , 17–27 in G. chinensis , 4–5 in G. jinjiangensis , 9–12 in G. kaiyai , 0 in G. khunkhamensis , 20–23 in G. liui , 9–11 in G. melli , 23–30 in G. palmatus , 24 in G. prep , 10–15 in G. scabridus , 23–30 in G. scientiadventura , 4–5 in G. sengchanthavongi , 0–3 in G. shibatai , 17 in G. similignum , 0 in G. tawaensis , 1–5 in G. thakhekensis , 10–11 in G. truongi , and 0–1 in G. vertebralis ). No. Species SVLmax SL IL IOS DTR SMC MBSR VS LT 1 LT 4 Web Fore tubercles Hind tubercles Tail tubercles PP 1 G. tesselatus sp. nov. 65.3 10 or 11 9–12 22–26 12–15 130–157 98–106 31–39 7–9 9–12 N N Y Y 6–8 2 G. aaronbaueri 80 13–14 10–11 34–37 0 – 98 – 104 39–43 14–17 14–16 Y N N N 3–4 3 G. adleri 75.3 10–15 9–13 27–36 7–11 168–190 123–144 35–44 11–14 11–15 Y N Y Y 17–21 4 G. alpinus 74.16 9–13 8–10 22–28 12–17 158–18 9 92–114 32–39 8–11 13–15 N Y Y Y 4–7 5 G. auriverrucosus 69 9–11 9–11 26–27 16–2 0 – – – 6–8 6–8 N Y Y Y 8–11 6 G. bonkowskii 69.2 12–14 10–11 49–50 0 154–169 117 37–40 11–13 15 Y N N N 6 7 G. canhi 99.2 14 10–12 49–50 11–12 168–170 205–227 49–51 13–16 14–17 N N Y N 5 8 G. chinensis 72 10–14 9–13 35–48 10 156–167 118–140 37–39 8–10 9–12 Y N Y Y 17–27 9 G. cib 66.4 10–12 10–14 28–36 0 171–196 128–14 9 37–45 9–13 9–17 Y N N N 7–9 10 G. fengshanensis 79.9 9–13 10–13 22–27 9–11 197–213 149–161 40–49 12–14 13–15 Y N N N 9–12 11 G. guishanicus 64 – – – 0 – – – 8–10 8–10 Y N N N 6–8 12 G. hokouensis 70 10–14 8–11 30–33 12–18 153–174 119–130 36–43 8–11 15–18 N N N Y 5–9 13 G. ichangensis 66.5 7–11 7–11 27–36 10–12 174–195 127–145 39–47 12–15 13–18 Y Y Y Y 5–8 14 G. japonicus 74 9–13 8–13 32–35 9–14 169–188 130–144 39–44 10–12 14–16 N Y Y Y 4–9 15 G. jinjiangensis 61.6 7–10 6–9 20–24 12–16 146–169 111–149 31–47 8–11 11–15 N Y Y Y 4–5 16 G. kaiyai 64.99 9–12 9–13 22–33 11–18 157–209 99–121 30–43 8–9 7–11 N Y Y Y 9–12 17 G. khunkhamensis 75.2 9–10 9–10 31–32 0 181–185 127–138 42–45 13–14 14–15 Y N N N 0 18 G. kwangsiensis 69.7 10–12 11–13 29–31 9–11 185–208 143–156 41–45 11–13 13–18 Y N N Y 9–11 19 G. liboensis 79.7 11 9–11 32–35 9–10 183–195 131–140 38–41 12–13 14–15 Y N N – 9 20 G. liui 56.67 11–13 11–12 37–42 7–8 140–148 103–118 34–39 10–11 12–13 Y N N Y 20–23 21 G. melli 80.3 10–13 9–12 34–40 0 171–192 148–160 44–46 10–12 11–14 Y N N N 9–11 22 G. nadenensis 77.1 12–14 10–12 28–30 0 175–185 123–140 38–40 13–15 14–16 Y N N N 6 23 G. palmatus 79.7 11–15 9–13 27–36 4–12 160–191 