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Pristurus flavipunctatus RÜPPELL, 1835

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Higher TaxaSphaerodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Rüppell’s Semaphore Gecko, Middle Eastern Rock Gecko 
SynonymPristurus flavipunctatus RÜPPELL 1835
Gymnodactylus flavipunctatus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1836: 417
Pristurus flavipunctatus — BOULENGER 1885: 52
Pristurus percristatus BOULENGER 1896: 547 (fide LOVERIDGE 1947)
Pristurus percristatus — SCORTECCI 1929: 312
Pristurus percristatus — PARKER 1932: 347
Pristurus flavipunctatus — PARKER 1932: 347
Pristurus percristatus pseudoflavipunctatus SCORTECCI 1933 (fide LOV. 1947)
Pristurus flavipunctatus — LOVERIDGE 1947: 77
Pristurus flavipunctatus flavipunctatus — HAAS 1951
Pristurus gasperetti ARNOLD 1986 (fide SCHÄTTI & GASPERETTI 1994)
Pristurus gasperetti — KLUGE 1993
Pristurus flavipunctatus — KLUGE 1993
Pristurus flavipunctatus — RÖSLER 2000: 106
Pristurus gasperetti — RÖSLER 2000: 106
Pristurus flavipunctatus — LARGEN & SPAWLS 2010: 331
Pristurus flavipunctatus — RÖSLER 2018: 5 
DistributionE Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia (incl. Farasan Islands), Egypt, Djibouti, Somalia
Sudan (Jumhūriyyat), Republic of South Sudan (RSS) (Neberet Valley),
Eritrea (Ghinda and Emberemi),
Jordan (Sandstone Hills)

Type locality: Massaua, Abessinien.

gasperetti (invalid): was described from W Saudi-Arabia (Wadi Kharrar near Makkah); Type locality: Wadi Kharrar, near Makkah, Saudi Arabia, 21° 17'30"N 40° 06'30"E, 460 m elevation.  
Reproductionoviparous; soem species of Pristurus were shown to have sperm storage (Rösler & Kaiser 2018) 
TypesLectotype: SMF 8245 (formerly 4052a), paralectotypes: BMNH 1946.8.20.31-42; paratype: MSNM
Holotype: BMNH 1986.206, male; Paratypes: BMNH [gasperetti]
Lectotype: MSNM (Milano) [pseudoflavipunctatus]
Synypes: MSNTO R2512, UMMZ [percristatus] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): dorsal process of premaxilla relatively long, nasal bones short, extent of prefrontal bone in anterior wall of orbit reduced medially*; supratemporal process of parietal bone often expanded and fully attached to exoccipital*, squamosal often short and curved*; palatine contacting vomer narrowly*, superficial posterior margin of dentary bone not obviously tridentate, the lower spur extending far backwards*. Twenty-five or fewer presacral vertebrae; toes with primitive number of phalanges (manus – 2.3.4.5.3; pes – 2.3.4.5.4); post-cloacal bones absent. Meatal closure muscle absent; anterior nuchal muscle originating mainly on second vertebra*; pectoralis muscles on each side crossing midline*, toes without complex internal musculature. Pupil approximately round with posteroventral quadrant of border less convex, or pupil vertically elliptical with un-notched borders; dorsal scaling consisting of small granules, nearly always without larger tubercles on body; preanal and femoral pores absent, cloacal tubercles and postcloacal sacs absent; toes simple without expanded adhesive pads beneath; tail strongly compressed laterally in males*, not or less so in females; in one species (P. celerrimus) an area of dark rugose scales in preanal region of males; flanks often with longitudinal series of short dark or reddish streaks separated by pale spots*. Largely diurnal and usually heliothermic; tail often raised and moved during intraspecific signalling*; voice little used [*Asterisks indicate features that are apparently largely or wholly confined to Pristurus among the Sphaerodactylidae. Gekkonidae and Phyllodactylidae; from ARNOLD 2009].


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CommentType species: Pristurus flavipunctatus RÜPPELL 1835 is the type species of the genus Pristurus RÜPPELL 1835.

Key to species: Loveridge 1947: 72.

Subspecies: Pristurus gasperetti gallagheri ARNOLD 1986 has been elevated to full species.

Habitat: Pristurus has ground, tree, and rock dwellers. Body size evolution in relation to habitat and island forms in Pristurus was studied by Tejero-Cicuéndez et al. 2021.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after the yellow spots characteristic for this species from Latin “flavus” = yellow.

P. gasperetti was named after John Gasperetti (1920-2001), engineer and surveyor of various companies and governments in the Middle East and Field Associate of the Department of Herpetology of the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. (now a synonym)

The genus was named after Greek pristos (πριστός), sawn + Greek oura (οὐρά), tail. ["... Auf der Küstenlandschaft von Abyssinien entdeckte ich eine neue Abtheilung dieser Sippe, welche sich durch einen vertical zusammengedrückten Schwanz auszeichnet, dessen Schärfe oben und unten stark sägeförmig gezähnt ist, und welcher ich den Namen Pristurus beilege..."]. 
References
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  • Arnold E N 1986. New species of semaphore gecko (Pristurus: Gekkonidae) from Arabia and Socotra. Fauna of Saudi Arabia 8: 352-377
  • Arnold, E.N. 2009. Relationships, evolution and biogeography of Semaphore geckos, Pristurus (Squamata, Sphaerodactylidae) based on morphology. Zootaxa 2060: 1-21 - get paper here
  • Baha el Din, S. 2006. A guide to the reptiles and amphibians of Egypt. The American University in Cairo Press, Cairo. xvi + 359 pp.
  • Boulenger, G. A. 1896. A list of the reptiles and batrachians collected by Dr. Ragazzi in Shoa and Eritrea. Annali Mus. civ. Stor. nat. Genova, Giacomo Doria, (2) 16: 545-554 - 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
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  • Duméril, A.M.C., and G. Bibron. 1835. Erpétologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles, Vol. 2. Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret, Paris, iv + 680 p. - get paper here
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  • Rösler, Herbert; Wolfgang Wranik, Hinrich Kaiser 2017. Sperm retention in Pristurus flavipunctatus Rüppell, 1835 (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae), with a brief review of sperm storage in geckos. Herpetology Notes 10: 537-545 - get paper here
  • Rösler, Herbert; Wolfgang Wranik, Hinrich Kaiser 2018. The third-longest sperm storage period in geckos: an observation in a species of Pristurus Rüppell, 1835 from southern Yemen (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae). Herpetology Notes 11: 301-302 - get paper here
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