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Chondrodactylus laevigatus (FISCHER, 1888)

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Higher TaxaGekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Button-scaled Gecko, Fischer's Thick-toed Gecko 
SynonymPachydactylus laevigatus FISCHER 1888: 15
Pachydactylus bibroni laevigatus — HEWITT 1927: 401
Pachydactylus laevigatus laevigatus — FITZSIMONS 1938
Pachydactylus laevigatus laevigatus — LOVERIDGE 1947: 399
Pachydactylus laevigatus laevigatus — WERMUTH 1965: 119
Pachydactylus laevigatus — KLUGE 1993
Pachydactylus turneri laevigatus — BRANCH 1998
Chondrodactylus laevigatus — MARQUES et al. 2018
Pachydactylus laevigatus — SCHLEICHER 2020
Chondrodactylus laevigatus — HEINZ et al. 2021: 191
Condrodactylus laevigatus — LOBÓN-ROVIRA et al. 2022 (in error) 
DistributionRepublic of South Africa, Namibia, Angola (Kamanyab)

Type locality: “bei Aus und auf dem Wege nach Bethanien” [= near Aus and on the way to Bethanien], Karas Region, Namibia.  
Reproductionoviparous; this species exhibits temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD, Straková et al. 2024) 
TypesSyntypes: BMNH 1946.8.26.1–2 (formerly BMNH 89.12.16.9–10; collector J. Steingrover). Given as ZMH, Hamburg Museum (fide LOVERIDGE 1947: 399) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A large Chondrodactylus (to ≥ 100 mm SVL, MCZ R190191) bearing prominent subdigital lamellae. Body robust and somewhat depressed. Head large, relatively depressed, and subtriangular, not as broad as long but proportionally wider across adductor region than C. pulitzerae; inflection at ear gently curved when viewed from above, snout somewhat longer and more acuminate than in C. turneri, canthus rostralis moderately developed, loreal region weakly to moderately inflated, interorbital region flattened to weakly concave or with a narrow furrow. Tubercles on occiput and posterior half of crown large very large and keeled to stellate, becoming smaller on the anterior crown and interorbital region and slightly larger again on the dorsum of the snout; interorbital and especially snout scales flattened or domed, keelless or with only weakly defined keels. Most anterior dorsal head tubercles in contact with one another, whereas tubercles of the crown and nape may be separated from one another by tiny granules (Fig. 5E–H), although typically not as widely spaces as in C. turneri. Tubercles anterior and dorsal to ear heterogeneous, generally large and bearing a prominent longitudinal keel. Chin and gular scales small and granular, becoming progressively smaller postero-medially (condition similar to Fig. 7B), approximately 5 chin scales contained within the diameter of a single paravertebral dorsal tubercle. Dorsal tubercles large, oval to rounded, from unkeeled to strongly keeled, if strongly keeled then variably bearing small peripheral radiating ridges, although not as strongly stellate as in C. bibronii, becoming smaller and more conical on flanks. Trunk tubercles usually well-separated by smaller granular scales, forming 14–20 (usually 18 in the western clade, 14 in the eastern clade, and 16–18 in the Kgaligadi clade), slightly irregular to very regular longitudinal rows of enlarged tubercles (Fig. 17). In addition, mid-vertebral line with a mixture of granules and smaller, rounded, unkeeled to moderately keeled tubercles (single or in pairs; Fig. 6F–H). Tubercles on dorsum and postaxial surface of thigh and shank large, somewhat flattened, to keeled or mucronate. Scales on upper arm non-tuberculate, flattened, imbricating, becoming tubercular on forearm, conical to mucronate, but smaller and less prominent than tubercles of shank. Tail distinctly verticillate, each whorl at tail-base bearing 6 (8 close to tail base) enlarged, keeled (proximal whorls) or conical to strongly mucronate tubercles; tubercles per whorl decreasing to 4 then 2 on distal portion of tail (Heinz et al. 2021).


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CommentPachydactylus laevigatus fitzsimonsi LOVERIDGE 1947 and Pachydactylus laevigatus pulitzerae SCHMIDT 1933 have been elevated to full species status. BAUER & LAMB 2005 did not mention the former species though.

Distribution: See map in Heinz et al. 2021: 190 (Fig. 16).

