Tarentola nicolauensis SCHLEICH, 1984

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Higher Taxa	Phyllodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: San Nicolau Wall Gecko
Synonym	Tarentola caboverdianus nicolauensis SCHLEICH 1984 Tarentola delalandii — BOCAGE 1902: 209 (part.) Tarentola delalandii delalandii — BOULENGER 1906: 200 (part.) Tarentola delalandii var. rudis — LOVERIDGE 1947: 334 (part.) Tarentola delalandii rudis — MERTENS 1954: 6 (part.) Tarentola caboverdiana nicolauensis — JOGER 1984: 104 Tarentola caboverdiana nicolauensis — SCHLEICH 1987: 43 Tarentola caboverdiana nicolauensis — JOGER 1993 Tarentola (Makariogecko) caboverdiana nicolauensis — CARRANZA et al. 2000 Tarentola caboverdiana nicolauensis — KÖHLER et al. 2007 Tarentola nicolauensis — VASCONCELOS et al. 2012: 349
Distribution	S. Nicolau, São Vicente (Cape Verde Islands) Type locality: S. Nicolau (Cape Verde Islands)
Reproduction	oviparous (manual and phylogenetic imputation, fide Zimin et al. 2022)
Types	Holotype: ZSM 141/1981/2 (given as ZSM 03.141/81)
Diagnosis	Diagnosis: Medium-sized gecko (maximum SVL 71.0 mm, 58.6 mm on average; Appendix 2); eye/ear opening ratio averages 1.53; ear–eye/eye–snout distance ratio averages 0.79. Nine to 12 supralabials; eight to ten infralabials; eight to 11 enlarged lamellae under the 4th finger; 133–155 midbody scales (Joger, 1984b); oblong asymmetrical angled dorsal tubercles (Fig. 5C) with 18–26 midbody longitudinal lines and 14–18 transverse rows (Schleich, 1987); no enlarged tubercles between the eye and the ear opening. Dorsal pattern greyish, presenting five clear symmetrical butterfly- or X-shaped dark dorsal crossbands often lined with whitish tubercles posteriorly (Figs 6C, 7C); white to yellowish light ventral parts; uniformly white labials; dark eye iris with golden upperparts. It differs from T. boavistensis, T. bocagei, T. fogoensis, and T. darwini, species from clade A, by butterfly- or X-shaped dorsal pattern and from all the species from clade D, and T.boavistensis by not having enlarged tubercles between the eye and ear opening. It differs from T. caboverdiana and T. substituta by a higher number of lamellae under the fourth and fifth toe (Joger, 1984b) and also from T. bocagei by generally presenting oblong apical tubercles (Schleich, 1987; this study). Finally, it differs from T. raziana by having a more massive head and a higher number of crossbands (generally five) on the dorsum. MORPHOBANK M45653–M45992 [VASCONCELOS et al. 2012].
Comment	Synonymy after Filipe Sousa (pers. comm.) and VASCONCELOS et al. 2012.
Etymology	named after the type locality.
References	Carranza, S., Arnold, E. Nicholas; Mateo, J. A. and L. F. López-Jurado 2000. Long-distance colonization and radiation in gekkonid lizards, Tarentola (Reptilia: Gekkonidae), revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequences. Proc. R. Soc. London B 267: 637-649 - get paper here Joger U 1993. On two collections of reptiles and amphibians from the Cape Verde Islands, with descriptions of three new taxa. COURIER FORSCHUNGSINSTITUT SENCKENBERG 159: 437-444 Joger, U. 1984. Morphologische und biochemisch-immunologische Untersuchungen zur Systematik und Evolution der Gattung Tarentola (Reptilia: Gekkonidae). Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Anatomie und Ontogenie der Tiere, 112:137-256 Joger, U. 1984. Die Radiation der Gattung Tarentola in Makaronesien. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 71: 91-111 Köhler, G.; Hertz, A.; Sunyer, J.; Seipp, R. & Monteiro, A. 2007. Herpetologische Forschungen auf den Kapverden unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Kapverdischen Riesenskinks, Macroscincus coctei. Elaphe 15 (4): 62-66 Rösler, Herbert 2017. Gecko-Chorologie (Squamata: Gekkota). Gekkota (4): 1-160 Schleich H H 1984. Die Geckos der Gattung Tarentola der Kapverden (Reptilia: Sauria: Gekkonidae). COURIER FORSCHUNGSINSTITUT SENCKENBERG 68: 95-106 Schleich, H.H. 1987. Herpetofauna caboverdiana. Spixiana Suppl. (12) 75 pp. - get paper here Vasconcelos, R., A. Perera, P. Geniez, D. J. Harris, and S. Carranza. 2012. An integrative taxonomic revision of the Tarentola geckos (Squamata, Phyllodactylidae) of the Cape Verde Islands. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 164 (2): 328-360 - get paper here Zimin, A., Zimin, S. V., Shine, R., Avila, L., Bauer, A., Böhm, M., Brown, R., Barki, G., de Oliveira Caetano, G. H., Castro Herrera, F., Chapple, D. G., Chirio, L., Colli, G. R., Doan, T. M., Glaw, F., Grismer, L. L., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton 2022. A global analysis of viviparity in squamates highlights its prevalence in cold climates. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–16 - get paper here
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information Google images

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