''Hemidactylus prashadi'', also known
commonly as the Bombay leaf-toed gecko or Prashad's gecko, is a
species of
lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
in the
family Gekkonidae. The species is
endemic to the
Western Ghats of
India.
Etymology
The
specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
, ''prashadi'', is in honor of Indian zoologist
Baini Prashad Baini Prashad Order of the British Empire, OBE Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (13 March 1894 – 18 January 1969) was an Indian zoologist who specialized chiefly in malacology and ichthyology. He served as the first Indian director o ...
(1894–1969).
Geographic range
''H. prashadi'' is found in India (former
Bombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...
).
Type locality: "neighbourhood of Jog, N. Kanara district, Bombay Presidency".
[ Smith MA (1935). ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. II.—Sauria.'' London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 440 pp. + Plate I + 2 maps. (''Hemidactylus prashadi'', new species, pp. 92-93).]
Habitat
The natural
habitat of ''H. prashadi'' is
forest at altitudes of .
Description
''H. prashadi'' may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of , with a tail length of .
[
]
Reproduction
''H. prashadi'' is oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...
.[. www.reptile-database.org.]
References
Further reading
* Bansal R, Karanth KP (2010). "Molecular phylogeny of ''Hemidactylus'' geckos (Squamata: Gekkonidae) of the Indian subcontinent reveals a unique Indian radiation and an Indian origin of Asian house geckos". ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 57 (1): 459–465.
* Bauer AM, Jackman TR, Greenbaum E, Giri VB, De Silva A (2010). "South Asia supports a major endemic radiation of ''Hemidactylus'' geckos". ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 57 (1): 343–352.
* Grossman W (2014). "Hemidactylus prashadi ''Smith, 1935 – Prashads Halbfinger Gecko im Terrarium'' ". ''Sauria'' 36 (2): 43–54. (in German).
* Rösler H (2000). "''Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannte Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)''". ''Gekkota'' 2: 28–153. (''Hemidactylus prashadi'', p. 87). (in German).
Hemidactylus
Reptiles described in 1935
{{Hemidactylus-stub