Hemidactylus pieresii KELAART, 1852

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Higher Taxa	Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies
Common Names
Synonym	Hemidactylus pieresii KELAART 1852: 159 Hemidactylus pieresii KELAART 1853: 29 Hemidactylus Pieresii — KELAART 1854: 138 Hemidactylus pieresii — BATUWITA & PETHIYAGODA 2012
Distribution	Sri Lanka Type locality: Kandy (Sri Lanka)
Reproduction	oviparous (manual imputation, fide Zimin et al. 2022)
Types	Neotype: NMSL (= WHT) 7573 (Gannoruwa proposed forest reserve, Peradeniya, 07°17’N, 80°53’E, 700 m elevation)
Diagnosis	Diagnosis: Hemidactylus pieresii differs from its peninsular-Indian and Sri Lankan congeners by the combina- tion of the following characters. Maximum SVL 79.2 mm; paired postmentals, anterior pair broadly in contact with each other; 53–58 tubercles in paravertebral row; 17–19 longitudinal rows of middorsal tubercles; ventral scales across midbody, 32–39; dorsal scales heterogeneous; ventral scales smooth, with 3 serrae; precloacal-femoral pores 17–20 on each side, separated mesially by 1–3 poreless scales; subcaudals smooth, the median row enlarged; supralabials to angle of jaws, 11 or 12; subdigital lamellae on digit IV of pes 10 or 11; postcloacal spurs, 1–3; col- oration in life chocolate-brown, nape with distinct black longitudinal stripes, back with indistinct irregular black bands; venter dusky white, a yellow lateral band from snout to back of head. Hemidactylus pieresii resembles H. depressus, but differs from the latter species by the combination of follow- ing characters: presence of greater number of paravertebral tubercles (53–58, vs. 35–41); a greater number of longitudinal rows of middorsal tubercles (17–19, vs. 13–16); possessing relatively small and closely spaced middorsal tubercles (vs. large and widely spaced); postcloacal spurs 1–3 (vs. absent); coloration in life chocolate-brown (vs. light brown); and nape with distinct black longitudinal stripes (vs. without stripes). [BATUWITA & PETHIYAGODA 2012].
Comment	Synonymy: Hemidactylus pieresii was synonymized with H. depressus by SMITH 1935 but removed from the synonymy by BATUWITA & PETHIYAGODA 2012. Note that Kelaart apparently described this species as “new” in multiple publications.
References	Batuwita, Sudesh; & Rohan Pethiyagoda 2012. Rediscovery of the Sri Lankan ‘house gecko’ Hemidactylus pieresii Kelaart (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) with a redescription of Hemidactylus depressus Gray. Zootaxa 3359: 17–30 - get paper here Kelaart, E.E 1852. Prodromus Faunae Zeylanicae. Vol. 1. Part 3: Ceylon Reptiles. Colombo, pp. 143-187. - get paper here Kelaart, EDWARD FRED 1853. Description of new or little-known species of reptiles collected in Ceylon. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (2) 13 (3): 25-31, [1854] (a modified version of this paper was reproduced in Prodromus Faunae Zeylanicae, Appendix) - get paper here Kelaart, EDWARD FRED 1854. Catalogue of reptiles collected in Ceylon. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (2) 13: 137-140 - get paper here Smith, M.A. 1935. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Reptiles and Amphibia, Vol. II. Sauria. Taylor and Francis, London, 440 pp. Zimin, A., Zimin, S. V., Shine, R., Avila, L., Bauer, A., Böhm, M., Brown, R., Barki, G., de Oliveira Caetano, G. H., Castro Herrera, F., Chapple, D. G., Chirio, L., Colli, G. R., Doan, T. M., Glaw, F., Grismer, L. L., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton 2022. A global analysis of viviparity in squamates highlights its prevalence in cold climates. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–16 - get paper here
External links	IUCN Red List Google images

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