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[verification needed] 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^{[verification needed]} 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

Foot upperside (left) and underside of the Oriental Leaf-toed Gecko (H. bowringii)

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

Juvenile Common House Gecko (H. frenatus)

Juvenile Mediterranean House Gecko (H. turcicus)

Unidentified Hemidactylus adult from Dindigul (Tamil Nadu, India)

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[verification needed]) Hemidactylus lemurinus Arnold, 1980 Hemidactylus leschenaultii – Leschenault's Leaf-toed Gecko Hemidactylus longicephalus Bocage, 1873

Hemidactylus lopezjuradoi Arnold, Vasconcelos, Harris, Mateo & Carranza, 2008 (formerly in H. bouvieri) Hemidactylus mabouia – Tropical House Gecko, Afro-American House Gecko, Cosmopolitan House Gecko Hemidactylus macropholis Boulenger, 1896 Hemidactylus maculatus – Spotted Leaf-toed Gecko Hemidactylus mahendrai Hemidactylus marmoratus Hallowell, 1861 Hemidactylus matschiei (Tornier, 1901) Hemidactylus megalops Parker, 1932 Hemidactylus mercatorius Gray, 1842 Hemidactylus modestus (Günther, 1894) Hemidactylus muriceus Peters, 1870 Hemidactylus newtoni Ferreira, 1897 Hemidactylus ophiolepis Boulenger, 1903 Hemidactylus ophiolepoides Lanza, 1978 Hemidactylus oxyrhinus Boulenger, 1899 Hemidactylus palaichthus Kluge, 1969 Hemidactylus persicus – Persian Leaf-toed Gecko Hemidactylus platycephalus Peters, 1854 Hemidactylus platyurus – Flat-tailed House Gecko (sometimes in Cosymbotus) Hemidactylus porbandarensis Hemidactylus prashadi – Bombay Leaf-toed Gecko Hemidactylus puccionii Calabresi, 1927 Hemidactylus pumilio Boulenger, 1899 Hemidactylus reticulatus – Reticulate Leaf-toed Gecko Hemidactylus richardsonii (Gray, 1845) Hemidactylus ruspolii Boulenger, 1896 Hemidactylus sataraensis Hemidactylus scabriceps Hemidactylus sinaitus Boulenger, 1885 Hemidactylus smithi Boulenger, 1895 Hemidactylus somalicus Parker, 1932 Hemidactylus squamulatus Tornier, 1896 Hemidactylus stejnegeri Ota & Hikida, 1989 Hemidactylus subtriedrus Hemidactylus tanganicus Loveridge, 1929 Hemidactylus tasmani Hewitt, 1932 Hemidactylus taylori Parker, 1932 Hemidactylus thayene Hemidactylus triedrus – Termite Hill Gecko Hemidactylus tropidolepis Mocquard, 1888 Hemidactylus turcicus – Mediterranean House Gecko Hemidactylus vietnamensis Darevsky, Kupriyanova & Roschin, 1984 Hemidactylus yerburyi Anderson, 1895

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

• Gekkonids