New species of gecko and skink were discovered in the forest of Chiang Dao mountain in Thailand’s northern province of Chiang Mai amid fears that forest fires might cause their extinction, a wildlife official said Wednesday.

Piyawan Niyomwan, a researcher of the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (DNP), said the new species were coincidentally caught in a trap, erected for the study of wild animals’ biological diversity.

Four brown skinks of the Tropidophorus sp. family, with scales on their heads, were longer than those of normal ones. Each of their bodies was five-cm long and the tails six-cm long.

“A new species of wild gecko, scientifically called Cyrtodacylus sp., with its alternated brown and yellow scaling body, was preliminarily confirmed as the world’s new gecko species,” said Piyawan.

She expressed concern that the newly-discovered animals would be at risk of extinction due to regular wildfire in the northern forest, adding that animal specialists would conduct further studies on the ecology, biology and behaviour of wild animals as there was not much information about the two new species so far.

The new species of gecko and skink were discovered during the DNP’s study project on Chiang Dao mountain since 2004. Among 321 other types of animals found on the mountain, 55 were mammals, 185 birds, 45 reptiles and 36 amphibians. (TNA)

Source: “New species of gecko, skink found,” Bangkok Post, Thailand.