Hemidactylus alfarraji ŠMÍD, SHOBRAK, WILMS, JOGER & CARRANZA, 2016
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Hemidactylus alfarraji
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| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Hemidactylus alfarraji ŠMÍD, SHOBRAK, WILMS, JOGER & CARRANZA 2016 Hemidactylus yerburii — ARNOLD 1980 Hemidactylus yerburii — ARNOLD 1986 Hemidactylus yerburii — CARRANZA & ARNOLD 2006 Hemidactylus yerburii — MORAVEC et al. 2011 Hemidactylus yerburii — CARRANZA & ARNOLD 2012 |
| Distribution | Saudi Arabia (Najran Province) Type locality: Saudi Arabia, Najran Province, 32 km W of Najran (17.529° N, 43.827° E), 1969 m elevation |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: NMP P6V 75269 (sample code HSA35, Fig. 5), adult male, May 24, 2012, collect- ed by S. Carranza, M. Shobrak, and T. Wilms, MorphoBank M390464–M390480. Paratypes. NMP P6V 75270 (sample code HSA36, MorphoBank M390450–M390463), IBES 10303 (HSA43, MorphoBank M390355–M390366), adult females; IBES 10266 (HSA37, MorphoBank M390434–M390449), IBES 10295 (HSA41, MorphoBank M390379–M390392), adult males; all paratypes have the same collection data as the holotype. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis. A species of the Arabian radiation of the Arid clade of Hemidactylus characterized by (1) medium size with a maximum recorded SVL 57.8 mm (48.7–57.8 in males, 45.4–52.6 in females); (2) long, wide, and robust head clearly distinct from the neck, particularly in males (HL = 24–29 % of SVL; HW=10.3±0.4mmst.dev.inmales,9.1±0.9mmin females); (3) uppermost nasals always separated by a small median scale; (4) large anterior postmentals in wide mutual contact and in contact with the first and second infralabial; (5) 7–9 infralabials and 8–11 supralabials; (6) dorsum with 14–16 longitudinal rows of enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tuber- cles; (7) males with invariably 4 preanal pores; (8) 7–8 lamel- lae under the first toe and 10–12 lamellae under the fourth toe; (9) enlarged tile-like subcaudals; and (10) brownish-beige col- oration with distinct dark bands starting behind nostrils and crossing the eyes to the ear openings, dorsum with slightly visible X-shaped dark markings (most distinct in juveniles) formed by dark tubercles, and intact tail with 10–11 intensely dark bands on a beige background, becoming paler towards the tail tip so the dark bands are most contrasting at the end of the tail. Differential diagnosis. Hemidactylus alfarraji sp. n. is not significantly different in body size and head shape from its closest relatives, H. granosus and the new species endemic to the Asir Mountains described below, although it is seemingly the biggest of the three species (Fig. 4). It is significantly distinct from these species by the following characters: the number of infralabials in H. alfarraji sp. n. (8.5 ± 0.5, range 7–9) is higher than in H. granosus (7.4 ± 0.4, 7–8) and the new species endemic to the Asir Mountains (7.7 ± 0.5, 7–9) (one- way ANOVA F(2, 47) = 17.849, p < 0.001). The number of supralabials is also higher in H. alfarraji sp. n. (10.2 ± 0.6, 9–11) than in H. granosus (9.3 ± 0.5, 9–11) and the new spe- cies endemic to the Asir Mountains (9.4 ± 0.7, 7–11) (one- way ANOVA F(2, 47) = 6.467, p < 0.01). Hemidactylus alfarraji sp. n. has a lower number of preanal pores in males (invariably four) than H. granosus (5.7 ± 0.8, 4–7) and the new species endemic to the Asir Mountains have (invariably six) (one-way ANOVA F(2, 17) = 24.663, p < 0.001). From the new species endemic to the Asir Mountains, it further differs in having distinctly keeled dorsal tubercles and a higher number of subdigital lamellae under the first toe (7.1 ± 0.3, 7–8 in H. alfarraji sp. n. vs. 6.2 ± 0.4, 5–7 in the latter; t test t = 6.247, p < 0.001; Fig. 5). Although the above described significant differences between the species support their spe- cies status, the high overlap of scale counts indicates that these characters are of limited use in species identification. Comparison of metric and meristic variables with the other SW Arabian Hemidactylus is given in ŠMÍD et al. 2016 (Table S4). |
| Comment | Distribution: see map in ŠMÍD et al. 2016: Fig. 3. |
| Etymology | The species epithet “alfarraji” is a genitive Latin noun to honor Dr. Saud Al Farraj for his life-long dedication and contribution to the herpetology of Saudi Arabia, raising public awareness of biodiversity protection and contribution to education at all school levels. |
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