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Pristurus rupestris BLANFORD, 1874

IUCN Red List - Pristurus rupestris - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaSphaerodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Blanford’s Semaphore Gecko, Persia Rock Gecko 
SynonymPristurus rupestris BLANFORD 1874: 454
Pristurus rupestris — BOULENGER 1885: 53
Pristurus migiurtinicus SCORTECCI 1933 (fide LOVERIDGE 1947)
Pristurus rupestris — SMITH 1935: 64
Pristurus rupestris — LOVERIDGE 1947: 76
Pristurus rupestris rupestris — SCHMIDT 1952
Pristurus rupestris iranicus SCHMIDT 1952
Pristurus rupestris iranicus — WERMUTH 1965: 151
Pristurus rupestris — KLUGE 1993
Pristurus rupestris — RÖSLER 2000: 106
Pristurus rupestris — LARGEN & SPAWLS 2010: 332
Pristurus rupestris iranicus — BADIANE et al. 2014
Pristurus rupestris — NASRABADI et al. 2017
Pristurus rupestris rupestris — SABERI-PIROOZ et al. 2019
Pristurus rupestris — BURRIEL-CARRANZA et al. 2023
Pristurus migiurtinicus — BURRIEL-CARRANZA et al. 2023
Pristurus migiurtinicus — SPAWLS et al. 2023 
DistributionIran (Bushire, Fars), Oman, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar

Terra typica restricta: Muskat [Muscat], Oman (fide SCHMIDT 1952)

iranicus: Iran, Kharg Island near Bushire, West Pakistan; Type locality: Bushire, Iran.

migiurtinicus: Somalia; Type locality: “Bender Cassim” (=Bosaso), Somalia.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesSyntypes: ZSI (fide Annandale, 1906:91)
Holotype: ZMUC [iranicus]
Holotype: MSNM Re97 (Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano), apparenly lost fide Badiane et al. 2014 [migiurtinicus] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Rostral enters nostril; hind limb reaches ear opening; 16-24 lamellae under fourth toe; tail of male strongly compressed, with feeble crest or row of enlarged scales in males only, never extending onto body (Anderson 1999: 176).


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CommentDistribution: Not in Pakistan fide KHAN 2002 (pers. comm.). Garcia-Porta et al. (2017) suggested that there may be 14 candidate species hidden within the subspecies P. r. rupestris. See map in SMID et al. 2014 for distribution in Iran. Reports from Jordan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan (Jumhūriyyat) (L. Chirio, pers. comm.), Pakistan, N Somalia, S Arabia (Bender Casim/Migiurt.), and Saudi Arabia are based on what is now P. guweirensis (or are erroneous). See map in Burriel-Carranza et al. 2019, 2023.

Synonymy: Pristurus flavipunctatus guweirensis HAAS 1943 is listed as a synonym by LEVITON et al. (1992). P. r. iranicus was synonymized with P. r. rupestris by SABERI-PIROOZ et al. 2019. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin rūpes = rock, as the species is living on rocks (Lewis, 1969). 
References
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