Gecko Cyrtodactylus Research Articles

Courtship and mating behaviour of the intermediate bow-fingered gecko Cyrtodactylus intermedius in the wild

Courtship and mating behaviour of the intermediate bow-fingered gecko Cyrtodactylus intermedius in the wild

Erode Ground Gecko Cyrtodactylus speciosus (Beddome, 1870) (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from peri-urban common-lands of Coimbatore, India, with comments on habitat associations

We report the Erode Ground Gecko Cyrtodactylus speciosus (Beddome, 1870), a rare, hill forest-dwelling species, from two sites in the northern periphery of Coimbatore city. These two sites, viz., Nallusamy checkdam (Site–1) and Sarkar Sama Kulam (Site–2) are lakes with remnant vegetation belts, surrounded by pastures, farmlands, and villages. From 100 hours of observations during a six-month period (April–September 2023) in these two sites, we report 14 sightings of C. speciosus including gravid females, juveniles, and subadults indicating a persistent breeding population. The encounter rate estimates ranged from 5 h (in Nallusamy checkdam; n = 10/50 h) to 12½ h (in Sarkar Sama Kulam; n = 4/50 h), averaging at about 7 h (pooled; n = 14/100 h) to get one sighting of C. speciosus. Our sightings of C. speciosus in peri-urban common lands abutting a city, calls for intensified biodiversity surveys and enhanced protections of such remnant vegetation belts, often presumed to have low or marginalised conservation values.

New locality record of Forest Spotted Gecko Cyrtodactylus (Geckoella) cf. speciosus (Beddome, 1870) (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Thanjavur, in the eastern coastal plains of Tamil Nadu, India

The study of species distributions is critical for gaining insights into biogeographic patterns and for the protection of threatened species. Here, I report on the new distributional record of the Forest Spotted Gecko (Cyrtodacylus cf. speciosus) from Thanjavur in the coastal plains of Tamil Nadu. This observation marks the first documented occurrence of this species outside its typical hilly habitat in southern India.

Additions to the herpetofauna of Hon Son Island, Rach Gia Bay, Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam with a discussion of syntopy between the granite cave-adapted Bent-toed Gecko Cyrtodactylus eisenmanae and a new Cyrtodactylus of uncertain taxonomic status.

An updated herpetofaunal checklist of Hon Son Island, Rach Gia Bay, Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam is presented which reports of new records for Kaloula pulchra, Sylvirana cf. mortenseni, Cyrtodactylus sp., and Gehyra mutilata bringing the island total to 21 species. Cyrtodactylus sp. is an unidentified granite-cave adapted species that occurs in syntopy with the granite-cave adapted C. eisenmanae, bringing the total number of Cyrtodactylus on this tiny island (11.5 km2) to three. The implications of highly specialized syntopic congeneric ecomorphs is discussed.

Integrative taxonomic and geographic variation analyses in Cyrtodactylus aequalis (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from southern Myanmar (Burma): one species, two different stories

The historical accuracy of building taxonomies is improved when they are based on phylogenetic inference (i.e., the resultant classifications are less apt to misrepresent evolutionary history). In fact, taxonomies inferred from statistically significant diagnostic morphological characters in the absence of phylogenetic considerations, can contain non-monophyletic lineages. This is especially true at the species level where small amounts of gene flow may not preclude the evolution of localized adaptions in different geographic areas while underpinning the paraphyletic nature of each population with respect to the other. We illustrate this point by examining genetic and morphological variation among three putatively allopatric populations of the granite-dwelling Bent-toed Gecko Cyrtodactylus aequalis from hilly regions in southeastern Myanmar. In the absence of molecular phylogenetic inference, a compelling argument for three morphologically diagnosable species could be marshaled. However, when basing the morphological analyses of geographic variation on a molecular phylogeny, there is a more compelling argument that only one species should be recognized. We are cognizant of the fact however, that when dealing with rare species or specimens for which no molecular data are possible, judicious morphological analyses are the only option—and the desired option given the current worldwide biodiversity crisis.

