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Lygodactylus capensis (SMITH, 1849)

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Higher TaxaGekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Common Dwarf Gecko, Cape Dwarf Gecko 
SynonymHemidactylus capensis SMITH 1849: 75
Lygodactylus strigatus — GRAY 1864: 381
Lygodactylus capensis — BOULENGER 1885: 160
Lygodactylus capensis — BOCAGE 1895: 15
Lygodactylus capensis — KLUGE 1993
Lygodactylus capensis — RÖSLER 1995: 130
Lygodactylus (Lygodactylus) capensis capensis — RÖSLER 2000: 92
Lygodactylus capensis capensis — BARTS et al. 2005
Lygodactylus capensis — RÖLL et al. 2010
Lygodactylus capensis capensis — PIETERSEN et al. 2013
Lygodactylus capensis capensis — BATES et al. 2014: 118
Lygodactylus capensis — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 102
Lygodactylus capensis capensis — BATES 2018 
DistributionKenya, Republic of South Africa (Bechuanaland), Swaziland,
S Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Zambia,
Angola, Namibia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Island Pemba

Type locality: “Kaffirland and the districts to the north of Cape Colony”  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesType: BMNH 1864.1.9.29 (and possibly additional specimens). 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Lygodactylus species are tiny to small geckos, ranging in size from approximately 20–40 mm in adult maximum SVL. Lygodactylus species are fairly gracile with a short and usually cylindrical body form. As in all gekkonids, eyelids do not function. Most species are cryptic shades ranging from brown to slate, often with dark spots or stripes, but a few African species are vibrant shades of yellow and turquoise, and some Malagasy species have bright yellow undersides. Species of Lygodactylus are distinguished from other geckos by the following combination of characteristics: hyoid without second ceratobranchial cartilages; 14 scleral ossicles; stapedial foramen present; frontal single and parietal paired; cloacal bones absent; phalangeal formula usually 2-3-4-5-3/2-3-4-5-4 (manus/pes); Lygodactylus-type paraphalangeal elements present; eye with round pupil; digits of extremely variable length, with digit I often vestigial and/or without claw; digits II-V with broadened pads and distal clawed terminal phalanges arising from the tips of the padsl claws are retractable; pads with adhesive lamellae that are usually divided; dorsal scalation consists of small, uniform, smooth granules; preanal pores usually present; tail fairly long and narrow, tapering, with scansors on underside of tip; females lay two hard-shelled eggs (Loveridge 1947, Kluge 1967, Russell and Bauer 2008, Puente et al. 2009).


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CommentSubspecies: Lygodactylus capensis grotei is now considered as a valid species.

Type species: Hemidactylus capensis SMITH 1849 is the type species of the genus Lygodactylus GRAY 1864.

Group: The L. capensis group includes the following species: angolensis, bernardi, bradfieldi, stevensoni, capensis, nyaneka, insularis, grotei, and pakenhami (fide Röll et al. 2023). Röll et al. 2023: 238 also provide a comparison with key morphological characters across the group.

Phylogenetics: see Mezzasalma et al. 2016 and gippner et al. 2021 for a molecular phylogeny of Lygodactylus.

Key: Marques et al. 2020: 346 present a key to the Lygodactylus of Angola. Loveridge 1947: 196 presents a key and a table of key characters of the African species of Lygodactylus. Puente et al. 2009 present a key to the species of Lygodactylus in Madagascar.

Karyotype: see Mezzasalma et al. 2016.

Distribution: L. capensis spread from its native areas in NE South Africa to much of the south coast by invasion (Rebelo et al. 2019).

Diet: a large percentage of the diet of this species (30-50%) consists of ants (Lucas et al. 2023). 
EtymologyNamed after the type locality, the Cape colony.

The genus was probably named after Greek lygoi (λύγοι), pliant twigs of willow (used for binding or plaiting), and Greek dactylos = finger. 
References
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