Rediscovery of the Frilled Tail Gecko Hemidactylus platyurus (Schneider, 1792) in Sri Lanka after more than 160 years

Anslem De Silva ,Majintha Madawala,Aaron M Bauer,Suranjan Karunarathna

doi:10.11609/jott.2866.8.14.9663-9666

Abstract

Eight species of Hemidactylus are currently recognized in Sri Lanka—frenatus, leschenaultii, scabriceps, parvimaculatus, depressus, hunae, lankae, and pieresii—with the latter four endemic to the island. A ninth species, Hemidactylus platyurus, was until now only confirmed from Sri Lanka by two specimens sent to the British Museum of Natural History by E.F. Kelaart in 1855. There was no exact collection locality recorded for these specimens, which are associated simply with the provenance “Ceylon” (now Sri Lanka). The present communication reports the rediscovery of the gecko H. platyurus and confirms its occurrence in Sri Lanka.

Highlights

The genus Hemidactylus Oken, 1817, with over 140 recognized species, is one of most species-rich genera of the family Gekkonidae (Uetz & Hošek 2016)
A ninth species, Hemidactylus platyurus (Schneider, 1792), was until now only confirmed from Sri Lanka by two specimens sent to the British Museum of Natural History [ The Natural History Museum, London] (BMNH 56.1.17.3 a-b) (Image 1) by Edward Frederic Kelaart (1819–1860), the first native Sri Lankan zoologist (Pethiyagoda 2007), in 1855 (Somaweera & Somaweera 2009)
There was no exact collection locality recorded for these specimens, which are associated with the provenance “Ceylon” ( Sri Lanka), but during 1854–1860 Kelaart worked in the Trincomale and Mannar areas in Sri Lanka (Pethiyagoda 2007)

Summary

Introduction

The genus Hemidactylus Oken, 1817, with over 140 recognized species, is one of most species-rich genera of the family Gekkonidae (Uetz & Hošek 2016). A ninth species, Hemidactylus platyurus (Schneider, 1792), was until now only confirmed from Sri Lanka by two specimens sent to the British Museum of Natural History [ The Natural History Museum, London] (BMNH 56.1.17.3 a-b) (Image 1) by Edward Frederic Kelaart (1819–1860), the first native Sri Lankan zoologist (Pethiyagoda 2007), in 1855 (Somaweera & Somaweera 2009).

Results

Conclusion