Gastrointestinal Tract and Accessory Organs in the Spotted Bent-toed Gecko, Cyrtodactylus peguensis (Boulenger, 1893): A Histological and Histochemical Study

AbstractThe spotted bent-toed gecko Cyrtodactylus peguensis is one of the exploited reptiles in Thailand. In order to provide basic information for the digestive system of this species, we have examined histologically the gastrointestinal and accessory organs of C. peguensis using routine methods. The gastrointestinal region of this reptile started from the stomach and the intestine. The stomach was separated into fundic and pyloric regions. In both regions, the stomach wall was formed by four distinct tissue layers, including mucosa, submucosa, muscularis, and serosa layers. Mucous neck cells and oxynticopeptic cells were identified as glycoprotein-producing cells in the stomach by Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining. The small and large intestines shared many histological characteristics, but the former contained more intestinal folds, while the latter had more PAS-positive goblet cells. Histological characteristics of accessory organs, liver and pancreas, were also provided. Overall, the gastrointestinal and accessory organs of C. peguensis were largely similar to those from other reptiles, but fine structural information will open up considerable opportunities to further studies related to the endocrinology, the physiology, and the conservation of this species.

Short Communication: Cyrtodactylus elok Dring, 1979 (Sauria, Gekkonidae): A first country record for Thailand

Chuaynkern Y, Nurngsomsri P, Chuaynkern C, Duengkae P, Karaphan S. 2018. Short Communication: Cyrtodactylus elok Dring, 1979 (Sauria, Gekkonidae): A first country record for Thailand. Biodiversitas 19: 2111-2117. The present work reports a new country record for Thailand of the bent-toed gecko Cyrtodactylus elok Dring, 1979 based on a single specimen which was collected from Hala‒Bala Wildlife Sanctuary, Narathiwat Province (southern Thailand). The Thai specimen shows morphological characters similar to C. elok as follows: 12-14 supralabials, 10-11 infralabials, seven tubercles across midbody, 49 ventral scales, enlarged femoral scales absent, tubercles on forelimbs absent, ventrolateral fold poorly defined, and large tubercles of dorsolateral caudal rows. The species was previously known from the discovery made in Malaysia. This addition brings the number of Thai prehensile-tailed species to three. Morphological and distributional maps are provided.

Phytoplankton community structure in the Estuary of Donan River, Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia

Chuaynkern Y, Nurngsomsri P, Chuaynkern C, Duengkae P, Karaphan S. 2018. Short Communication: Cyrtodactylus elok Dring, 1979 (Sauria, Gekkonidae): A first country record for Thailand. Biodiversitas 19: 2111-2117. The present work reports a new country record for Thailand of the bent-toed gecko Cyrtodactylus elok Dring, 1979 based on a single specimen which was collected from Hala‒Bala Wildlife Sanctuary, Narathiwat Province (southern Thailand). The Thai specimen shows morphological characters similar to C. elok as follows: 12-14 supralabials, 10-11 infralabials, seven tubercles across midbody, 49 ventral scales, enlarged femoral scales absent, tubercles on forelimbs absent, ventrolateral fold poorly defined, and large tubercles of dorsolateral caudal rows. The species was previously known from the discovery made in Malaysia. This addition brings the number of Thai prehensile-tailed species to three. Morphological and distributional maps are provided.

A new species of karst forest-adapted Bent-toed Gecko (genus Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827) belonging to the C. sworderi complex from a threatened karst forest in Perak, Peninsular Malaysia.

