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Chondrodactylus angulifer PETERS, 1870

IUCN Red List - Chondrodactylus angulifer - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaGekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Common Giant Gecko, South African Ground Gecko, Namib sand gecko; namibensis: Namib Giant Gecko
G: Sandgecko
Chinese: 南非地面壁虎 
SynonymChondrodactylus angulifer PETERS 1870: 111
Chondrodactylus angulifer — BOULENGER 1885: 10
Chondrodactylus weiri BOULENGER 1887: 340
Chondrodactylus angulifer — FITZSIMONS & BRAIN 1958
Chondrodactylus angulifer — HAACKE 1976
Chondrodactylus angulifer namibensis HAACKE 1976
Chondrodactylus angulifer angulifer — AUERBACH 1987: 91
Chondrodactylus angulifer — KLUGE 1993
Chondrodactylus angulifer namibensis — BRANCH 1994
Chondrodactylus angulifer — RÖSLER 1995: 101
Chondrodactylus angulifer namibensis — RÖSLER 2000: 62
Chondrodactylus angulifer namibensis — MASHININI & MAHLANGU 2013
Chondrodactylus angulifer namibensis — BATES et al. 2014: 103
Chondrodactylus angulifer angulifer — BATES et al. 2014: 102
Chondrodactylus angulifer — HEINZ et al. 2021 
DistributionRepublic of South Africa, Namibia, Botswana

Type locality: Calviniadistrict, Oorlogsriver” [= Northern Cape Province, Republic of South Africa].

namibensis: Namibia; Type locality: Amichab (= Anigab) Mountain, Namib Park, central Namib Desert (±23°11’S, 15°30’E), about 1000 m elevation, South West Africa (now Namibia),  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: ZMB 6750A (designated by BAUER & GÜNTHER 1991).
Holotype: DNMNH (= TM) 32632, adult male [namibensis]
Holotype: BMNH 1946.8.23.58 (formerly BMNH 87.3.15.1; collector J.J. Weir) [weiri] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): “Earlier diagnoses of Chondrodactylus, then incorporating only C. angulifer, emphasized the highly autapomorphic digital features of that species (FitzSimons 1943; Loveridge 1947; Haacke 1976) and do not serve to distinguish the additional constituent taxa recognized here from other members of the Pachydactylus Group. We here re-diagnose Chondrodactylus on the basis of the following suite of characteristics: body large, robust (adults > 80 mm SVL); dorsal surface of skull rugose or sculptured; digit I of manus and pes hyperphalangic, with or without phalangeal loss in digit IV of manus (phalangeal formulae 3-3-4-5-3 or 3-3-4-4-3 manus and 3-3-4-5-4 pes), digits with or without subdigital scansors (if present 8-12 beneath digit IV of pes), lacking paraphalanges and interdigital webbing; precloacal pores lacking; tail weakly to moderately depressed; dorsal skin tuberculate, not fragile” (from BAUER & LAMB 2005).


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CommentType species: Chondrodactylus angulifer PETERS 1870 is the type species of the genus Chondrodactylus PETERS 1870.

Synonymy: Heinz et al. 2021 synonymized C. a. namibensis with angulifer.

Distribution: See map in Heinz et al. 2021: 172 (Fig. 4).

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin angulifer, bearing corners or angles, angular, possibly referring to the angular dorsal pattern.

