You are here » home › advanced search › Haemodracon riebeckii

Haemodracon riebeckii (PETERS, 1882)

IUCN Red List - Haemodracon riebeckii - Least Concern, LC
iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Haemodracon riebeckii?

Add your own observation of
Haemodracon riebeckii »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaPhyllodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common NamesG: Sokotra-Riesengecko
E:g Socotra Giant gecko 
SynonymDiplodactylus riebeckii PETERS 1882: 43
Ptyodactylus homolepis BLANFORD 1877
Ptyodactylus homolepis — STEINDACHNER 1899: 162.
Phyllodactylus riebeckii — BOULENGER 1885: 94
Ptyodactylus socotranus STEINDACHNER 1902: 287 (fide EISELT)
Ptyodactylus sokotranus STEINDACHNER 1903: 12 (nom. subst.)
Ptyodactylus homolepis sokotranus — LOVERIDGE 1947: 274
Ptyodactylus homolepis socotranus — WERMUTH 1965: 157
Ptyodactylus homolepis socotranus — KLUGE 1991: 29
Phyllodactylus riebeckii — KLUGE 1993
Haemodracon riebeckii — BAUER et al. 1997
Phyllodactylus riebecki [sic] — WRANIK & RÖSLER 1997: 10
Haemodracon riebeckii — RAZZETTI et al. 2011
Haemodracon riebeckii — RÖSLER 2018: 40 
DistributionSocotra Island, Samha Island (Republic of Yemen)

Type locality: Socotra [Yemen], by implication.

socotranus: Socotra Island; Type locality: Gebel Hali bei Kallansiye, Sokotra.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: ZMB 10109
syntypes: NMW [socotranus] 
DiagnosisDIAGNOSIS (genus): “Haemodracon may be distinguished from all other gekkonids by the following combination of characteristics: digits bearing a single pair of enlarged ("leaf-toed") terminal scansors; dorsal scalation atuberculate; scales on snout smaller than those on dorsum of body (enlarged co-ossified snout scales present in H. trachyrhinus); enlarged chinshields present; rostral entire or completely divided; first supralabial enters nostril; margins of pupil crennelate in preserved specimens; preanal pores absent; subcaudal scales not transversely enlarged, tail without terminal scansorial pad; no sexual dichromatism; nasal bones fused; parietals paired; premaxilla with short triangular nasal projection; frontal broad, not strongly constricted over orbits, with extensive maxillary contact; 25-30 maxillary tooth loci in adults; postfrontal bones with longer posterior than anterior projection, without pronounced lateral spine; stapes imperforate; coronoid bone raised well above the level of dentary tooth row; second ceratobranchial arch of hyoid present; neural arches of atlas paired; 26 presacral vertebrae, l lumbar vertebra; 3 cervical ribs, 3 sternal ribs, 1-2 mesosternal ribs; I pair of clavicular fenestrae; interclavicle cruciform; union of scapula and precoracoid ray of epicoracod cartilaginous; phalangeal formulae unreduced (2-3-4-5-3 manus, 2-3-4-5-4 pes); cloacal sacs and bones absent. The absence of cloacal sacs and bones is a derived character state (Kluge 1967, 1982, 1987, 1995; Kluge and Nussbaum 1995) unique to Haemodracon among leaf-toed geckos, except for members of the genus Asaccus (Dixon and Anderson 1973; Amold and Gardner 1994). Haemodracon is distinguished from the six species in the latter genus by the retention of the plesiomorphic states with respect to phalangeal formula of the manus (reduced to 2.3.4.4.3 In all Asaccus, at least during some stage in ontogeny), and presence of two oviducts (left oviduct lacking in Asaccus) (Arnold and Gardner 1994). The fused nasals of Haemodracon represent a derived condition shared with Paroedura, Christinus, some Urocotyledon, and some African Phyllodactylus. Haemodracon also differs from Asaccus in being atuberculate and in possessing an imperforate stapes.”


Additional details (827 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentType Species: Diplodactylus riebeckii PETERS 1882 is the type species of the genus Haemodracon Bauer, Good & Branch 1997.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after Dr. Emil Riebeck (1853-1885), a German ethnologist, mineralogist, and explorer.

