Gonatodes hasemani GRIFFIN, 1917
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Gonatodes hasemani
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| Higher Taxa | Sphaerodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Haseman's Gecko Portuguese: Lagartinho-Pintado, Lagartixa |
| Synonym | Gonatodes hasemani GRIFFIN 1917: 304 Gonatodes spinulosus AMARAL 1933: 56 (fide VANZOLINI 1953) Gonatodes hasemanni — VANZOLINI 1953: 73 Gonatodes hasemanni — WERMUTH 1965: 44 Gonatodes hasemani — KLUGE 1993 Gonatodes hasemani — AVILA-PIRES 1995: 268 Gonatodes hasemani — DIRKSEN & DE LA RIVA 1999 Gonatodes hasemani — PIANKA & VITT 2003: 80 |
| Distribution | N Bolivia (Villa Bella, Rio Beni, Pando), E Peru, Brazil (Rio Juruá Region, Amazonas, Acre, Rondonia, Mato Grosso, Pará), Colombia (Vaupes, near Brazilian border) Type locality: Villa Bella, Rio Beni, Bolivia. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: CM 1040 Holotype: MZUSP 661 [spinulosus] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis. Gonatodes with proximal subdigital lamellae narrower than digits, in total 19-26 under fourth toe. Three or four lateral rows of scales on distal part of fingers and toes. Scales under tail not forming a distinct series of enlarged midventrals. A n elongate supraciliary spine. Scales around midbody 78-102. Ventrals 41-55. Males, in life, with amber, brown and blackish colours dorsally, frequently with different colours on back and flanks, or with a pair of pale dorsolateral stripes; white spots present on neck and body, which coincide with groups of enlarged, spinelike scales (AVILA-PIRES 1995: 269). Description. Sphaerodactyline gecko with maximum SVL in males of 46 mm (MPEG 15857, RMNH 26439), in females of 40 mm (MPEG 14071 and others). Head 0.23-0.27 (n= 25) times SVL, proportionally smaller in larger specimens; 1.3-1.5 (1.39 ± 0.07, n= 25) times as long as wide; 1.3-1.8 (1.46 ± 0.12, n= 24) times as wide as high. Snout round, relatively wide, gently sloping toward top of head. Neck slightly narrower than head and body. Body cylindrical. Limbs well developed, forelimbs 0.29-0.35 (0.32 ± 0.02, n= 23) times SVL, hind limbs 0.41-0.50 (0.45 ± 0.03, n= 22) times. Tail round in cross section, tapering toward tip, 0.9-1.1 (1.02 ± 0.06, n= 11) times SVL. Tongue relatively wide, slightly narrowing anteriorly, with a round tip; covered anteriorly by imbricate, scale-like papillae, posteriorly villose; tip with a short median cleft. Teeth small, conical, subequal. Rostral large, rectangular to pentagonal, visible from above, with a median cleft extending from posterior margin. Three (mostly) to five postrostrals, lateral ones (supranasals) distinctly larger than median one(s), median one(s) slightly to distinctly larger than adjacent scales on snout. Nostril bordered by rostral, first supralabial, three (mostly) or four postnasals, and lateral postrostral (supranasal); postnasals as large as, or slightly larger than, adjacent loreals. Scales on snout and on loreal region roughly round, convex, juxtaposed. Loreal scales 9-13 (mostly 11-12) in a line between postnasals and anterior margin of orbit. Toward posterior part of head scales decrease slightly in size. Scales on supraorbital region similar to and continuous with those on top of head. Supraciliary flap with a series of slightly enlarged scales, forming a smooth or indented margin, with a long spine projecting from middle of upper margin. Pupil round. Supralabials 5-7, decreasing in size posteriorly, 4-6 to below centre of eye. Scales on temporal region similar to those on posterior upper part of head. Ear-opening much smaller than eye, obliquely oval or subtriangular. Mental large, roughly trapezoid, with lateral margins slightly concave, anterior and posterior margins convex. Postmentals 2-4, distinctly larger than adjacent posterior scales. Scales on chin small and polygonal directly behind postmentals, granular posteriorly; a few series of larger, polygonal scales adjacent to infralabials; all juxtaposed. Infralabials 5-7, decreasing in size posteriorly, 3-5 to below centre of eye. Scales on nape and on sides of neck granular, continuous with those on head and body. Scales on throat smooth, imbricate, with round posterior margin, with a short transitional area with the granular scales on chin. Dorsals granular, on the vertebral area similar in size to scales on snout; dorsolaterally and on flanks slightly larger and, in males, with several groups of up to six (mostly two to four) larger, conical, scales all along body, including neck. Transition between scales on flanks and ventrals rather abrupt. Ventral region with scales distinctly larger than dorsals, smaller on chest than on belly, smooth, rhomboid to hexagonal, imbricate; in oblique rows, on belly also forming rather regular longitudinal rows; 41-55 (47.5 ± 4.0, n= 17) scales along the midventral line between anterior margin of forelimbs and vent. Scales around midbody 78-102 (90.1 ± 5.6, n= 23), of which 16-22 (18.6 ± 1.7, n= 18) ventrals. Scales on preanal plate similar to ventrals, except for border of vent, which has very small scales. Males with a small escutcheon area which hardly surpasses the preanal plate and extends onto part of thigh. Scales on tail smooth, conical, transversely flattened, tips directed posteriorly. Underside of tail with smooth, flat, imbricate scales, increasing in size toward the midventral line; no midventral row of enlarged scales (consequently no formula can be given). Scales on limbs granular, except on anterior and ventral surfaces of thighs, and on ventral surface of lower legs, where they are smooth, flat, roundish, imbricate. Lamellae under third finger 15-21 (17.7 ± 1.7, n= 41), of which 4-6 slightly enlarged basal ones; under fourth finger 16-22 (18.5 ± 1.3, n= 50), with 5-7 slightly enlarged basal ones; under fourth toe 19-26 (21.6 ± 1.6, n= 49), with 7-10 in the basal segment, of which the two to five distal ones enlarged. Fingers and toes with three or four lateral rows of scales distally. Claws exposed, non retractile, mostly between four basal scales, occasionally between two (AVILA-PIRES 1995: 269). Sexual dichromatism evident. In RMNH 26439, male, alive, head and forelimbs dorsally amber (36); back raw-umber (23) anteriorly, and hair-brown (119A) posteriorly, with black dots; flanks black, with white dots anteriorly, glaucous (80) dots posteriorly. Ventrally, head and chest chrome-orange (16), belly glaucous with some orange scales; escutcheon scales mostly flesh colour (5). Iris brown with a yellow-orange rim. Tongue grey and white. MPEG 15857, male, was generally darker than RMNH 26439, with amber and sepia (119) pigments on posterior part of head, as well as on forelimbs; back and flanks not so distinctly different in colour; ventral surface of head dark spectrum-orange (17) (AVILA-PIRES 1995: 269). Coloration in preservative, the majority of males from Rondonia have an almost uniformly brown head; a narrow, whitish stripe runs from the posterior corner of the eye posteriorly and slightly upwards, continuing as a dorsolateral stripe on body; in some specimens, the stripe seems to start on the nape, the head segment being absent; vertebral area between the stripes with same brown colour as head, and paired, black spots along it; outside the stripes, on neck and flanks, dark greyish-brown with several, irregularly distributed, white spots, which coincide with groups of larger scales; on posterior part of body the dorsolateral stripes fade out and the distinction between vertebral area and flanks is less evident. Tail brown, proximally with regularly spaced, paired, blackish spots immediately followed by whitish paired spots, or with irregular blackish and whitish shades all along. Ventrally, head with alternating light greyish-brown and cream stripes from infralabials to anterior level of forearms; belly cream, with scales bordered by light greyish-brown; underside of tail with alternating, irregular, dark greyish-brown and whitish spots, which posteriorly form regular transverse bands. The two males from Urucu have the colour pattern generally as described above, but the dorsolateral light stripe appears only as a faint trace in RMNH 26439, and is completely absent in MPEG 15857 which is generally darker (as mentioned in the life-colour description). The dorsal pattern appears different in MPEG 14352 (Rondonia): head dark greyish-brown, with several wide, whitish bands; dorsolateral stripe distinctly wider than in other specimens, from posterior corner of eye to anterior level of hind limbs; between and outside the dorsolateral stripes, dark-greyish-brown, similar to head; the two dorsolateral stripes are linked by a transverse stripe on posterior part of head, by a second, narrower one, on anterior part of neck, and by a third, dashed stripe, on posterior part of neck; posteriorly, at both sides, along body, each dorsolateral stripe is paralleled by a series of round, whitish spots. Female pattern similar to first male pattern described, except for head dorsally which is covered with fine, wavering stripes of different hues of brown; and flanks and lateral region of neck, which have the same ground colour as that of vertebral area, almost uniform or with a variable number of small, blackish and whitish spots. Proximal part of tail similar to that of male (distal part not seen). Griffin (1917a) and Burt & Burt (1931) described the colour in preservative of specimens from Bolivia. The colour pattern of the male figured and described b y Vanzolini (1968), from Rio Jurua, Amazonas (holotype of G. spinulosus), resembles that of MPEG 14352 mentioned above (AVILA-PIRES 1995: 269). |
| Comment | Behavior: mainly diurnal |
| Etymology | Named after John Diederich Haseman (1890-1969) was a zoologist and ichthyologist. He graduated from Indiana University (1905) and taught there (1905-1906) before he went to Brazil to collect fish and other animals. |
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