Hemidactylus

Hemidactylus
Mediterranean house gecko
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Gekkonidae
Genus: Hemidactylus
Oken, 1817
Type species
Gecko tuberculosus
Diversity
Around 90 species, and see text
Synonyms

Aliurus Dunn & Dunn, 1940
Boltalia Gray, 1842
Bunocnemis Günther, 1894
Doryura Gray, 1845
Emydactylus Bocourt, 1870
Eurhous Fitzinger, 1861
Hoplopodion Fitzinger, 1843
Leiurus Gray, 1845 (non Ehrenberg, [1828]: preoccupied)
Liurus Cope, 1862 (non Ehrenberg, 1831: preoccupied)
Lophopholis Smith & Deraniyagala, 1934
Microdactylus Fitzinger, 1843 (non É.Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809: preoccupied)
Nubilia Gray, 1845
Onychopus Fitzinger, 1843
Pnoepus Fitzinger, 1843
Tachybates Fitzinger, 1843
Velernesia Gray, 1845
[1]

Hemidactylus (the House Geckos) is a genus of the family of typical geckos, Gekkonidae. It is the second-most speciose genus in the family, with about 90 described species, newfound ones being described every few years. These geckos are found in all the tropical regions of the world, extending into the subtropical parts of Africa and Europe. They excel in colonizing oceanic islands by rafting on flotsam, and are for example found across most of Polynesia. In some archipelagoes, cryptic species complexes are found.[1]

They are typically known as house geckos, due to their readiness to adapt to and coexist with humans. This genus was originally established by Lorenz Oken in 1817 for the species at that time known as Hemidactylus tuberculosus, and now described as the Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia).[1]

Description

The dorsal lepidosis is either uniform or heterogeneous. The pupil of the eye is vertical. Males have pre-anal or femoral pores. Each finger or toe has a slender distal clawed joint, angularly bent and rising from within the extremity of the dilated portion.[2]

The fingers and toes are free, or more or less webbed, and dilated; underneath they bear two rows of lamellae in a pattern resembling a paripinnate compound leaf.[2] This leads to their other and more ambiguous common name, "leaf-toed geckos", used mainly for species from South Asia and its surroundings to prevent confusion with the many "leaf-toed" Gekkota not in Hemidactylus.

Species

  • Hemidactylus aaronbaueri
  • Hemidactylus agrius Vanzolini, 1978
  • Hemidactylus albopunctatus Loveridge, 1947
  • Hemidactylus aporus Boulenger, 1906
  • Hemidactylus aquilonius
  • Hemidactylus arnoldi Lanza, 1978
  • Hemidactylus barbierii Sindaco, Razzetti and Ziliani, 2007
  • Hemidactylus barodanus Boulenger, 1901
  • Hemidactylus bavazzanoi Lanza, 1978
  • Hemidactylus bayonii Bocage, 1893
  • Hemidactylus boavistensis Boulenger 1906 (often included in H. bouvieri)
  • Hemidactylus bouvieri (Bocourt, 1870)
  • Hemidactylus bowringii – Oriental Leaf-toed Gecko
  • Hemidactylus brookii – Brook's House Gecko
  • Hemidactylus citernii Boulenger, 1912
  • Hemidactylus curlei Parker, 1942
  • Hemidactylus depressus Gray, 1842
  • Hemidactylus dracaenacolus Rösler & Wranik, 1999
  • Hemidactylus echinus O'Shaughnessy, 1875
  • Hemidactylus fasciatus Gray, 1842
  • Hemidactylus flaviviridis
  • Hemidactylus forbesii Boulenger, 1899
  • Hemidactylus frenatus – Common House Gecko, Pacific House Gecko, Asian House Gecko
  • Hemidactylus funaiolii Lanza, 1978
  • Hemidactylus garnotii – Indo-Pacific Gecko, Garnot's House Gecko
  • Hemidactylus giganteus – Giant Leaf-toed Gecko
  • Hemidactylus gracilis – Graceful Leaf-toed Gecko
  • Hemidactylus granchii Lanza, 1978
  • Hemidactylus graniticolus Angarwal, Giri & Bauer, 2011[3]
  • Hemidactylus granti Boulenger, 1899
  • Hemidactylus greefii Bocage, 1886
  • Hemidactylus haitianus Meerwarth, 1901
  • Hemidactylus homoeolepis Blanford, 1881
  • Hemidactylus inintellectus Sindaco, Ziliani, Razzetti, Pupin, Grieco, 2009
  • Hemidactylus intestinalis Werner, 1897
  • Hemidactylus isolepis Boulenger, 1895
  • Hemidactylus jubensis Boulenger, 1895
  • Hemidactylus kamdemtohami Bauer & Pauwels, 2002
  • Hemidactylus karenorum – Burmese Leaf-toed Gecko
  • Hemidactylus klauberi Scortecci, 1948
  • Hemidactylus laevis Boulenger, 1901
  • Hemidactylus laticaudatus Andersson, 1910
  • Hemidactylus leightoni Boulenger, 1911 (often included in H. brooki)
  • Hemidactylus lemurinus Arnold, 1980
  • Hemidactylus leschenaultii – Leschenault's Leaf-toed Gecko
  • Hemidactylus longicephalus Bocage, 1873

References

  1. ^ a b c Lizards of the World (2004): Hemidactylus. Version of 2004-FEB-08. Retrieved 2009-APR-04.
  2. ^ a b Boulenger, G.A. (1890): Genus Hemidactylus. In: The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. (Reptilia and Batrachia): 82. Fulltext at the Internet Archive
  3. ^ Angarwal, I., Giri, V.B., & Bauer, A.M. (2011). "A new cryptic rock-dwelling Hemidactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from south India." Zootaxa 2765: 21-37.

External links