A new species of fringed Forest Gecko, genus <i>Luperosaurus</i> (Squamata: Gekkonidae), from Sibuyan Island, Central Philippines

We describe a new species of <i>Luperosaurus</i> based on two specimens collected on Sibuyan Island, Romblon Province, central Philippines. The new species is phenotypically similar to <i>L. cumingii</i> (southern Luzon), <i>L. angliit</i> (northern Luzon), <i>L. corfieldi</i> (from Panay and Negros islands), and <i>L. macgregori</i> (the Babuyan and Batanes island groups), but differs from these closely related congeners and all other known <i>Luperosaurus</i> by a combination of discrete morphological characters. Extensive molecular divergence from all closely related species for which genetic data are available supports the new species as a distinct lineage. Its distribution is geographically isolated from congeners, restricted to a permanently isolated deep-water island. The new species' extremely limited geographic range contributes to the recognition of the remaining forests of the central Philippine Romblon Island Group as a fundamental conservation priority for the archipelago.