Ptenopus garrulus (SMITH, 1849)
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Ptenopus garrulus
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| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Whistling Gecko, Common Barking Gecko |
| Synonym | Stenodactylus garrulous SMITH 1849 Ptenopus garrulus — BOULENGER 1885: 15 Ptenopus garrulus — BOETTGER 1886: 10 Ptenopus garrulus — HEWITT 1935: 305 Ptenopus garrulus garrulus — FITZSIMONS 1935: 524 Ptenopus garrulus garrulus — LOVERIDGE 1947: 31 Ptenopus garrulus — FITZSIMONS & BRAIN 1958 Ptenopus garrulus — HAACKE 1976 Ptenopus garrulus garrulus — AUERBACH 1987: 92 Ptenopus garrulus — KLUGE 1993 Ptenopus garrulus — RÖSLER 1995: 149 Ptenopus garrulus garrulus — RÖSLER 2000: 107 Ptenopus garrulus — BAUER 2013 (plates) Ptenopus garrulus garrulus — BATES et al. 2014: 146 Ptenopus garrulus garrulus — BOURQUIN & GRUENER 2017 Ptenopus garrulus — SCHLEICHER 2020 Ptenopus garrulus garrulus — STANDER 2023: 174 Ptenopus garrulus — TOLLEY et al. 2024 Ptenopus garrulus — BECKER et al. 2025 |
| Distribution | Republic of South Africa (S Little-Namaqualand, Cape Province), Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe Type locality: Inland of South Africa. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Types: BMNH 1946.8.23.43-49 (and possibly additional specimens). Syntypes: BMNH 1946.8.23.53-54 [maculatus] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A small Ptenopus (SVL max. 53.4 mm, mean 46.6 mm, n = 22) with a moderate tail (TL 69% [range 50–86%] of SVL, n = 17) and a generally slender appearance. This species is easily distinguished from P. kochi, P. carpi and P. sceletus sp. nov. by a combination of the following morphological characters: Toes extensively fringed laterally (similar to P. kochi vs. weakly fringed in P. carpi and P. sceletus sp. nov.), with fringe length roughly equal to the breadth of the toe between fringes (vs. fringe length generally less than half toe breadth in P. carpi and P. sceletus sp. nov.); having white pigmented ventral scales with some pink, unpigmented scales on the (hand/foot) soles (vs. pink, unpigmented patches also on the tail and limbs in P. kochi, and white entire in P. carpi and P. sceletus sp. nov.); having MBSR ~182 (range 156–202, n = 31) (vs. 187–210 in P. kochi and usually <135 in P. carpi and P. sceletus sp. nov.). It is further distinct from P. carpi and P. sceletus sp. nov. by the nasals being more swollen and the nostrils partially covered by internal projections of the upper labials, and by more-or less speckled dorsal colour pattern (vs. banded pattern in P. carpi and P. sceletus sp. nov.); from P. kochi by having fingers laterally fringed with pointed triangular scales (vs. elongated pointed scales in P. kochi). From congeners previously included under ‘P. garrulus’, P. garrulus sensu stricto is distinguished by: (when live) patches of pink, unpigmented scales on soles (vs. white pigmented in other species and white or slightly pinkish with dark brown speckles in P. kenkenses sp. nov. and P. australis sp. nov.); having higher RB/RH (~1.12, range 0.95–1.24, n = 10) than P. australis sp. nov. (≤0.97); having higher MBSR (~182, range 156–202, n = 31) than P. australis sp. nov., P. circumsyrticus sp. nov., and P. maculatus sensu stricto (usually <149); dorsal colour pattern relatively speckled, consisting of >2 longitudinal rows of white spots (rows may join to form irregular bands), including 5–7 clear (but not large) dorsolateral pairs of light spots between pectoral and pelvic girdles, with indistinct dark patches not touching the white, or dark patches absent, and indistinct or no patterning on ventro-lateral sides of the face, vs. 4–5 large and distinctive paired, light, ovoid markings interspaced by distinct dark mottled patches usually touching the light markings, and ovoid patterning on ventro-lateral portions of the face being more distinctive in P. kenkenses sp. nov. (and some populations of P. adamanteus sp. nov. or P. circumsyrticus sp. nov.); toe fringes being generally more extensive (with fringe length roughly equal to the breadth of the toe between fringes) than other species (fringe length usually about half toe breadth), but similar to P. australis sp. nov. (Becker et al. 2025) Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 3206 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Phylogenetics: P. g. maculatus is composed of multiple (paraphyletic) lineages (Tolley et al. 2024) that were described as new species by Becker et al. 2025. Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. Distribution: for a map see Becker et al. 2025: 289 (Fig. 5). |
| Etymology | Named after Latin garrulus, talkative, loquacious. ["...In the localities in which it occurs many individuals may be seen peeping from their hiding places any time during the day, each uttering a sharp sound, somewhat like chick, chick..."]. The genus was named after Greek ptenos (πτηνός), feathered or winged + Greek pous (πούς), foot. [“…with a series of elongated subulate scales forming a fringe on each side of the toes on the sides…”]. |
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