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Bunopus tuberculatus BLANFORD, 1874

IUCN Red List - Bunopus tuberculatus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaGekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Baluch Rock Gecko, Arabian desert gecko, Southern tuberculated gecko
G: Felsengecko 
SynonymBunopus tuberculatus BLANFORD 1874: 454
Alsophylax tuberculatus BOULENGER 1885: 20
Stenodactylus lumsdeni BOULENGER 1887
Alsophylax tuberculatus — BOULENGER 1887: 407
Alsophylax tuberculata PROCTER 1921
Alsophylax tuberculatus — SCHMIDT 1939
Bunopus blanfordii STRAUCH 1887
Alsophylax blanfordii PARKER 1931
Bunopus gabrielis [WERNER 1936]
Bunopus biporus WERNER 1938: 267
Alsophylax tuberculatus — LEVITON 1959
Bunopus abudhabi LEVITON & ANDERSON 1967: 164
Bunopus abudhabi — BROWN 1977
Bunopus tuberculatus — ARNOLD 1980: 278
Bunopus tuberculatus — FRYNTA et al. 1997
Bunopus tuberculatus — WILMS 2007
Bunopus tuberculatus — NASRABADI et al. 2017 
DistributionSyria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Jordan, Afghanistan, E Pakistan (Sind), Balutschistan, S Turkmenistan

Type locality: Baluchistan, SW Iran; Terra typica restricta (M. A. SMITH 1935): Baluchistan

abudhabi: Type locality: Abu Dhabi region, Trucial coast, 23° 45’ N, 53° 35’ E.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: BMNH 1946.8.22.84 (but see BAUER & GÜNTHER 1991)
Types: ZSI 3428, 3429, 3431, ZSI 3432, ZSI 3434, ZSI 3436, ZSI 3437 ZSI 3458, 5271, ZSI 3459, ZSI 5273–77, ZSI 5278, ZSI 5279–80 (fide DAS et al. 1998)
Holotype: CAS 98089 [abudhabi] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Digits straight, not dilated, clawed, with transverse subdigital lamellae which have projecting tubercles or pectinate anterior margins (seen under magnification; sometimes not evident if kyratinized layer has been lost or worn excessively, but usually visible at least on basal lamellae); dorsum with small juxtaposed scales mixed with large tubercles, the latter usually keeled, often trihedral; pupil vertical; males with preanal pores; medium size species, snout-vent length usually 45 mm or more in mature adults [from LEVITON et al. 1992].


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CommentSynonymy: Most authors appear to consider Bunopus blanfordii as a synonym of B. tuberculatus (e.g. ARNOLD 1980, LEVITON et al. 1992, DISI & BÖHME 1996). Szczerbak and Golubev (1986:88-100) place B. blanfordi Strauch, 1887 and B. abudhabi in the synonymy of B. tuberculatus, as do Arnold (1980a:278) and followed Leviton et al. (1992:30-31). However, Bauer et al. 2013 “tentatively” recognize B. blanfordii as valid species.

Type species: Bunopus tuberculatus BLANFORD 1874 is the type species of the genus Bunopus BLANFORD 1874.

Diversity: Khosravani et al. identified 3 additional candidate species within Bunopus by DNA sequencing. However, their data set is relatively limited and they have not named these populations (yet).

Distribution: See map in SMID et al. 2014 for distribution in Iran and map in Burriel-Carranza et al. 2019 for map in UAE.

Phylogenetics: Pola et al. 2024 published a phylogenetic analysis that found an Arabian and Iranian clade with multiple undescribed species. 
EtymologyThe species is named after Latin tuber hump + -cul, Latin diminutive suffix meaning: small + -at, Latin -at having (Borror, 1988).

The genus was named after Greek bounos = hill, height, mound (Liddell, 1885) + Greek pous, -pus = foot, leg (Maggenti, 2005). 
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