Hemiphyllodactylus aurantiacus

Taxobox | name = "Hemiphyllodactylus aurantiacus"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Reptilia
ordo = Squamata
subordo = Sauria
familia = Gekkonidae
genus = "Hemiphyllodactylus"
species = "H. aurantiacus"
binomial = "Hemiphyllodactylus aurantiacus"
binomial_authority = (Beddome, 1870) [Beddome,R.H. 1870 Descriptions of some new lizards from the Madras Presidency. Madras Monthly J. Med. Sci. 1: 30-35]

"Hemiphyllodactylus aurantiacus" is a species of gecko found in the hills of southern India.

Description

Head oviform, longer than broad; snout rounded, very convex, slightly shorter than, distance between eye and ear-opening, l.3 times the diameter of orbit; ear-opening very small, round. Body elongate, more so in females than in males; limbs short, fore limb measuring half the distance between axilla and groin, or rather less. Digits short, free, inner very small, rudimentary; only two large chevron-shaped divided lamellae under the distal part ot the digits, followed by transverse undivided lamellae, decreasing in width. Head covered with very minute granules; rostral and mental very small, former four-sided, latter pentagonal or triangular; nostril pierced between rostral, first labial, and several granules; labials very small, 9 or 10 upper and as many lower, no chin-shields. Back covered with very small granular scales, abdominal scales a little larger, flat, imbricate. Male with an angular series of 7 to 9 preanal pores. Tail cylindrical, tapering, covered with small imbricated smooth scales, larger below. Grey-brown above, with, along the head and back, dark-brown undulating lines, which may be broken up into spots; a dark brown streak from the tip of the snout to the fore limb, passing through the eye; whitish dots scattered on the head and back; tail with darker spots or annuli and two large whitish black-edged spots at the base, frequently and two large whitish black-edged spots at the base, frequently confluent mesially. Lower surfaces whitish, more or less speckled with brownish. [Boulenger, G. A. (1890) Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia.]

From snout to vent 1.4 inches; tail 1.25.

Distribution

S India (Anamallays = Anailmalais, Western Ghats, Bangalore, Kolli Hills)Type locality: "Shevaroys, under stones about Yercaud and elsewhere, at an elevation of 4,000 feet".

Notes

References

* Bauer,A.M. & Das,I. 1999 The systematic status of the endemic south Indian gecko Hemidactylus aurantiacus (Beddome 1870). J. South Asian Nat. Hist. 4 (2): 213-218

External links

*
* http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Hemiphyllodactylus_aurant.jpg