New species of lizard "Crytodactylus bengkhuaiai" discovered from Meghalaya and Mizoram named after Mizo chieftain.

A species of pest-controlling lizard new to science has been named after a Mizo chieftain who fought the British forces 150 years ago. Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai, named in honour of chieftain Bengkhuaia, is one of four new species of bent-toed geckos recorded by two groups of scientists in October-November 2020. Two geckos each were found in Mizoram and Meghalaya. The joint study found space in the latest edition of Zootaxa, a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists published from New Zealand. The Bengkhuaia bent-toed gecko was recorded from the outskirts of Sailam village in Mizoram’s Aizawl district. Sailam was where Bengkhuaia, the legendary chieftain lived. The second new lizard in Mizoram, Cyrtodactylus aaronbaueri was recorded in and around Aizawl town. It was named after Aaron Bauer, the world’s leading expert on taxonomy of geckos. The two new species recorded in Meghalaya are the karst-dwelling bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus karsticola) and Agarwal’s bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus agarwali). The second one is named after Ishan Agarwal, one of India’s leading herpetologists.