Saltuarius wyberba COUPER, SCHNEIDER & COVACEVICH, 1997
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Higher Taxa | Carphodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
Subspecies | |
Common Names | E: Leaf-tailed Gecko |
Synonym | Saltuarius wyberba COUPER, SCHNEIDER & COVACEVICH 1997 Saltuarius wyberba — COGGER 2000: 743 Saltuarius wyberba — WILSON & SWAN 2010 Saltuarius wyberba — COGGER 2014: 282 Saltuarius wyberba — CHAPPLE et al. 2019: 117 |
Distribution | E Australia (Forested granitic areas of the Stanthorpe area on the New South Wales - Queensland border) Type locality: Girraween NP, Granite Arch Trail, 1-5 km from Bald Rock campground, granite boulders in open forest (28°50', 151 °56.04') SE Qld. |
Reproduction | oviparous |
Types | Holotype: QM J61541, collected C. Schneider, P. Couper, M. Lara & J. Girling. Paratypes: AMS (AM) |
Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A medium-sized Saltuarius (maximum SVL 108 mm) with smooth throat scales, no preanal pores in either sex and usually a wide, shallow V-shaped marking between the eyes (Fig. E in COUPER et al. 2008). It is distinguished from its congeners by the following suite of characters: rostral shield usually contacts nostril (Fig. 8B); dorsal surface of toes usually with large spinose tubercules (Fig. 10B); scales on snout usually grade evenly from small to large (in dorsal–ventral transect) (Fig. 9A), not intermixed with larger granules above the supralabials; two narrow pale bands across the flared portion of the original tail, anterior-most usually broken in vertebral region (Fig. 13B); enlarged dorsal and lateral tubercules usually do not extend to tail tip (Fig. 13B); dark markings on head usually strongly contrasting with base colour and mean HD < 40% HW. |
Comment | Saltuarius wyberba from the 'granite-belt' of southern Queensland and northern New South Wales, is separated from three of the four previously-known members of the genus in lacking male preanal pores. From the fourth, S. swaini (an obligate rainforest species), it is distinguished by smaller size, greater dorsoventral compression, shape and spinosity of the attenuated tail tip, colour and pattern. Habitat. Associated with granite outcropping in open forest communities. |
Etymology | Wyberba is a rail-siding on the western boundary of Girraween National Park, in the Stanthorpe area, SEQ. The name is reported to be of Aboriginal origin, and said to mean 'at the end of the mountain' (Harslett & Royle, 1980). The epithet is to be treated as a noun in apposition. |
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