Due to a paucity of surveys in northern Indochinaand lack of international collaborations amongneighboring  countries,  recognized  distributionalranges for many amphibian and reptile species endat the political borders for some countries, despiteseemingly continuous suitable habitat spanning theregion. Combining both morphological and geneticdata, we report the first discovery of Japalurachapaensis, a rare agamid lizard believed previouslyto be endemic to northern Vietnam only, along theborder region of southeastern Yunnan Province,China. To facilitate future research on the genusJapalura sensu lato in Indochina, we providedetailed descriptions of additional specimens of thisrare species, including the first description ofcoloration in life and an expanded diagnosis, anddiscuss the species boundary of J. chapaensis withrespect to its congeners.