Chondrodactylus bibronii (SMITH, 1846)
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Chondrodactylus bibronii
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| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Bibron's (Thick-toed) Gecko G: Bibrons Dickfingergecko |
| Synonym | Tarentola bibronii SMITH 1846 Pachydactylus bibronii — BOULENGER 1885: 201 Pachydactylus [bibronii] var. stellatus — WERNER 1910: 309 Pachydactylus bibronii — FITZSIMONS & BRAIN 1958 Pachydactylus bibroni — STEBBINS 1961 Pachydactylus bibronii — AUERBACH 1987: 85 Pachydactylus bibronii — KLUGE 1993 Pachydactylus bibronii — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 9 Pachydactylus bibroni — BRANCH 1994 Pachydactylus bibronii — RÖSLER 2000: 98 Chondrodactylus bibronii — BAUER & LAMB 2005 Pachydactylus bibronii — BRANCH & BAUER 2005 Chondrodactylus bibronii — BATES et al. 2014: 103 Chondrodactylus bibronii — HEINZ et al. 2021: 175 |
| Distribution | Republic of South Africa, S Namibia (Kamanjab area), Swaziland Introduced to USA (Florida) Type locality: ‘‘Southern Africa,’’ restricted to Southern Africa (South Africa or Namibia) south of 26.48S and west of 26.48E by Heinz et al. 2021. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Lectotype: BMNH 1946.8.26.20 (collector Andrew Smith), Paralectotypes: BMNH 1946.8.26.21–28 (collector Andrew Smith), designated by Heinz et al. 2021. Lectotype: NMW 17995:4 (collector Leonhard Schultze, 1903–1905; from the collection of Franz Werner), designated by Heinz et al. 2021 [stellatus] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A large Chondrodactylus (SVL to 108 mm, TM 18185) bearing prominent subdigital lamellae. Body very robust, somewhat depressed, habitus most similar to C. turneri among its congeners. Head large, subtriangular, both wide and high, area behind orbits squarish, with nearly parallel lateral sides (Fig. 5A), in contrast to the wide rectangular parietal table of C. fitzsimonsi and more rounded shape of other congeners; snout short and rounded with a shallow midline concavity. Canthus rostralis moderately well-developed, scales on snout and canthal region smooth, domed, equal to or larger than those on parietal region but smaller than those on occiput, which are heterogeneous, strongly keeled and stellate, with prominent striae radiating from the central keel. Circumauricular scales prominent and strongly keeled to mucronate. Scales between posterior rim of orbit and ear greatly enlarged, oblong, with prominent keels. Chin and gular scales minute and granular (Fig. 7A), approximately 5 contained within half the diameter of a paravertebral dorsal tubercle. Dorsal tubercles large, round, and very strongly keeled or mucronate (Fig. 6B), largest in paravertebral position just posterior of midbody, becoming mucronate on flanks (Fig. 6A) and in lumbar region; tubercles in 14–16 longitudinal rows (several shorter rows continue onto the flanks, but only near the midbody), tubercles within a single row usually separated by granular scales from each other, but tubercles of adjacent longitudinal rows often in touch with one another. Vertebral midline covered by a series of small keeled tubercles alternating with even smaller smooth scales, each several times the size of intertubercular granules (Fig. 6B). Scales on dorsal surfaces of thighs, shanks, upper arms, and forearms mucronate. Tail approximately equal to or slightly greater than SVL, strongly verticillate, each whorl at tail-base bearing 6–8 enlarged, raised mucronate tubercles; tubercles per whorl decreasing distally. Across the body as a whole, the scalation of C. bibronii is typically more heavily sculptured than in its congeners giving it a distinctly rugose appearance that contrasts strongly with the button-scaled morphology of western clade C. laevigatus, the only toe-padded congener with which it is sympatric. Dorsal coloration usually light to midbrown or grayish with moderately welldeveloped to bold dark brown dorsal crossbars, especially dark on the nape and shoulders. Basic pattern similar to congeners with nape, shoulder, mid-body, midabdomen, and hip bands, which may appear as wide bands, each becoming paler anteriorly or as a series of chevrons or zigzag lines formed only by the darker posterior border of each band. Bright white markings, when present, typically immediately posterior to dark bands. Tail banded, with 7–8 dark bands fading ventrolaterally (Fig. 9). Iris bronze to coppery (Heinz et al. 2021). |
| Comment | Subspecies: Pachydactylus bibronii turneri (GRAY 1864) has been elevated to species status. Pachydactylus bibronii pulitzerae has been transferred to P. laevigatus. Distribution not corrected for this elevation. Synonymy: after Heinz et al. 2021. Distribution: See map in Heinz et al. 2021: 172 (Fig. 4). |
| Etymology | Named after Gabriel Bibron (1806-1848), French zoologist. |
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