Ebenavia boettgeri BOULENGER, 1885
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Ebenavia boettgeri?
Ebenavia boettgeri
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| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Ebenavia boettgeri BOULENGER 1885: 96 Ebenavia boettgeri — HAWLITSCHEK et al. 2018 |
| Distribution | Madagascar (lowlands of the eastern rainforest belt from Sainte Luce in the southeast to Ambodivoahangy and possibly Ambohitralanana on the Masoala Peninsula in the northeast); elevations from sea level to 425 m. Type locality: “Madagascar” |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: BMNH 81.7.8.17, adult female; collected by an unknown collector on an unknown date. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: The holotype is distinguished from E. inunguis and E. safari sp. nov. by the nostril in contact with the rostral and from E. robusta sp. nov. by the absence of distinctly enlarged tubercles on the hindlimbs. The name Ebenavia boettgeri Boulenger, 1885 is therefore assigned to the East Coast Clade (Cc) of Hawlitschek et al. (2017), with which the holotype agrees in all characters. Distinguished from Ebenavia maintimainty by larger SVL (28.9–37.8 vs. ≤ 24 mm), rostral scale bordered by postrostrals distinct from posterior head scales, absence of prenasal scale between rostral and nostril, keeled abdominal scales, and lighter colour; from E. robusta sp. nov. by absence of distinctly enlarged tubercles on hindlimbs (TUB = no), smaller SVL (28.9–37.8 vs. 34.4–42.6 mm), smaller ratio of BW/SVL (0.11–0.20 vs. 0.15–0.22), lower ILAB (8–11 vs. 10–11), IOS (15–21 vs. 20–23), and DTAP (33–49 vs. 46– 51); from E. inunguis, E. tuelinae sp. nov., and E. safari sp. nov. by rostral scale not in contact with nostril (RNO = no); from E. tuelinae sp. nov. by ratio EE/HL (0.29–0.41 vs. 0.27– 0.36), and lower DTAP (33–49 vs. 52–62); from E. safari sp. nov. by generally lower DTAP (33–43 vs. 38–54). Furthermore, distinguished from all other analysed Ebenavia except E. safari sp. nov. by long tapering nasal process of premaxilla; from E. tuelinae sp. nov. and E. robusta sp. nov. by long premaxillary lappets of nasals; from E. safari sp. nov. by recognisable basal tubercle on basisphenoid; and from all other analysed Ebenavia except E. inunguis by a codon insertion of CGA (Proline) at position 438 from the 5′ primer binding site of the PRLR fragment. (Hawlitschek et al. 2018: 10) |
| Comment | Synonymy: Ebenavia boettgeri Boulenger, 1885 was considered a synonym of Ebenavia inunguis by Boulenger (1887) and subsequent authors but was resurrected as a valid species by Hawlitschek et al. 2018. Distribution: see map in Hawlitschek et al. 2018: 48 (Fig. 5). |
| Etymology | Presumably named after Professor Dr. Oskar Boettger (or Böttger) (1844-1910), a German zoologist. Boulenger doesn’t explain the origin of the name but he does cite Oskar Boettger a couple of times in his section on Ebenavia. Not that Boiulenger has also named several species after another Böttger. |
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