Oriental leaf-toed gecko
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Gekkonidae
Genus: Hemidactylus
Species:
H. bowringii
Binomial name
Hemidactylus bowringii
(Gray, 1845)
Synonyms[2]
  • Doryura bowringii
    Gray, 1845
  • Hemidactylus bowringii
    — Boulenger, 1885

The Oriental leaf-toed gecko (Hemidactylus bowringii), also known commonly as the Asian smooth gecko, Bowring's gecko, Bowring's smooth gecko, and the Sikkimese dark-spotted gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is native to East Asia.

Etymology

The specific name, bowringii, is in honor of either John Charles Bowring, who was a British amateur naturalist and businessman in Hong Kong, or his father John Bowring, who was a British diplomat and a governor of Hong Kong.[3]

Description

Boulenger (1885) described H. bowringii as follows: "Snout longer than the distance between the eye and the ear-opening, 1.4 times the diameter of the orbit; forehead slightly concave; ear-opening small, roundish. Body and limbs moderate; a slight fold of the skin along the flank. Digits free, moderately dilated, inner well developed; infradigital lamellae obliquely curved, 5 under the thumb, 7 or 8 under the fourth finger, 5 or 6 under the first toe, and 9 or 10 under the fourth toe. Upper surfaces covered with uniform small granular scales, largest on the snout, smallest on the occiput. Rostral four-sided, twice as broad as deep, with median cleft above; nostril pierced between the rostral, the first labial, and three or four nasals; 9 to 11 upper and 7 or 8 lower labials; mental large, triangular, followed by a pair of chin-shields; an outer pair of much smaller chin-shields. Abdominal scales moderate, cycloid, imbricate. Male with a series of preanal pores, interrupted mesially, composed of 13 pores on each side. Tail depressed, rounded, oval in section, covered above with uniform small scales, beneath with a median series of transversely dilated plates. Light brown above, with darker spots, having sometimes a tendency to form four longitudinal bands on the back; frequently small whitish spots on the body and limbs; a dark streak passing through the eye; tail above with small chevron-shaped markings; lower surfaces whitish.

From snout to vent 1.3 in (3.3 cm); tail 2 in (5.1 cm)." [4]

Geographic range

Hemidactylus bowringii is found in East Asia, including Bhutan, Nepal, southern China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam (Ha Noi; Hon Thom Island), and Japan (Ryukyu Islands = Okinawa).[2]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of H. bowringii is forest, at altitudes from sea level to 1,250 m (4,100 ft), but it has also been found in plantations and around man-made structures in urban areas.[1]

Reproduction

Hemidactylus bowringii is oviparous.[2] Clutch size is 2–3 eggs, which hatch after 30 days of incubation.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wogan G, Nguyen NS, Golynsky E, Milto K, Thaksintham W, Danaisawat P, Wang Y, Shang G, Yang J, Cai B (2019). "Hemidactylus bowringii ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T194106A2299360.en. Downloaded on 13 October 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Species Hemidactylus bowringii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  3. ↑ 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 bowringii, p. 36).
  4. ↑ Boulenger GA (1890). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xviii + 541 pp. (Hemidactylus bowringii, p. 93).

Further reading

  • Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume I. Geckonidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 436 pp. + Plates I-XXXII. (Hemidactylus bowringii, new combination, p. 139 + Plate XII, figure 2).
  • 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. (Doryura bowringii, new species, p. 156).
  • Liang, Yun-Sheng; Wang, Chin-Shiang (1973). "Comparative study of osteology on the House Geckos, Hemidactylus bowringii (Gray) and Hemidactylus frenatus Dumeril & Bibron, from Taiwan". Fu Jen Studies (7): 63–123.
  • McMahan CD, Zug GR (2007). "Burmese Hemidactylus (Reptilia, Squamata, Gekkonidae): geographic variation in the morphology of Hemidactylus bowringii in Myanmar and Yunnan, China". Proceedings of the California Academy of Science 58: 485–509.
  • Xu D-D, Ji X (2007). "Sexual dimorphism, female reproduction and egg incubation in the oriental leaf-toed gekko (Hemidactylus bowringii) from southern China". Zoology 110 (1): 20–27.
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