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Diplodactylus furcosus PETERS, 1863

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Higher TaxaDiplodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Ranges Stone Gecko, Forked Gecko 
SynonymDiplodactylus furcosus PETERS 1863: 229
Diplodactylus ornatus — GÜNTHER 1875 (partim)
Diplodactylus vittatus — BOULENGER 1885 (partim)
Diplodactylus furcosus — WELLS & WELLINGTON 1984
Diplodactylus furcosus — BAUER et al. 1995: 54
Diplodactylus furcosus — RÖSLER 2000: 77
Diplodactylus furcosus — WILSON & SWAN 2010 
DistributionAustralia (SE South Australia, possibly adjacent New South Wales and Victoria)

Type locality: “Buchsfelde bei Adelaide in Südaustralien” [Loos, 4.5 km W of Gawler, South Australia] by implication.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: ZMB 39231 (designated by Kluge 1967) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A moderate-sized, longer tailed member of the D. vittatus complex, with strongly scalloped to zigzag vertebral stripe, sometimes a chain of angular blotches, strongly bifurcating on the head and extending as a relatively narrow dark-edged pale stripe to each eye. Flanks with no, small or large pale circular lateral spots. Pale markings thinly outlined in black. 
CommentGroup: Diplodactylus vittatus group.

Karyotypically distinct from Diplodactylus vittatus (King 1977). However, KLUGE (1993) still considered furcosus as a synonym of vittatus. Not listed by COGGER 2000 either.

D. furcosus is not included in the list of Diplodactylus species by OLIVER et al. (2007) although they list this taxon in various trees and appendices without discussing it further.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyPresumably named after the Latin furca (a fork) plus the suffix -osus (fullness), referring to the forking of the vertebral stripe and its extension onto the head. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) 
References
  • Bauer, A.M. & Günther,R. 1991. An annotated type catalogue of the geckos (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) in the Zoological Museum , Berlin. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin 67: 279-310 - get paper here
  • Bauer, A.M.; Günther,R. & Klipfel,M. 1995. The herpetological contributions of Wilhelm C.H. Peters (1815-1883). SSAR Facsimile Reprints in Herpetology, 714 pp.
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. Geckonidae, Eublepharidae, Uroplatidae, Pygopodidae, Agamidae. London: 450 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Günther, A. 1875. A list of the saurians of Australia and New Zealand. Pp. 9-19. In: Richardson, J., and J. E. Gray. The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Erebus and Terror, during the years 1839 to 1843. By authority of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Vol. 2. Reptiles, fishes, crustacea, insects, mollusca. E. W. Janson, London - get paper here
  • HUTCHINSON, MARK N.; PAUL DOUGHTY & PAUL M. OLIVER 2009. Taxonomic revision of the stone geckos (Squamata: Diplodactylidae: Diplodactylus) of southern Australia. Zootaxa 2167: 25-46 - get paper here
  • King,M. 1977. Chromosomal and morphometric variation in the gekko Diplodactylus vittatus (Gray). Australian Journal of Zoology 25: 43-57 - get paper here
  • Oliver, Paul M.; Hutchinson, Mark N.; Cooper, Steven J.B. 2007. Phylogenetic relationships in the lizard genus Diplodactylus Gray and resurrection of Lucasium Wermuth (Gekkota, Diplodactylidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 55( 3):197-210 - get paper here
  • Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig 1863. Eine Übersicht der von Hrn. Richard Schomburgk an das zoologische Museum eingesandten Amphibien, aus Buchsfelde bei Adelaide in Südaustralien. Monatsber. königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin. 1863 (April): 228-236 - get paper here
  • Rösler, H. 2000. Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha). Gekkota 2: 28-153
  • Swan, G.; Sadlier, R.; Shea, G. 2017. A field guide to reptiles of New South Wales. Reed New Holland, 328 pp.
  • 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
  • Wells R W; Wellington C R 1984. A synopsis of the class Reptilia in Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology 1 (3-4): 73-129 [31 Dec 1983 on cover]
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
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