Lygodactylus rex BROADLEY, 1963
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Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
Subspecies | |
Common Names | E: King Dwarf Gecko |
Synonym | Lygodactylus rex BROADLEY 1963 Lygodactylus rex — KLUGE 1993 Lygodactylus (Lygodactylus) rex — RÖSLER 2000: 94 Lygodactylus rex — RÖLL et al. 2010 Lygodactylus rex — TRAVERS et al. 2014 Lygodactylus rex — PIETERSEN et al. 2021 |
Distribution | Malawi (S Mulange), Mozambique (Namuli Massif)
Type locality: Lujeri Estate, at the foot of Mlanje Mountain (approx. 2,500 feet), Nyasaland.
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Reproduction | oviparous |
Types | Holotype: NMZB, previously UM 4250: an adult-male. Collected by D. G. Broadley and L. Balarin, December 23, 1962. |
Diagnosis | Diagnosis: This is the largest species in the genus, adults measuring 40-50 mm. from snout to vent. The only species of comparable size are L. angularis (maximum 46 mm.) and L. picturatus (max. 4 mm.), both of which have an entire mental and transversely enlarged subcaudals. L. rex belongs to the L. capensis group, having a mental with short lateral fissures (as in L. bernardi) and subequal subcaudals. The conspicuous eye-spot above the shoulder in this species is quite distinctive. |
Comment | |
References |
- Branch, B. & Ryan, P.G. 2001. Additions to the Mozambique Herpetofauna: two new lizards from the Namuli Massif. Herpetological Review 32 (4): 281-282 - get paper here
- Broadley, D.G. 1963. Three new lizards from South Nyasaland and Tete. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (12) 6:285—288. - get paper here
- Pietersen, Darren, Verburgt, Luke & Davies, John 2021. Snakes and other reptiles of Zambia and Malawi. Struik Nature / Penguin Random House South Africa, 376 pp., ISBN 9781775847373
- PORTIK, DANIEL M.; SCOTT L. TRAVERS, AARON M. BAUER, WILLIAM R. BRANCH 2013. A new species of Lygodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) endemic to Mount Namuli, an isolated ‘sky island’ of northern Mozambique. Zootaxa 3710 (5): 415–435 - get paper here
- Röll, Beate; Heike Pröhl, Klaus-Peter Hoffmann 2010. Multigene phylogenetic analysis of Lygodactylus dwarf geckos (Squamata: Gekkonidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 56 (1): 327-335 - get paper here
- Rösler, H. 2000. Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha). Gekkota 2: 28-153
- Travers, Scott L.; Todd R. Jackman, Aaron M. Bauer 2014. A molecular phylogeny of Afromontane dwarf geckos (Lygodactylus) reveals a single radiation and increased species diversity in a South African montane center of endemism. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - get paper here
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