The genus was named after Greek chondros (χόνδρος), grain or cartilage + Greek dactylos (δάκτυλος), finger, toe. [“…Χόνδρος, granum δάκτυλος…”]. 
References
  • Abraham, G. 1983. Pflege und Zucht verschiedener Bodengeckoarten unter gleichen Haltungsbedingungen. Sauria 5 (2): 5-11 - get paper here
  • Auerbach, R.D. 1987. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana. Mokwepa Consultants, Botswana, 295 pp.
  • Bartlett, R. D. 1986. Notes on the South Africa Terrestrial Gecko Chondrodactylus angulifer angulifer in Captivity. J. Herp. Assoc. Africa (32): 17-18 - get paper here
  • Barts, M. 2005. Chondrodactylus angulifer PETERS 1870. Reptilia (Münster) 10 (55): 51-54 - get paper here
  • Barts, M. 2021. Geckos aus dem südlichen Afrika. DATZ 2021 (5): 24-34
  • Barts, M. & Hulbert, F. 2004. Die Geckos der Welt. Draco 5 (18): 4-17 - get paper here
  • Bates, M.F.; Branch, W.R., Bauer, A.M.; Burger, M., Marais, J.; Alexander, G.J. & de Villliers, M.S. (eds.) 2014. Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, 512 pp.
  • Bauer, A.M. & Günther,R. 1991. An annotated type catalogue of the geckos (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) in the Zoological Museum , Berlin. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin 67: 279-310 - get paper here
  • Bauer, A.M., and Branch, W.R. 2003. The herpetofauna of the Richtersveld National Park, Northern Cape Province, Republic of South Africa. Herpetological Natural History 8: 111-160 [2001]
  • Boulenger, G. A. 1887. On a new gecko, of the genus Chondrodactylus, from the Kalahani Desert. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1887: 339-340 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. Geckonidae, Eublepharidae, Uroplatidae, Pygopodidae, Agamidae. London: 450 pp. - get paper here
  • Branch, William R. 1993. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 144 S.
  • Branch, William R. 1994. Herpetofauna of the Sperrgebeit [sic] Region of Southern Namibia. Herpetological Natural History 2 (1): 1-11.
  • FitzSimons, V.F. 1943. The lizards of South Africa. Transvaal Museum Memoir No.1 (Pretoria), 528 pp.
  • Fitzsimons, V.F.M.; Brain, C.K. 1958. A Short account of the Reptiles of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. Koedoe, 1(1): 99-104 - get paper here
  • Friederich, Ursel 1978. Der Pileus der Squamata. Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde, Ser. A, Nr. 307: 1-64. - get paper here
  • Gamble, T; Greenbaum, E; Jackman, TR; Russell, AP; Bauer, AM 2012. Repeated Origin and Loss of Adhesive Toepads in Geckos. PLoS One 7 (6):10.1371/journal.pone.0039429 - get paper here
  • Giess, W. 1965. Chondrodactylus angulifer and Ptenopus garrulus from the Brandberg. Cimbebasia 12: 16-19
  • Haacke, W. D. 1976. The burrowing geckos of southern Africa, 4 (Reptilia: Gekkonidae). Annotated taxonomic account (cont.) E. Cenus Chondrodactylus Peters. Annals Transvaal Museum 30: 53-70 - get paper here
  • Haacke, W.D. 1976. The Burrowing Geckos of Southern Africa: 5. (Phylogetic and Taxonomic Affinities). Annals Transvaal Mus. 30 (6): 71-89 - get paper here
  • Heinz, Morgan D.; Ian G. Brennan, Todd R. Jackman & Aaron M. Bauer 2021. Phylogeny of the genus Chondrodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) with the establishment of a stable taxonomy. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 163(5): 151–210. - get paper here
  • Herrmann, H.-W.; W.R. Branch 2013. Fifty years of herpetological research in the Namib Desert and Namibia with an updated and annotated species checklist. Journal of Arid Environments 93: 94–115 - get paper here
  • Klarsfeld, J.D. 2003. Ecology, Captive husbandry, and breding of Chondrodactylus angulifer, the Giant Ground Gecko. Reptilia (GB) (27): 31-37 - get paper here
  • Knoethig, Michael 1999. Distribution Range, Captive Care and Breeding of Chondrodactylus angulifer. Gekko 1 (1): 2-9
  • Loveridge, A. 1947. Revision of the African lizards of the family Gekkondiae. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 98: 1-469 - get paper here
  • Mashinini, P. L. and Mahlangu, L. M. 2013. An annotated catalogue of the types of gekkonid lizards (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae) in the Herpetology collection of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, South Africa. Annals of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History 3: 165-181
  • Miller, M.J. 1982. The south African Ground Gecko, Chondrodactylus angulifer angulifer, PETERS, 1870. Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 17 (2): 46-50 - get paper here
  • Naumburg, M. & Barts, M. 2007. Ungewöhnlich kurze Inkubationsdauer bei Chondrodactylus angulifer PETERS 1870. Sauria 29 (1): 14 - get paper here
  • Peters, W. C. H. 1871. Beitrag zur Kenntnis der herpetologische Fauna von Südafrika. Monatsber. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss., Berlin 1870: 110-115. - get paper here
  • Pianka, Eric R. 1971. Lizard species density in the Kalahari Desert. Ecology 52 (6): 1024-1029 - get paper here
  • Reams, Richard 1998. The Namib sand gecko (Chondrodactylus angulifer). Reptiles 6 (3): 78-83
  • Röll, B. 2001. Mikrostrukturen der Eischalen von Geckos (Sauria: Gekkonoidea). Gekkota 3: 74-98
  • Rösler, H. 1983. Vergleichende Studien zum Warn- und Drohverhalten bodenbewohnender Geckonen am Beipsiel von Chondrodactylus angulifer angulifer PETERS 1870, unter besonderer Berücksichtigugn der Kommunikationssysteme der Gekkonidae (Sauria: Gekkonidae). Salamandra 19 (4): 211-227 - get paper here
  • Rösler, H. 2000. Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha). Gekkota 2: 28-153
  • Rösler, Herbert 1995. Geckos der Welt - Alle Gattungen. Urania, Leipzig, 256 pp.
  • Schleicher, Alfred 2015. Reptilien Namibias. Namibia Scientific  Society, 276 pp.
  • Schleicher, Alfred 2020. Reptiles of Namibia. Kuiseb Publishers, Windhoek, Namibia, 271 pp.
  • Stebbins, Robert C. 1961. Body temperature studies in South African lizards. Koedoe 4 (1): 54-67 - get paper here
  • Tolley, K.A., Conradie, W., Pietersen, D.W., Weeber, J., Burger, M. & Alexander, G.J. (eds) 2023. Conservation status of the reptiles of South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho. Suricata 10. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria
  • Uetz, P.H.; Patel, M.; Gbadamosi, Z.; Nguyen, A.; Shoope, S. 2024. A Reference Database of Reptile Images. Taxonomy 4: 723–732 - get paper here
  • Walbers, Dirk 1997. Chondrodactylus angulifer namibensis. Terra 33 (4): 115
  • Wang, Kai; Jinlong Ren, Hongman Chen, Zhitong Lyu, Xianguang Guo Ke Jiang, Jinmin Chen, Jiatang Li, Peng Guo, Yingyong Wang, Jing Che 2020. The updated checklists of amphibians and reptiles of China. Biodiversity Science 28 (2): 189-218 - get paper here
 
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