Hemidactylus brookii
| Hemidactylus brookii | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Sauria |
| Infraorder: | Gekkota |
| Family: | Gekkonidae |
| Genus: | Hemidactylus |
| Species: | H. brookii |
| Binomial name | |
| Hemidactylus brookii Gray, 1845 | |
Hemidactylus brookii, commonly known as Brooke's house gecko, is a widespread species of gecko.
Etymology
The specific name, brookii, is in honor of British adventurer James Brooke.[1]
Description
Snout somewhat longer than the distance between the eye and the ear-opening, nearly twice the diameter of the orbit; forehead concave; ear-opening small, oval, vertical, about one third the diameter of the eye; on the occiput very small round tubercles. Rostral quadrangular, with a median cleft; nostril bordered by the rostral, the first upper labial and three nasals, the upper not in contact with its fellow. Eight to ten upper and seven to nine lower labials; mental large, triangular; two or three pair of chin-shields, median forming - a suture. Scales of the throat granular. Body covered with small granules, intermixed with large keeled trihedral tubercles, arranged in 16-20 longitudinal series, the keels of the outer ones indistinct; the diameter of the largest tubercles on the flanks exceeds the diameter of the ear-opening. Ventral scales larger than those on the throat, cycloid, imbricate. Male with 7-20 femoral pores on each side. Tail depressed, annulate, with rows of 8 or 6 spine-like tubercles, below with a series of transversely dilated plates. Limbs granular, the upper part of the hind limb with large keeled tubercles; digits free, dilated, the free distal joint long, 3-6 lamellae under the inner, 6-8 under the median toes.
Yellowish-brown above with irregular dark spots; one or two dark lines on the side of the head, passing through the eye; lips with dark bars. Lower parts white ; all the scales finely dotted with dark brown. Young specimens have cross lines of white tubercles on the back; those on the tail all white.[2]
Length of head and body 58 mm.; tail 60 mm.
Geographic range
- brookii
- Senegal, Togo, Angola, Cape Verde, Tanzania, Gambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Sudan (Dagana + Goree Dondo/Cuanza River Atakpame).
- India (Himalaya), Bhutan, Thailand (HR 33: 322), Maldives, Malaysian Peninsula, Sri Lanka, Myanmar (= Burma) (Tsagain), Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia (Borneo).
- Mexico, Honduras, Haiti, Antilles, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Port-Au-Prince, Trinidad, Colombia
- angulatus: Sudan, Uganda, south to Tanzania, west to Senegal. Zanzibar, Pemba Island.
- Type locality: West coast of Africa = Gabon [angulatus]
- leightoni: Venezuela (Zulia), Colombia
- Type locality: "Ada Foah (Guinea)" [= Ghana] [Hemidactylus guineensis PETERS 1868]
References
- ↑ Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M. 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Hemidactylus brookii, p. 39).
- ↑ Rooij, Nelly de. 1915. The Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. I. Lacertilia, Chelonia, Emydosauria. Leiden: E.J. Brill. xiv + 384 pp. (Hemidactylus brooki [sic], pp. 32-33 + Figure 20).
Further reading
- Annandale N. 1905. Notes on some Oriental geckos in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, with Descriptions of new Forms. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Seventh Series, 15: 26-32.
- Bauer AM, Günther R. 1991. An annotated type catalogue of the geckos (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) in the Zoological Museum, Berlin. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin 67: 279-310.
- Bauer AM, Pauwels OSG, Sumontha M. 2002. Hemidactylus brookii brookii, distribution. Herpetological Review 33: 322.
- Das I. 2006. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Borneo. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. ISBN 0-88359-061-1. (Hemidactylus brookii, p. 101).
- Gleadow F. 1887. Description of a new lizard from the Dangs. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 2: 49-51.
- Gray JE. 1845. Catalogue of the Specimens of Lizards in the Collection of the British Museum. London: Trustees of the British Museum. (Edward Newman, printer). xxviii + 289 pp.
- Mitchell JC, Zug GR. 1988. Ecological observations on the gecko Hemidactylus brookii in Nepal. Amphibia-Reptilia 9: 405-413.
- Powell R, Maxey SA. 1990. "Hemidactylus brookii ". Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles. No. 493.