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Thecadactylus rapicauda (HOUTTUYN, 1782)

IUCN Red List - Thecadactylus rapicauda - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaPhyllodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Northern Turnip-tailed Gecko, Turniptail Gecko
G: Rübenschwanzgecko
S: Tuqueque, tuteca, largarrabo, salamanquesa gigante
Portuguese: Briba, Lagartixa, Lagartixa-da-Amazônia, Osga, Osga-Gigante 
SynonymGekko Rapicauda HOUTTUYN 1782: 323
Gekko rapicauda — MEYER 1795: 26
Stellio perfoliatus SCHNEIDER 1797: 26 (nom. subst. pro G. rapicauda)
Gekko laevis DAUDIN 1802: 112
Gekko surinamensis DAUDIN 1802: 126
Gecko laevis — CUVIER 1837
Platydactylus theconyx DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1836: 306
Pachydactylus tristis HALLOWEL 1854: 98
Platydactylus theconyx — GUICHENOT 1855: 11
Thecadactylus rapicaudus — BOULENGER 1885: 111
Pachydactylus tristis — BOULENGER 1885: 200
Thecadactylus rapicaudus — GOELDI 1902: 511
Thecadacrylus [sic] rapicaudus — AMARAL 1949: 109
Thecadactylus rapicauda — MIRANDA-RIBEIRO 1955
Thecadactylus rapicaudus — ORTLEB & HEATWOLE 1965
Thecadactylus rapicauda — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 551
Thecadactylus rapicauda — KLUGE 1993
Thecadactylus rapicaudus — LINER 1994
Thecadactylus rapicauda — RÖSLER 1995: 159
Thecadactylus rapicauda — DIRKSEN & DE LA RIVA 1999
Thecadactylus rapicaudus — GORZULA & SEÑARIS 1999
Thecadactylus rapicauda — KÖHLER & VESELY 2011
Techadactylus rapicauda — ACUÑA-VARGAS 2016
Thecadactylus rapicauda — MCCRANIE 2018
Thecadactylus rapicauda — MARTÍNEZ-FONSECA et al. 2024 
DistributionMexico (Chiapas, Tabasco, Yucatan, Campeche, Quintana Roo), Belize, Guatemala,
Honduras (incl. Islas de la Bahia and Utila), Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama,
Trinidad, Tobago, Antilles, Leeward Islands (Los Testi, Bonaire, Curacao), Aruba, Antigua, Barbuda
Colombia (incl. Valle del Cauca, Chocó), Ecuador, French Guiana, Surinam, Guyana, Venezuela (incl. Cojedes), Isla Margarita, Brazil (Amapa, Para, Amazonas, Roraima, Rondônia, Acre)

Type locality: "American Islands"; resticted to Chichén Itzâ, Yucatán, México, by Smith and Taylor, 1950, and to Paramaribo, Suriname, by Hoogmoed, 1973.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesNeotype: RMNH 16267; Holotype: Unlocated, probably lost. 
DiagnosisUnfortunately 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 2561 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentIllustrations: Hoogmoed, 1973; MacLean, 1982; Schwartz and Henderson, 1985.

Taxonomy: Kronauer et al. (2005) and BERGMANN & RUSSELL (2007) suggested that the southwestern clade represents a cryptic species based on morphology and DNA sequence data.

Distribution: According to BERGMANN & RUSSELL (2007) not in Bolivia. Not in Peru (fide T. DOAN, pers. comm., 4 June 2012).

Abundance in Honduras: rare

Behavior: nocturnal.

Type species: Gekko laevis DAUDIN 1802 is the type species of the genus Thecadactylus GOLDFUSS 1820: 157. Thecodactylus WAGLER 1830: 142 is a nomen substitutum pro Thecadactylus GOLDFUSS 1820. See also Frétey & Dubois 2019.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species.

Genome: Colston et al. 2025. 
EtymologyThe name rapicauda is derived from the Latin rapum (turnip) and cauda (tail) and alludes to the noticeably swollen shape of the regenerated tail in this species. Neill and Allen (1962) and Russell and Bauer (2002) discussed why T. rapicauda is the correct name for this species, and not the frequently used T. rapicaudus.

The genus name Thecadactylus is derived from the Latin theca (case, container, envelope, sheath) and the Greek daktylos (finger, toe). The name refers to the diagnostic sheathed claws on the fingers and toes, the sheaths of which separate the distal subdigital lamella on all digits. 
References
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