This photo taken on March 20, 2024 shows a Kamping Poi bent-toed gecko pictured in Battambang province, Cambodia. (Fauna & Flora's Cambodia Program/Handout via Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Several gecko species found during a series of surveys in unexplored limestone hills in western Cambodia's Battambang province have been confirmed as new to science, a conservationist group said in a press release on Monday.

The gecko species were found by a survey team including Fauna & Flora's Cambodia team, Ministry of Environment staff and a group of expert herpetologists led by La Sierra University, said the press release.

"Four populations of the striped Kamping Poi bent-toed gecko were found and identified as a new species: Cyrtodactylus kampingpoiensis," the press release said.

"Despite being described as just one species, it is thought that, due to the geographic isolation of the karst formations, these four populations are on separate evolutionary trajectories, and further genetic analyses may reveal whether they are in fact four different species instead of one," it added.

Another species discovered during the survey, the Battambang leaf-toed gecko -- Dixonius noctivagus -- is covered in tiny leopard-like spots, the press release said.

A third species of gecko -- Hemiphyllodactylus khpoh -- was also found during the same survey and previously confirmed as a new species, described in the Zootaxa journal, it added.

Given the distribution of these newly discovered geckos, and their distinct genetic lineages, they are likely to meet the criteria for Critically Endangered status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, according to the press release.

Pablo Sinovas, country director of Fauna & Flora Cambodia Program and survey team member, said Cambodia's karst landscapes remain largely uncharted and their vast biodiversity still underreported, yet they face increasing pressure from human activities.

"We must prioritize the protection of these fragile karst ecosystems before rare species are lost forever," he said.

"Small and cryptic, species like these newly described geckos often escape notice. Yet each is a unique product of millions of years of evolution, finely adapted to its own limestone outcrop, shaped by a slow, intricate dance between geology and biology," Sinovas added. ■

This photo taken on March 21, 2024 shows a Battambang leaf-toed gecko pictured in Battambang province, Cambodia. (Fauna & Flora's Cambodia Program/Handout via Xinhua)