Phyllodactylus simpsoni ARTEAGA, BUSTAMANTE, VIEIRA, TAPIA & GUAYASAMIN, 2019
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Phyllodactylus simpsoni
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| Higher Taxa | Phyllodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Simpson’s Leaf-toed Gecko, Western Galápagos Leaf-toed Gecko S: Geco de Simpson, salamanquesa de Simpson, geco occidental de Galápagos. E: Andy Sabin's Leaf-toed Gecko, Wolf Volcano Leaf-toed Gecko. S: Geco de Andy Sabin, salamanquesa de Andy Sabin, geco del Volcán Wolf, salamanquesa del Volcán Wolf [andysabini] |
| Synonym | Phyllodactylus simpsoni ARTEAGA, BUSTAMANTE, VIEIRA, TAPIA & GUAYASAMIN 2019 Phyllodactylus andysabini ARTEAGA, BUSTAMANTE, VIEIRA, TAPIA & GUAYASAMIN 2019 Phyllodactylus simpsoni — TORRES-CARVAJAL et al. 2025 Phyllodactylus andysabini — TORRES-CARVAJAL et al. 2025 Phyllodactylus simpsoni — POZO et al 2025 Phyllodactylus andysabini — SULLIVAN et al. 2026 |
| Distribution | Ecuador: Galapagos Island (Isabela Island, Fernandina Island) Type locality: Puerto Villamil (-0.95622, -90.97023; 3 m), Isabela Island, Galápagos, Ecuador andysabini (invalid): Ecuador: Galapagos Islands (Isabela Island); Type locality: western slopes of Wolf Volcano (-0.00225, -91.39602; 576 m), Isabela Island, Galápagos, Ecuador |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. CAS 10339, an adult of undetermined sex collected by Joseph Slevin, on November 1, 1905. Paratypes. CAS 11245, an adult of undetermined sex collected by Joseph Slevin at the type locality on March 9, 1906. CAS 10351, an adult of undetermined sex collected by Francis Williams at the type locality on November 3, 1905. Holotype. MVECCD 1924, an adult of undetermined sex collected by Alizon Llerena on July 20, 2006. [andysabini] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: males 10 cm, females 9.6 cm. Phyllodactylus simpsoni is placed in the genus Phyllodactylus based on phylogenetic evidence (Fig. 1). The species is compared to other geckos traditionally assigned to P. galapagensis. From P. galapagensis, it differs in lacking pointed tubercles on the top of the head and having fewer (71–80 vs 83–103) midbody scales (see Lanza [1973]2 for an explanation of this measurement). From P. maresi and P. duncanensis, it differs in having pine-cone-shaped and symmetrical fingertips, as opposed to asymmetrical pine-cone-shaped fingertips (Fig. 6). From P. andysabini, it differs in having supranasals occasionally (in 8 out of 14 individuals examined by us) in contact (versus in not in contact in 9 out of 9 P. andysabini; Fig. 7), and having the throat usually (in 9 out of 14 individuals) immaculate as opposed to densely stippled with dark brown pigment (Fig. 8). Genetic divergence in a 181 bp long fragment of the mitochondrial 12S gene between the sister species P. simpsoni and P. andysabini is 3–5%, whereas intraspecific distances are less than 2.3% in six individuals of P. simpsoni (Arteaga et al. 2019: 184). Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data. However, these details, e.g. detailed descriptions (about less than half a page) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us if you need any of this material. |
| Comment | Activity: active at night Habitat: soil, rocks, and tree trunks up to 40 cm above the ground in deciduous forests and evergreen foothill forests. Synonymy: Pozo et al. 2025, suggested to synonymize P. andysabini with simpsoni. However, Sullivan et al. 2026 apparently did not have any DNA samples of simpsoni and found that andysabini is most closely related to duncanensis. NCBI taxonID: 2588636 [andysabini] RDB speciesID: 22585 [andysabini] |
| Etymology | The specific name simpsoni honors Dr. Nigel Simpson for his long-standing and visionary leadership in conservation. Nigel is a founding board member of the Ecuadorian conservation organizations Fundación Jocotoco and Fundación Ecominga. P. andysabini was named after American philanthropist and conservationist Andrew “Andy” Sabin, known also as “Mr. Salamander,” in recognition of his life-long support of environmental programs around the world and for his passion for the preservation of amphibians and reptiles. |
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