Hemidactylus hunae DERANIYAGALA, 1937
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Hemidactylus hunae
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| Higher Taxa | Gekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Spotted Giant Gecko |
| Synonym | Hemidactylus maculatus hunae DERANIYAGALA 1937 Hemidactylus maculatus hunae — TAYLOR 1953: 1550 Hemidactylus maculatus hunae — WERMUTH 1965: 80 Hemidactylus maculatus hunae — ZIESMANN et al. 2007 Hemidactylus maculatus hunae — SOMAWEERA & SOMAWEERA 2009 Hemidactylus hunae — BAUER et al. 2010 Hemidactylus hunae — AMARASINGHE et al. 2021 |
| Distribution | Sri Lanka Type locality: Sri Lanka (Okanda, Eastern Province) |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: BMNH 1946.8.23.77 (female); many more specimens in BMNH |
| Diagnosis | Original description in Amarasinghe et al. 2009. Diagnosis. The following combination of characters distinguishes H. hunae from all other congeners: adult males reaching 125.5 mm SVL, adult females 124 mm SVL; dorsal scalation of small heterogeneous, carinate, granules inter- mixed with large, conical, carinate tubercles that form 14–16 irregularly arranged longitudinal rows at midbody; dorsal and lateral tubercles equal sized; dorsal furrow distinct with wider nontubercular space middorsally; 2 pairs of post- mentals, secondary pair 1/2 of the primary pair; throat scales granular; no spine-like tubercles on nape; ventrals larger than dorsals, smooth, short, circular, with 40–43 rows at midbody; 9–11 supralabials at midorbit position; 26–28 femoral pores on each side separated medially by 7–9 nonpored enlarged scales; scales on posterior thigh granular, not enlarged; lamellae divided, 8 or 9 subdigital lamellae below the first and 11 or 12 below the fourth toe; dorsal scales on tail granular, carinate, juxtaposed; tail segmented with whorls of lateral tubercles, each whorl consisting of eight enlarged, conical, carinate tubercles separated from one another by one to three small scales; each whorl separated from its neighbor by about 8–10 scale rows; subcaudal scales at base bluntly pointed or rounded and enlarged; median row enlarged and broad; 2 postcloacal tubercles (spurs) on each side; body dorsum with a series of dark-edged faded saddles from occiput to tail base (Amarasinghe et al. 2021). Coloration.—After 83 yr in preservative, the holotype of H. hunae has a dorsal pattern of dark brown-edged light saddle-shaped markings on a grayish brown ground color; irregular dark markings on dorsal head; enlarged tubercles within the interrupted edge of saddles dark brown, the rest cream; dark-edged light brown cross stripes on arm, including digits; dark markings on thigh, cross stripes on tibia and digits; first saddle mark on the nape, second, third, and fourth on midbody, fifth on hips; no saddles on the tail, but dark brown cross stripes on each whorl; venter cream, toe pads light or dark brown. The live coloration (based on live specimens, not collected) may vary from site to site (mostly due to camouflage) and also across age groups, sex, and mood, ranging from grayish purples to browns. The vertebral midline bears a series of W-shape stripes from vent to the tail, with stripes becoming more defined toward the tip. Usually the studded effect that is known as saddles evenly spaced (Amarasinghe et al. 2021). |
| Comment | Reports from India represent H. graniticolus (A. Bauer, pers. comm. 30 Aug 2011). |
| Etymology | Named after the Sinhalese word for gecko = "huna" |
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