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Rhoptropus afer PETERS, 1869

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Higher TaxaGekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Namib Day Gecko 
SynonymRhoptropus afer PETERS 1869: 59
Rhoptropus afer PETERS 1870: 658
Dactychylikion braconnieri THOMINOT 1878: 254
Dactychilikion [sic] braconnieri — BOULENGER 1885: 209
Rhoptropus afer — BOULENGER 1885: 217
Rhoptropus braconnieri — HEWITT 1910
Rhotropus afer [sic] — FITZSIMONS 1943: 115 (in error)
Rhoptropus braconnieri — LOVERIDGE 1947: 286
Rhoptropus braconnieri — AUERBACH 1987: 93
Rhoptropus braconnieri — KLUGE 1993
Rhoptropus afer — KLUGE 1993
Rhoptropus afer — RÖSLER 2000: 109
Rhoptropus braconnieri — RÖSLER 2000: 109
Rhoptropus afer — SCHNEIDER & BARTS 2014
Rhoptropus afer — SCHLEICHER 2020 
DistributionNamibia (S Damaraland), S Angola

Type locality: “Damaralande” [Namibia]

braconnieri: Botswana; Type locality: S Ngami Lake, Bechuanaland (in error fide A. Bauer, pers. comm. 4 Oct 2014).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: ZMB 6149A (designated by LOVERIDGE 1947; see also BAUER & GÜNTHER 1991)
Holotype: MNHN-RA 294 (1411B) [braconnieri] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Rhoptropus species range in size from approximately 45–75 mm in adult maximum SVL. All species have a depressed body and tail. The snout is often distinctly triangular, with prominently raised scales surrounding the nostrils. As in all gekkonids, eyelids do not function. The base coloration is usually gray, ranging from almost white to black, with scattered spots. Species are distinguished from other gekkonid geckos by the following combination of characteristics: hyperphalangy of digit I of the manus and pes; toe V rudimentary; hyoid with second ceratobranchial cartilages; presacral vertebrae number 24–25; eye with vertical pupil; eyelids not functional; paraphalangeal elements absent; digits slender, dilated at tips with only up to 13 undivided adhesive subdigital lamellae; claws minute or absent; dorsum with granular scalation; preanal pores sometimes present and femoral pores absent; precloacal spurs present; no significant dermal ossification of head (Loveridge 1947; Kluge 1983; Bauer and Good 1996; Branch 1998; Bauer and Lamb 2005).


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CommentType species: Rhoptropus afer PETERS 1869: 59 is the type species of the genus Rhoptropus PETERS 1869.

Synonymy: fide A. Bauer, pers. comm. 4 Oct 2014. Peters described this species twice, in two different papers, as new (in 1869 and 1870).

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
References
  • Auerbach, R.D. 1987. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana. Mokwepa Consultants, Botswana, 295 pp.
  • Bauer A M. Good D A. 1996. Phylogenetic systematics of the day geckos, genus Rhoptropus (Reptilia: Gekkonidae), of south-western Africa. Journal of Zoology 238 (4): 635- 663 - get paper here
  • Bauer, A.M. & Günther,R. 1991. An annotated type catalogue of the geckos (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) in the Zoological Museum , Berlin. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin 67: 279-310 - get paper here
  • Bauer, Aaron M.; Branch, William R. & Haacke, Wulf D. 1993. The herpetofauna of the Kamanjab area and adjacent Damaraland, Namibia. Madoqua (Windhoek) 18 (2): 117-145. - get paper here
  • Bocage, J.V.B. de 1897. Mammiferos, aves e reptis da Hanha, no sertào de Benguella. (Segunda lista). Jornal de Sciencias Mathematicas, Physîcas e Naturaes, Lisboa (2) 14: 207-211
  • 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
  • Gamble, T; Greenbaum, E; Jackman, TR; Russell, AP; Bauer, AM 2012. Repeated Origin and Loss of Adhesive Toepads in Geckos. PLoS One 7 (6):10.1371/journal.pone.0039429 - get paper here
  • Gates, Bruce C. 2008. Day Geckos of the Namib Desert: Rhoptropus afer Peters, 1869 and Rhoptropus bradfieldi Hewitt, 1935. Gekko 5 (2): 2-5
  • Hedman, H. D., Chuga, S. C., Eifler, D. A., Hanghome, G. P., & Eifler, M. A. 2021. Microhabitat use of two sympatric geckos, Turner's thick-toed gecko (Chondrodactylus turneri) and the Common Namib Day Gecko (Rhoptropus afer). Journal of Arid Environments, 188, 104448 - get paper here
  • Herrmann, H.-W.; W.R. Branch 2013. Fifty years of herpetological research in the Namib Desert and Namibia with an updated and annotated species checklist. Journal of Arid Environments 93: 94–115 - get paper here
  • Hewitt, J. 1910. A Key to the South African Species of Geckonidae, Scincidae, Gerrhosauridae, and Lacertidae, together with some Notes on the Specific Characters and a Brief Summary of the Known Facts of their Distribution. Annals Transvaal Mus. 2 (3): 77-115. - get paper here
  • Hewitt, J. 1935. Some new forms of batrachians and reptiles from South Africa. Rec. Albany Mus. 4: 283-357
  • Lobón-Rovira J, Vaz Pinto P, S. Becker F, Tolley KA, Measey J, Bennet B, Boon B, de Sá S, Conradie W 2022. An updated herpetofaunal species inventory of Iona National Park in southwestern Angola. Check List 18(2): 289-321 - get paper here
  • Lobón-Rovira, J., Sierra, P., Portas, R., Pinto, P. V., & Martínez-Freiría, F. 2025. Noteworthy herpetological notes from Namibe Province, Angola. Herpetology Notes 18: 99-105
  • Loveridge, A. 1947. Revision of the African lizards of the family Gekkondiae. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 98: 1-469 - get paper here
  • Marques, Mariana P.; Luis M. P. Ceríaco , David C. Blackburn , and Aaron M. Bauer 2018. Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola -- Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840–2017). Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (Ser. 4) 65: 1-501 (Supplement II)
  • Nagy, K.A., M.K. Seely & R. Buffenstein 1993. Surprisingly Low Field Metabolic Rate of a Diurnal Desert Gecko, Rhoptropus afer Copeia 1993 (1): 216-219. - get paper here
  • Peters, WILHELM C. H. 1869. Eine Mittheilung über neue Gattungen und Arten von Eidechsen. Monatsber. Königl. Preuss. Akad. Wissensch. Berlin, 1869: 57-66 - get paper here
  • Peterson, C.C. 1990. Paradoxically low metabolic rate of the diurnal gecko Rhoptropus afer Copeia 1990 (1): 233-237. - get paper here
  • Rösler, H. 2000. Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha). Gekkota 2: 28-153
  • Schleicher, Alfred 2015. Reptilien Namibias. Namibia Scientific  Society, 276 pp.
  • Schleicher, Alfred 2020. Reptiles of Namibia. Kuiseb Publishers, Windhoek, Namibia, 271 pp.
  • Schneider, C.; Barts, M.; Müller, F. 2010. Lebensweise, Habitat und erste Erfahrungen bei der Haltung von Rhoptropus afer PETERS, 1869. Sauria 32 (1): 47-54 - get paper here
  • Schneider, Christian and Mirko Barts. 2014. Die Geckos der Gattung Rhoptropus. Sauria 36 (3): 29-39 - get paper here
  • Thominot, A. 1878. Note sur un nouveau genre de reptile de la famille des geckotiens. Bulletin de la Société Philomathique de Paris, 2:254-256 - 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
 
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