The genus name is Latinized Greek from haema- (blood) and dracon (dragon) signifying dragon's blood, in reference to the fact that members of this genus are endemic to the island of Socotra, known for an agave, Dracaena cinnabari, that produces a deep red resin referred to as dragon's blood. Haemodracon is masculine (Bauer et al. 1997). 
References
  • Bauer A M. Good D A. Branch W R. 1997. The taxonomy of the Southern African leaf-toed geckos (Squamata: Gekkonidae), with a review of Old World "Phyllodactylus" and the description of five new genera. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 49 (14): 447-497. - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - 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
  • Eiselt,J. 1962. Ergebnisse der zoologischen Nubien-Expedition 1962, Teil II, Amphibien und Reptilien. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien 65: 281-296 - get paper here
  • Fasola, M., Razzetti, E., Sindaco, R. et al. 2020. Ecological preferences of the endemic reptile community of Socotra. Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei (2020) - get paper here
  • Garcia-Porta, Joan; Hernán E. Morales, Elena Gómez-Díaz, Roberto Sindaco, Salvador Carranza 2016. Patterns of diversification in islands: A comparative study across three gecko genera in the Socotra Archipelago. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.02.007 - get paper here
  • Gemel, R.; G. Gassner & S. Schweiger 2019. Katalog der Typen der Herpetologischen Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien – 2018. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, B 121: 33–248 - get paper here
  • Kluge A G 1993. Gekkonoid Lizard Taxonomy. International Gecko Society, San Diego, 245 pp.
  • Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig 1882. Über die von Herrn Dr. E. Riebeck auf Socotra gesammelten Reptilien. Sitzungsber. Ges. naturf. Freunde Berlin 1882 (3): 42-46 - get paper here
  • Razzetti, Edoardo; ROBERTO SINDACO, CRISTINA GRIECO, FRANCESCA PELLA, UGO ZILIANI, FABIO PUPIN, ELISA RISERVATO, DANIELE PELLITTERI-ROSA, LUCA BUTIKOFER, AHMED SAEED SULEIMAN, BADAR AWADH AL-ASEILY, CATERINA CARUGATI, ELEONORA BONCOMPAGNI & MAURO FAS 2011. Annotated checklist and distribution of the Socotran Archipelago Herpetofauna (Reptilia). Zootaxa 2826: 1–44 - get paper here
  • Rösler, H. 2018. Haftbar -- Die einzigartige Welt der Geckos. Begleitheft zur Ausstellung im Naturkundemuseum Erfurt Mai-Aug 2018, 96 pp.
  • Rösler, H. & Wranik, W. 2004. A key and annotated checklist to the reptiles of the Socotra archipelago. Fauna of Arabia 20: 505-534
  • Rösler, H. & Wranik, W. 2005. Die Gecko-Inseln. 1. Teil: Die nachtaktiven Geckos der Gattungen Haemodracon BAUER, GOOD, BRANCH 1997 und Hemidactylus GRAY 1825 vom Sokotra Archipel, Jemen (Reptilia: Sauria: Gekkonidae). Sauria 27 (4): 15-26 - get paper here
  • Rösler, Herbert and Wolfgang Wranik 2002. The Species of the Genus Haemodracon Bauer, Good, Branch, 1997 (Reptilia: Sauria: Gekkonidae) from Socotra (Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean). Gekko 3 (2): 34-40
  • Rösler, Herbert and Wolfgang Wranik 2017. Untersuchungen und Beobachtungen zur Herpetofauna des Jemen. Jemen-Report Jg. 48 (1/2)
  • Rösler,H. & Wranik,W. 2000. Die Geckofauna des Sokotra-Archipels (Sauria: Gekkonidae). Gekkota 2: 20-27
  • Steindachner, F. 1902. Über eine neue Ptyodactylus-Art. Anzeiger der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe, Wien, 27: 168-169 - get paper here
  • Tamar, K., Simó-Riudalbas, M., Garcia-Porta, J., Santos, X., Llorente, G., Vasconcelos, R., & Carranza, S. 2019. An integrative study of island diversification: Insights from the endemic Haemodracon geckos of the Socotra Archipelago. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - get paper here
  • Trautmann, G. & Rösler, H. 2007. Zur Widerstandsfähigkeit von Geckoeiern gegenüber relativ hohen Temperaturen. Sauria 29 (4): 53-54 - get paper here
  • 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
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:


Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator