<b>On two little-known terrestrial South Asian geckoes <I>Hemidactylus reticulatus</I> and <I>Hemidactylus scabriceps</I> (Reptilia: Gekkonidae)</b>

Abstract

A h am e d M . J e r fi t h 2 6 M a y 2 0 1 7 | V o l . 9 | N o . 5 | P p . 1 0 1 7 1 -1 0 1 7 7 1 0 . 1 1 6 0 9 / j o t . 3 1 6 3 . 9 . 5 . 1 0 1 7 1 -1 0 1 7 7 T h r e a t e n e d T a x a T h e J o u r n a l o f T h r e a t e n e d T a x a fi s d e d fi c a t e d t o b u fi l d fi n g e v fi d e n c e f o r c o n s e r v a fi o n g l o b a l l y b y p u b l fi s h fi n g p e e r -r e v fi ew e d a r fi c l e s o n l fi n e e v e r y m o n t h a t a r e a s o n a b l y r a p fi d r a t e a t www . t h r e a t e n e d t a x a . o r g. A l l a r fi c l e s p u b l fi s h e d fi n J o T T a r e r e g fi s t e r e d u n d e r C r e a fi v e C omm o n s A t r fi b u fi o n 4 . 0 I n t e r n a fi o n a l L fi c e n s e u n l e s s o t h e rw fi s e m e n fi o n e d . J o T T a l l ow s u n r e s t r fi c t e d u s e o f a r fi c l e s fi n a n y m e d fi um , r e p r o d u c fi o n , a n d d fi s t r fi b u fi o n b y p r o v fi d fi n g a d e q u a t e c r e d fi t t o t h e a u t h o r s a n d t h e s o u r c e o f p u b l fi c a fi o n .O P E N A C C E S S P a r t n e r www . t h r e a t e n e d t a x a . o r g I S S N 0 9 7 4 -7 9 0 7 ( O n l fi n e ) | I S S N 0 9 7 4 -7 8 9 3 ( P r fi n t ) B u fi l d fi n g e v fi d e n c e f o r c o n s e r v a fi o n g l o b a l l y J o u r n a l o f T h r e a t e n e d T a x a P u b l fi s h e r / H o s t F o r F o c u s , S c o p e , A fim s , P o l fi c fi e s a n d G u fi d e l fi n e s v fi s fi t h t p : / / t h r e a t e n e d t a x a . o r g / A b o u t _ J o T T F o r A r fi c l e S u bm fi s s fi o n G u fi d e l fi n e s v fi s fi t h t p : / / t h r e a t e n e d t a x a . o r g / S u bm fi s s fi o n _ G u fi d e l fi n e s F o r P o l fi c fi e s a g a fi n s t S c fi e n fi fi c M fi s c o n d u c t v fi s fi t h t p : / / t h r e a t e n e d t a x a . o r g / J o T T _ P o l fi c y _ a g a fi n s t _ S c fi e n fi fi c _M fi s c o n d u c t F o r r e p r fi n t s c o n t a c t < fi n f o@ t h r e a t e n e d t a x a . o r g > C fi t a fi o n : G a n e s h , S . R . , M . R am e s hw a r a n , N . A . J o s e p h & A .M . J e r fi t h ( 2 0 1 7 ) . O n tw o l fi t l e -k n ow n t e r r e s t r fi a l S o u t h A s fi a n g e c k o e s H em fi d a c t y l u s r e fi c u l a t u s a n d H em fi d a c t y l u s s c a b r fi c e p s ( R e p fi l fi a : G e k k o n fi d a e ) . J o u r n a l o f T h r e a t e n e d T a x a 9 ( 5 ) : 1 0 1 7 1 -1 0 1 7 7 ; h t p : / / d o fi . o r g / 1 0 . 1 1 6 0 9 / j o t . 3 1 6 3 . 9 . 5 . 1 0 1 7 1 -1 0 1 7 7C o p y r fi g h t : © G a n e s h e t a l . 2 0 1 7 . C r e a fi v e C omm o n s A t r fi b u fi o n 4 . 0 I n t e r n a fi o n a l L fi c e n s e . J o T T a l l ow s u n r e s t r fi c t e d u s e o f t h fi s a r fi c l e fi n a n y m e d fi um , r e p r o d u c fi o n a n d d fi s t r fi b u fi o n b y p r o v fi d fi n g a d e q u a t e c r e d fi t t o t h e a u t h o r s a n d t h e s o u r c e o f p u b l fi c a fi o n .F u n d fi n g : N o n e .C om p e fi n g fi n t e r e s t s : T h e a u t h o r s d e c l a r ...

<b>Appearances are deceptive: molecular phylogeny recovers the Scaly Gecko <I>Hemidactylus scabriceps</I> (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae) as a member of a scansorial and rupicolous clade</b>

“…The morphological characterization and ecological data of our new individuals are for the most part in conformity with literature reports (Annandale 1906;Smith 1935;Ganesh & Chandramouli 2010;Ganesh et al 2017). Another important facet of morphology of H. scabriceps is the persistence of transverse series of white spots / dotted lines across the trunk, typical of all the known members of H. prashadi group and absent in H. albofasciatus, H. imbricatus, H. reticulatus and H. sataraensis (Smith 1935;Bauer et al 2008;.…”

“…Individuals were found to occur at quite a distance from one another (15-20 m). Thus our observations on the microhabitat associations of H. scabriceps along with previously published notes (Ganesh & Chandramouli 2010;Ganesh et al 2017) do attest its strictly terrestrial lifestyle.…”

“…It was repeatedly observed to be in a 's' shaped position under rocks and trying to stay still and not trying to get away while the rock was disturbed. This behavior was also observed in H. reticulatus (Ganesh et al 2017;this work) and H. sataraensis (see . It is also common for H. scabriceps to be found in sympatry with H. triedrus (Image 8).…”

“…Similar assumptions were made for Dravidogecko anamallensis (Günther, 1875) which was later resolved and found to be sister to the Indian Hemidactylus radiation (Bansal & Karanth 2013). In the past, H. scabriceps has been misidentified on many occasions with other marginally co-occurring terrestrial congeners such as H. reticulatus, despite its distinctive scalation (Ganesh et al 2017). Annandale (1906) originally described this species as Teratolepis scabriceps based on its imbricate scalation, as the second congener next to T. fasciatus (currently H. imbricatus, after Bauer et al 2008).…”

“…More recently, Ganesh et al (2017) dug up some obscure publications reporting this species under a wrong name, described a series of preserved specimens including its hemipenal morphology, provided natural history notes and mapped its locality based on newer fieldwork. Hemidactylus scabriceps, however, still remains an intriguing gecko for both Indian and Sri Lankan herpetologists due to its assumed rarity and unknown phylogenetic relationships, since it is underrepresented and poorly sampled (Bauer et al 2010).…”