116–147 36–47 10–13 10–16 Y N N Y 23–30 24 G. paucituberculatus 85.9 11 9–10 37 4 189–192 136–140 42–44 11 11–13 Y N N N 12 25 G. prep 75.7 14 11 37–38 12 144–152 122–126 38–40 11–12 12–13 Y N N Y 24 26 G. scientiadventura 73 12–14 9–13 41–51 0 118–140 139–143 38–48 12–15 14–17 Y N N Y 23–30 27 G. scabridus 64 9–11 9–11 30 17–21 – – – 6–9 7–9 N Y Y Y 10–15 28 G. sengchanthavongi 77.3 8–10 6–7 28–32 0 175–184 120–135 35–43 11–14 13–17 Y N N N 4–5 29 G. shibatai 70.9 10–13 10–14 37–52 5–14 – 114 – 134 – 11 or 12 9–16 N N N Y 0–3 30 G. similignum 58.9 12–14 11 46–48 11 – 144 – 153 – 11 – 13 12–14 Y N N Y 17 31 G. subpalmatus 65.8 8–12 7–12 28–37 0 144–190 129–15 6 39–46 9–12 11–14 Y N N N 5–9 32 G. swinhonis 66 7–12 7–11 23–24 6 –8 – – 40 6–9 6–9 N Y Y – 7–9 33 G. taibaiensis 69 9–10 8–10 28 – – – – 6–7 7–8 Y – – – 4–6 34 G. tawaensis 71 15 13 – 0 – – – 10 12 N N N N 0 35 G. thakhekensis 79.2 12–14 10–11 22–26 0 165–174 110–116 32–40 11–13 14–15 Y N N N 1–5 36 G. truongi 95.9 13–15 11–13 45–48 0 160–172 131–143 35–36 11–13 15–17 N N N N 10–11 37 G. vertebralis 69.2 10–15 10–15 35–50 2–12 – 112 – 139 10–12 – 9 – 17 N N N N 0–1 38 G. wenxianensis 59 12 11 – 10 – – 42–44 6 9 N N Y – 6–8 39 G. yakuensis 72 12–13 9–13 – – – – – 10 15 N N N Y 6–8 By having MBSR 98–106, Gekko tesselatus sp. nov. can be distinguished from G. bonkowskii Luu, Calame, Nguyen, Le & Ziegler, 2015 ; G. cib Lyu, Lin, Ren, Jiang, Zhang, Qi & Wang, 2021 ; G. hokouensis Pope, 1928 ; G. ichangensis Cao, Sucharitakul, Tie, Suwannapoom, Yan & Chomdej, 2025 ; G. japonicus (Duméril & Bibron, 1836) ; G. nadenensis Luu, Nguyen, Le, Bonkowski & Ziegler, 2017 ; and G. subpalmatus (Günther, 1864) (vs. 117 in G. bonkowskii , 128–149 in G. cib , 119–130 in G. hokouensis , 127–145 in G. ichangensis , 130–144 in G. japonicus , and 129–156 in G. nadenensis ). By having DTR 12–15, Gekko tesselatus sp. nov. can be distinguished from G. auriverrucosus Zhou & Liu, 1982 , G. guishanicus Lin & Yao, 2016 , G. swinhonis , and G. wenxianensis Zhou & Wang, 2008 (vs. 16–20 in G. auriverrucosus , 0 in G. guishanicus , 6–8 in G. swinhonis , and 10 in G. wenxianensis ). Moreover, by having LT 4 9–12, Gekko tesselatus sp. nov. can be distinguished from G. alpinus Ma, Shi, Shen, Chang & Jiang, 2024 , G. taibaiensis Song, 1985 , and G. yakuensis Matsui & Okada, 1968 (vs. 13–15 in G. alpinus , 7–8 in G. taibaiensis , and 15 in G. yakuensis ).