Cnemaspis

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Cnemaspis
Indefinite species of the genus Cnemaspis from Kerala, India

Indefinite species of the genus Cnemaspis from Kerala , India

Systematics
without rank: Sauropsida
Superordinate : Scale lizards (Lepidosauria)
Order : Scale reptiles (Squamata)
without rank: Geckos (gekkota)
Family : Geckos (Gekkonidae)
Genre : Cnemaspis
Scientific name
Cnemaspis
Shrub , 1887

The genus Cnemaspis belongs to the gecko family (Gekkonidae). The small, diurnal geckos are common in the tropics and subtropics of Africa and Asia .

features

Geckos of the genus Cnemaspis are relatively small and slender. They have long, thin toes and fingers that are clawed. The distant finger or toe bones are compressed laterally and form an angle with the finger or toe bone base, which consists of round bones.

The eyes are oriented forward and a little upward, their pupils are round, which is characteristic of diurnal geckos. The eyelids encompass the entire eye. The tail is round in cross section. The males can have pre-anal or femoral pores , but these can also be absent depending on the species.

distribution

The more than 100 species described are native to the warmer climates of the Old World , namely in tropical Africa and in South and Southeast Asia . The genus is divided into six genetically and geographically separate clades . The South Asian clade includes India and Sri Lanka as well as the Mentawai Islands south-west of Sumatra, which belong to Indonesia . In this area the South Asian clades overlap with the Southeast Asian clades. The exact delimitation has not yet been clarified. Many species have only been discovered in the karst areas of the Malay Peninsula in recent years .

Taxonomy and systematics

At the time of the first description of the genus by Alexander Strauch in 1889, many species that are now included in Cnemaspis were placed in the genus Gonatodes because of the morphological characteristics of their fingers and toes . It was not until 1933 that the New World species from South and Central America were separated from those of the Old World and remained in the genus Gonatodes , which today belongs to the family of the puffer finger geckos (Spaerodactylidae). The Gonatodes species from the Old World were placed in the genus Cnemaspis by MA Smith and remained with the Gekkonidae . It turned out that the shape of the extremities cannot be a reliable characteristic of family relationships due to the adaptation to different habitats and ecological niches, but is most likely subject to a convergent evolution. Similar ways of life lead to similar limbs, which is reflected in the geckos in the multiple, parallel development of organs or claws.

When Alexander Strauch first described the genus, the large, flat shields on the inside of the lower legs of the type species Cnemaspis boulengeri , which he had previously only seen in lizards , were decisive for Alexander Strauch . The copy at hand from the holdings of the Zoological Museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg came from the Vietnamese island of Côn Đảo .

Selected species

The 50 Southeast Asian species are:

As of November 1, 2014

Ca Mau clade: This clade is named after the southernmost Vietnamese province of Cà Mau . The type species of the entire genus, Cnemaspis boulengerii , comes from an island off the coast of this province. Another species is native to the islands off the coast of Kiên Giang Province .

Pattani-Klade: The province of Pattani is in the south of Thailand . Here, on the border with Malaysia , the species of this clade are native to a relatively small area. In the north and south it is bounded by the distribution area of ​​the North Sunda clade.

North Sunda Clade

South Sunda Clade: The distribution area of ​​the South Sunda Clade extends from southern Malaysia over the islands in the South China Sea to the island of Borneo . Several groups of species live here.

Incertae Sedis

literature

  • Alexander Strauch: Comments on the geckonid collection in the Zoological Museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg (= Mémoires de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de St. Pétersbourg. Series 7, vol. 35, no. 2). sn, St. Petersburg 1887, ZDB -ID 975259-6 , p. 41, (first description).

Web links

Commons : Cnemaspis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b George A. Boulenger : Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor and Francis et al., London et al. 1890, pp. 73-79 .
  2. ^ Cnemaspis in The Reptile Database ; Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  3. ↑ Malcolm A. Smith: Remarks on some Old World Geckoes. In: Records of the Indian Museum. Vol. 35, 1933, ISSN  0375-099X , pp. 9-19.
  4. ↑ Tony A. Gamble, Aaron M. Bauer, Eli Greenbaum, Todd R. Jackman: Out of the blue: A novel, trans-Atlantic clade of geckos (Gekkota, Squamata). In: Zoologica Scripta. Vol. 37, No. 4, 2008, pp. 355-366, doi : 10.1111 / j.1463-6409.2008.00330.x .
  5. ^ Ed Yong: Geckos evolved sticky feet many times. Discover, dated June 27, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  6. ↑ Alexander Strauch: Comments on the geckonid collection in the Zoological Museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. 1887, p. 41.