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Stenodactylus sthenodactylus (LICHTENSTEIN, 1823)

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Higher TaxaGekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Elegant gecko, Lichtenstein's Short-fingered Gecko
G: Engfingergecko 
SynonymAscalabotes sthenodactylus LICHTENSTEIN 1823: 102
Stenodactylus elegans FITZINGER 1826
Goniodactylus sthenodactylus — BOIE in SCHLEGEL 1826
Trapelus savignyi AUDOUIN 1827: 108
Stenodactylus guttatus CUVIER 1829
Stenodactylus guttatus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1836: 434
Tolarenta wilkinsonii GRAY 1842
Stenodactylus mauritanicus GUICHENOT 1850
Stenodactylus guttatus — BOULENGER 1885: 17
Stenodactylus wilkinsonii — BOULENGER 1885: 18
Stenodactylus guttatus — WERNER 1897
Stenodactylus hirouxi [DOUMERGUE] 1899
Stenodactylus elegans — WERNER 1931
Stenodactylus guttatus — LAURENT 1935: 345
Stenodactylus stenodactylus zavattari SCORTECCI 1943
Garzoniella longipes PERRET 1976
Stenodactylus sthenodactylus — KLUGE 1993
Stenodactylus sthenodactylus — SCHLEICH, KÄSTLE & KABISCH 1996: 261
Stenodactylus sthenodactylus — SPAWLS et al. 2001
Stenodactylus sthenodactylus — LARGEN & SPAWLS 2010: 337
Stenodactylus sthenodactylus zavattarii — SCALI 2010
Stenodactylus cornaliae SCALI 2010 (nomen nudum)
Stenodactylus sthenodactylus — FUJITA & PAPENFUSS 2011
Stenodactylus sthenodactylus zavattari — NCBI TAXONOMY 2016
Stenodactylus sthenodactylus — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 73 
DistributionMorocco, Western Sahara, Libya Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt (Sinai, Ismailia: [HR 31: 185]), Mauritania, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan (Jumhūriyyat), Republic of South Sudan (RSS), , , N Kenya, Mali,
Israel, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia (Tabuk)

Type locality: “Aegypten” [Egypt and Nubia, fide ARNOLD 1980].  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesNeotype: MNHN-RA 2012.0250 designated by Crochet et al. (2014). Lectotype: ZMB 437A (by error)
Holotype: MSNM (Milano) [zavattari]
Holotype: MSNM (Milano) [cornaliae] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): The only gekkonid genus in which the phalangeal formula is reduced to 2 3 3 4 3 on both manus and pes. Premaxilla and frontal single, nasal and parietal bones paired, splenial present, supratemporal and angular bones absent, scleral ossicles 20-28, second ceratobranchial element of hyoid lacking, postcranial calcified endolymphatic sacs present, vertebrae amphicoelous, cloacal sacs present in both sexes and cloacal bones present in males, eye covered by a spectacle, pupil vertically elliptic, scaling more or less homogeneous, preanal pores reduced to one on each side or absent, toes without complex musculature or adhesive pads, with 1-15 longitudinal rows of scales beneath and sometimes a lateral fringe of pointed scales. Eggs with calcified shells, produced in clutches of 1 or 2; Voice present [ARNOLD 1980].


Additional details (647 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy partially after LOVERIDGE 1957, KLUGE 1993, ARNOLD 1980. Stenodactylus cornaliae (nomen nudum) is mentioned by Scali 2010 in his list of ypes and is apparently a gecko that possibly Scortecci planned to describe but never did.

Subspecies: Stenodactylus sthenodactylus mauritanicus GUICHENOT 1850 has been elevated to full species status.

Type species: Stenodactylus elegans FITZINGER 1826 (= Stenodactylus sthenodactylus) is the type species of the genus Stenodactylus FITZINGER 1826 (fide WERMUTH 1965).

NCBI taxonomy ID: 1277450 (zavattari)

Distribution: see Bar et al. 2021 for a map. 
References
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