A new species of Bent-toed Gecko Cyrtodactylus guakanthanensis sp. nov. of the C. sworderi complex is described from a limestone forest in Perak, Peninsular Malaysia whose karst formations at the type locality are within an active quarry. Cyrtodactylus guakanthanensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other Sundaland species by having the following suite of character states: adult SVL 77.7-82.2 mm; moderately sized, conical, weakly keeled, body tubercles; tubercles present on occiput, nape, and limbs, and extend posteriorly beyond base of tail; 37-44 ventral scales; no transversely enlarged, median, subcaudal scales; proximal subdigital lamellae transversely expanded; 19-21 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; abrupt transition between posterior and ventral femoral scales; enlarged femoral scales; no femoral or precloacal pores; precloacal groove absent; wide, dark postorbital stripes from each eye extending posteriorly to the anterior margin of the shoulder region thence forming a transverse band across the anterior margin of the shoulder region; and body bearing five (rarely four) wide, bold, dark bands. Destruction of the karst microhabitat and surrounding limestone forest will extirpate this new species from the type locality and perhaps drive it to complete extinction given that it appears to be restricted to the particular microhabitat structure of the type locality and is not widely distributed throughout the karst formations. As with plants and invertebrates, limestone forests are proving to be significant areas of high herpetological endemism and should be afforded special conservation status rather than turned into cement.

Phylogeography, geographic variation, and taxonomy of the Bent-toed Gecko Cyrtodactylus quadrivirgatus Taylor, 1962 from Peninsular Malaysia with the description of a new swamp dwelling species

Phylogeography, geographic variation, and taxonomy of the Bent-toed Gecko Cyrtodactylus quadrivirgatus Taylor, 1962 from Peninsular Malaysia with the description of a new swamp dwelling species

Phylogeography, geographic variation, and taxonomy of the Bent-toed Gecko Cyrtodactylus quadrivirgatus Taylor, 1962 from Peninsular Malaysia with the description of a new swamp dwelling species

A review of the taxonomic status of the Bent-toed Gecko Cyrtodactylus quadrivirgatus Taylor, 1962 based on a molecularphylogeny, scalation, and color pattern analyses indicate that it is composed of a single, recently expanding, widespreadpopulation with weakly supported phylogeographic substructuring with no discrete morphological differentiation betweenpopulations. However, based on sampling, significant mean differences in selected scale counts occur between some pop-ulations. The molecular phylogeny and morphological analysis strongly indicate lineage independence between a subsetof individuals from the Bukit Panchor, Penang population and their closest relative C. pantiensis Grismer, Chan, Grismer,Wood & Belabut, 2008 from southern Peninsular Malaysia. Furthermore, the analyses indicate that the individuals of thissubset are conspecific and not part of C. quadrivirgatus as previously suggested. Additionally, this subset is morphologi-cally distinct from all other Sundaland species of Cyrtodactylus, and as such is described herein as Cyrtodactylus payacola sp. nov.

Taxonomy of Naked-Toes Geckos Cyrtodactylus irregularis Complex of South Vietnam and Description of a New Species from Chu Yang Sin Natural Park (Krong Bong District, Dac Lac Province, Vietnam)

A new species of Cyrtodactylus of Gekkonidae family, assigned to the Cyrtodactylus irregularis complex on the basis of twelve specimens collected from the Chu Yang Sin National Park, Krong Bong District, Dac Lac Province, central Vietnam is described. Forms of C. irregularis complex inhabiting an extensive territory, covering the southern part of the Annamite Mountains and Central Highlands, their distribution and variation are discussed; a detailed description of the type specimens of C. irregularis complex and a description of a new species are given.

Recently extinct reptile populations from Mauritius and Réunion, Indian Ocean

Previously unreported material of recently extinct reptiles from Mauritius and Reunion is discussed. It confirms the original presence on Mauritius of three species now largely or entirely confined to nearby Round Island: the gecko Cyrtodactylus serpensinsula, the skink, Leiolopisma telfairii and the boa, Casarea dussumieri. Leiolopisma telfairii is also recorded from Reunion for the first time. Leiolopisma telfairii and the extinct giant Dido–saurus mauritianus are shown to be very similar to each other and quite probably derivatives of a single invading species. D. mauritianus is consequently transferred to Leiolopisma. Apparently pathological tooth structure in this form is also reported.