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Carphodactylus laevis GÜNTHER, 1897

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Higher TaxaCarphodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Chameleon Gecko 
SynonymCarphodactylus laevis GÜNTHER 1897: 403
Carphodactylus laevis — RÖSLER 1995: 68
Carphodactylus laevis — COGGER 2000: 207
Carphodactylus laevis — WILSON & SWAN 2010
Carphodactylus laevis — COGGER 2014: 262
Carphodactylus laevis — CHAPPLE et al. 2019: 101 
DistributionAustralia (NE Queensland)

Type locality: Bartle Frere Mountains, Queensland.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1960.1.5.70 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Carphodactylus reaches about 130 mm in adult maximum SVL. The body somewhat gracile, with spindly limbs and a fairly fat tail that is shorter than SVL. As in all carphodactylids, eyelids do not function. Coloration is brown; with dark flecks, a pale vertebral line, and pale crossbands. The back has a distinct vertebral ridge. Carphodactylus is distinguished from other carphodactylid geckos by the following combination of characteristics: size large; hyoid with second ceratobranchial cartilages; stapedial foramen absent; frontal single and parietal paired; cloacal bones present; phalangeal formula 2-3-4-5-3/2-3-4-5-4 (manus/pes); paraphalangeal elements absent; eye with vertical pupil; scleral ossicles number 30–33; digits without broadened pads, not webbed, claws large, surrounded by five scales; dorsum with smooth granules; preanal pores present; precloacal spurs present; tail wide, tapering; females lay two leathery eggs (Kluge 1967, Bauer 1990, Cogger 2000, Russell and Bauer 2008).


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CommentType species: Carphodactylus laevis GÜNTHER 1897 is the type species of the genus Carphodactylus GÜNTHER 1897. The genus is the type genus of the family Carphodactylidae.

Reproduction: for a collection of data on reproductive details in Carphodactylidae see Rösler 2022.

Phylogenetics: see Skipwith et al. 2019 for a phylogenetic tree of the family Carphodactylidae.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyPresumably named after the Latin laevis (smooth). (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024)

The genus Carphodactylus was presumably named after the Greek karphos (a dry withered stick) plus daktylos (finger). Günther emphasises the slender digits without any expansions or fringes in his diagnosis of the genus. Derivation not stated by Günther (1897). 
References
  • Chapple, David G.; Reid Tingley, Nicola J. Mitchell, Stewart L. Macdonald, J. Scott Keogh, Glenn M. Shea, Philip Bowles, Neil A. Cox, John C. Z. Woinarski 2019. The Action Plan for Australian Lizards and Snakes 2017. CSIRO, 663 pp. DOI: 10.1071/9781486309474 - get paper here
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • Even,Eddy 2005. Reptielen zoeken in Australië. Lacerta 63 (2): 48-65 - get paper here
  • Girard, Francis 2002. Notes on the Size of the Terrestrial South African Gecko, Pachydactylus austeni Hewitt, 1923. Gekko 2 (2): 29-33
  • Günther, A. 1897. Descriptions of new species of lizards and of a tree—frog from north-eastern Queensland. Novitates Zoologicae (Tring) 4: 403-406 - get paper here
  • Laube, A. & Langner, C. 2007. Die “Geckos” Australiens. Draco 8 (29): 4-21 - get paper here
  • Porter, Robert 2002. The Husbandry and First Recorded Captive Breeding of the Chameleon Gecko, Carphodactylus laevis Gunther,1897. Gekko 2 (2): 2-8
  • Rösler, Herbert 1995. Geckos der Welt - Alle Gattungen. Urania, Leipzig, 256 pp.
  • Rösler, Herbert 2022. Akzente der Fortpflanzungsbiologie oviparer Geckos (Squamata: Gekkota) - Charakter, Evolution, Phylogenie. Vernate 41/2022: 91-212
  • Skipwith, P.L., Bi, K., Oliver, P.M. 2019. Relicts and radiations: Phylogenomics of an Australasian lizard clade with east Gondwanan origins (Gekkota: Diplodactyloidea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (2019), doi: - get paper here
  • Torr, Geordie A. 1998. A low elevation record for the rainforest gecko Carphodactylus laevis and a further addition to the herpetofauna of the Mossman Gorge section of Daintree National Park, QLD. Herpetofauna (Sydney) 28 (1): 53
  • Uetz, P.H.; Patel, M.; Gbadamosi, Z.; Nguyen, A.; Shoope, S. 2024. A Reference Database of Reptile Images. Taxonomy 4: 723–732 - get paper here
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
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