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Pachydactylus purcelli BOULENGER, 1910

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Higher TaxaGekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Purcell’s Gecko 
SynonymPachydactylus serval purcelli BOULENGER 1910: 494
P[achydactylus]. Purcelli — STERNFELD 1911: 398
Pachydactylus pardus STERNFELD 1911: 398
Pachydactylus[serval] purcelli MCLACHLAN & SPENCE 1966: 155
Pachydactylus serval purcelli — MERTENS 1971: 42
Pachydactylus purcelli — BAUER et al. 2006
Pachydactylus purcelli — BATES et al. 2014: 139
Pachydactylus purcelli — SCHLEICHER 2020 
DistributionRepublic of South Africa (Cape Province), Namibia (Karasburg and Keetmanshoop Districts)

Type locality: “Touw’s River,” coll. W.F. Purcell. SAM [not located]: “Little Namaqualand”.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesSyntypes: SAM 1260–61, coll. Schlechter. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: To 50.8 mm SVL. Pachydactylus purcelli may be distinguished from all other members of the P. serval/weberi group by the combination of the following characters: head blunt, wide; rostral enters nostril; supranasals usually in broad anterior contact; scales on dorsum of head smooth and flattend, often polygonal rather than rounded, those on snout only slightly larger than those of interorbital region; dorsal scalation homogeneous, no tubercles on dorsum of body or thighs; toes moderately long and narrow with moderately wide pads; typically 5 undivided lamellae beneath digit IV of pes; tail to at least 120% SVL, moderately annulate, bearing whorls of very small, flattened, unkeeled, well-separated, white to yellow tubercles; adult pattern buff to beige or pastel yellow, orange or purple with small, irregular, closely-spaced brown spots covering entire dorsum and flanks, remnants of three pale (white, yellow or purplish-gray) cross bands may be retained in some adults, especially in northern populations; juvenile pattern with three light (white to yellow) cross bands: one on nape, one on trunk and one over or just anterior to sacrum – that on nape often extended posteriorly along midline [from BAUER et al. 2006].
 
CommentHABITAT: Arupicolous species which has been recorded from narrow cracks and
under exfoliating flakes in shale, dolerite, Dwyka tillite, sandstone, and other outcrops in the Little Karoo and in sandstone and dolerite [from BAUER et al. 2006].

CONSERVATIONSTATUS.—Pachydactylus purcelliis widely distributed in western South Africa and is under no immediate threats.

Mertens (1955) restricted the type locality to “Townsriver [sic], Kap-Provinz”. Pachydactylus pardus was synonymized with P. purcelli by Methuen and Hewitt (1914) and this interpretation was endorsed by FitzSimons (1938). 
EtymologyNamed after the collector of the type, W.F. Purcell. 
References
  • Bates, M.F.; Branch, W.R., Bauer, A.M.; Burger, M., Marais, J.; Alexander, G.J. & de Villliers, M.S. (eds.) 2014. Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, 512 pp.
  • Bauer, Aaron M. Lamb, Trip. Branch, William R. 2006. A revision of the Pachydactylus serval and P. weberi groups (Reptilia: Gekkota: Gekkonidae) of Southern Africa, with the description of eight new species. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 57 (12-24):595-709. - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1910. A revised list of the South African reptiles and batrachians, with synoptic tables, special reference to the specimens in the South African Museum, and descriptions of new species. Annals of the South African Museum 5: 455-543 - get paper here
  • Branch, William R.; Aaron M. Bauer, Todd R. Jackman, and Matthew Heinicke 2011. A New Species of the Pachydactylus weberi Complex (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Namibrand Reserve, Southern Namibia. Breviora (524): 1-15. - get paper here
  • Fitzsimons,V.F.M. 1938. Transvaal Museum Expedition to South-West Africa and Little Namaqualand, May to August 1937 - Reptiles and Amphibians. Annals Transvaal Mus. 19 (2): 153-209 - get paper here
  • Herrmann, H.-W.; W.R. Branch 2013. Fifty years of herpetological research in the Namib Desert and Namibia with an updated and annotated species checklist. Journal of Arid Environments 93: 94–115 - get paper here
  • Hewitt, J. 1927. Further descriptions of reptiles and batrachians from South Africa. Rec. Albany Mus. (Grahamstown) 3 (5): 371-415
  • Hewitt, John 1911. Records of South African Lacertilia and Amphibia, Addenda and Corrigenda. Annals Transvaal Museum 3 (1): 42-55. - get paper here
  • Mclachlan, G.R.; Spence, J.M. 1966. The Genus Pachydactylus (Part 1). Ann. Cape Prov. Mus. 5: 149-156
  • Mertens, R. 1971. Die Herpetofauna Südwest-Afrikas. Senck. Naturf. Gesell., Frankfurt am Main, Abhandl. 529: 110 pp.
  • Methuen,P.A. & Hewitt,J. 1914. [The Percy Sladen Memorial Expedition to Great Namaqualand 1912-1913.] Records and descriptions of the reptiles and batrachians of the collection. Annals Transvaal Mus. 4 (3): 117-145 - get paper here
  • Schleicher, Alfred 2020. Reptiles of Namibia. Kuiseb Publishers, Windhoek, Namibia, 271 pp.
  • Sternfeld, R. 1911. Zur Herpetologie Südwestafrikas. Mitteilung aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin, 5: 393-411. - get paper here
 
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