Karyotype: Chrostek et al. 2023. 
References
  • Baptista NL, António T, Branch WR. 2019. The herpetofauna of Bicuar National Park and surroundings, southwestern Angola: a preliminary checklist. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 13(2) [Special Section]: 96–130 (e203) - get paper here
  • Barts, M. 2004. Dickfingergeckos - Pachydactylus turneri & Pachydactylus bibronii. Natur und Tier Verlag, Münster, 61 pp. - get paper here
  • Bauer, Aaron M.; Branch, William R. & Haacke, Wulf D. 1993. The herpetofauna of the Kamanjab area and adjacent Damaraland, Namibia. Madoqua (Windhoek) 18 (2): 117-145. - get paper here
  • Benyr, G. 1995. Systematik und Taxonomie der Geckos des Pachydactylus bibronii-laevigatus Komplexes (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae). Diploma thesis, Univ. Wien, 75 pp.
  • Branch, W. R. 1998. Field Guide to the Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. 3rd ed. Fully Revised and Updated to Include 83 New Species. Ralph Curtis Books (Sanibel Island, Florida), 399 pp.
  • Branch, William R. 1994. Herpetofauna of the Sperrgebeit [sic] Region of Southern Namibia. Herpetological Natural History 2 (1): 1-11.
  • Breda, Reuben Victor van 2023. Herpetofaunal survey of the Khaudum– Ngamiland dispersal area in Namibia. MSc thesis, North–West University, YUNIBESITI YA BOKONE-BOPHIRIMA - get paper here
  • Buruwate, T. C., & Lloyd-Jones, D. J. 2024. Amphibian and Reptile Diversity of Niassa Special Reserve, Northern Mozambique. Journal of East African Natural History, 113(1), 1-18 - get paper here
  • Butler, B O; Ceríaco, L M P; Marques, M P; Bandeira, S; Júlio, T; Heinicke, M P & Bauer, A M; 2019. Herpetological survey of Huíla Province, Southwest Angola, including first records of Bicuar National Park. Herpetological Review 50 (2): 225-240 - get paper here
  • Chrostek G, Domaradzka A, Yurchenko A, Kratochvíl L, Mazzoleni S, Rovatsos M 2023. Cytogenetic Analysis of Seven Species of Gekkonid and Phyllodactylid Geckos. Genes 14 (1): 178 - get paper here
  • Conradie W, Keates C, Verburgt L, Baptista NL, Harvey J, Júlio T, Neef G. 2022. Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi River drainages. Part 2: Lizards (Sauria), chelonians, and crocodiles. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 16(2): 181–214 (e322) - get paper here
  • Farooq, Harith; Cristóvão Nanvonamuquitxo, Bibiana Nassongole, Werner Conradie, Roger Bills, Amadeu Soares, and Alexandre Antonelli 2022. Shedding Light on a Biodiversity Dark Spot: Survey Of Amphibians and Reptiles of Pemba Region in Northern Mozambique. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 17 (2): - get paper here
  • Fischer, Johann Gustav 1888. Über eine Kollektion Reptilien von Angra Pequenna. Jahrb. Hamburg. Wiss. Anst. 5: 11-17. - 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
  • Heinz, Morgan D.; Ian G. Brennan, Todd R. Jackman & Aaron M. Bauer 2021. Phylogeny of the genus Chondrodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) with the establishment of a stable taxonomy. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 163(5): 151–210. - 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
  • Lobón-Rovira J, Vaz Pinto P, S. Becker F, Tolley KA, Measey J, Bennet B, Boon B, de Sá S, Conradie W 2022. An updated herpetofaunal species inventory of Iona National Park in southwestern Angola. Check List 18(2): 289-321 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, A. 1947. Revision of the African lizards of the family Gekkondiae. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 98: 1-469 - get paper here
  • Marques, Mariana P.; Luis M. P. Ceríaco , David C. Blackburn , and Aaron M. Bauer 2018. Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola -- Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840–2017). Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (Ser. 4) 65: 1-501 (Supplement II)
  • Pietersen, Darren, Verburgt, Luke & Davies, John 2021. Snakes and other reptiles of Zambia and Malawi. Struik Nature / Penguin Random House South Africa, 376 pp., ISBN 9781775847373
  • Rösler H 1982. Zum Verwechseln ahnlich: Pachydactylus bibronii bibronii (Smith 1864) und Pachydactylus laevigatus laevigatus (Fischer 1888) - zwei Geckos aus der Republik Südafrika. AQUARIA (ST GALLEN) 29 (12): 189-197
  • Rösler, H. 2000. Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha). Gekkota 2: 28-153
  • Schleicher, Alfred 2020. Reptiles of Namibia. Kuiseb Publishers, Windhoek, Namibia, 271 pp.
  • Schmidt, Karl Patterson 1933. The reptiles of the Pulitzer Angola Expedition. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 22 (1): 1-15
  • Straková, B., Kubička, L., Červenka, J., & Kratochvíl, L. 2024. Pivotal temperature is not for everyone: Evidence for temperature-dependent sex determination in three gecko species. Journal of Experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and Integrative Physiology - get paper here
 
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