''Pristurus carteri'', commonly known as Carter's rock gecko or Carter's semaphore gecko, is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
gecko
Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from .
Geckos ar ...
, a lizard in the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Sphaerodactylidae
The Sphaerodactylidae are a family of geckos (Gekkota) distributed in North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, as well as in Southern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and into Central Asia. The family contains 12 li ...
. The species is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to the
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a l ...
.
Etymology
The
generic name, ''Pristurus'', means "saw-tailed" in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
.
The
specific name, ''carteri'', is in honor of Dr.
Henry Carter who collected the
holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...
.
Subspecies
There are two
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of ''Pristurus carteri''. The first is the
nominotypical subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
, ''Pristurus carteri carteri''
(Gray
Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...
, 1863), and the other is ''Pristurus carteri tuberculatus''
Parker Parker may refer to:
Persons
* Parker (given name)
* Parker (surname)
Places Place names in the United States
*Parker, Arizona
*Parker, Colorado
* Parker, Florida
* Parker, Idaho
* Parker, Kansas
* Parker, Missouri
* Parker, North Carolina
*Park ...
, 1931,
''P. c. carteri'' being the more common.
Common names
The species ''P. carteri'' has many common names such as Carter's rock gecko, ornate rock gecko, and scorpion-tailed gecko.
Geographic range and habitat
''P. carteri'' is native to
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
,
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
,
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
, and
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
,
[ where it often is found basking on rocks or in urban areas.
]
Behavior
''P. carteri'' are often seen swaying their curly tails back and forth to each other in a way to sort of communicate to each other. The males develop little fleshy spikes on their tails upon reaching sexual maturity. When they feel threatened they curl their tails in a scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...
-like fashion and even mimic the movements a scorpion will use as a threat display; this and the tail waving are the source of the common name scorpion-tailed geckos.
Members of the genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Pristurus'' are diurnal. This is unusual in geckos except in the genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
''Phelsuma
''Phelsuma'' is a large genus of geckos in the family Gekkonidae. Species in the genus ''Phelsuma'' are commonly referred to as day geckos.
Some day geckos are seriously endangered and some are common, but all ''Phelsuma'' species are CITES App ...
'', ''Lygodactylus
''Lygodactylus'' is a genus of diurnal geckos with 72 species. They are commonly referred to as dwarf geckos. They are mainly found in Africa and Madagascar although two species are found in South America. ''Lygodactylus picturatus'', the best ...
'', ''Naultinus
''Naultinus'' is a genus of geckos that are endemic to New Zealand. On account of their striking colouration, species in the genus ''Naultinus'' are commonly known as green geckos. There are nine described species in the genus. Species in the ...
'', ''Quedenfeldtia
''Quedenfeldtia'' is a small genus containing two attractive lizard species, both Common name, commonly known as the Atlas day gecko, in the Family (biology), family Sphaerodactylidae. The genus is Endemism, endemic to the Atlas Mountains of nor ...
'', '' Rhoptropus'', all Sphaerodactylids, and, of course, ''Pristurus''.[ Pianka ER, Vitt LJ (2003). ''Lizards: Windows to the Evolution of Diversity''. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. 346 pp. . (Genus ''Pristurus'', pp. 174, 179).]
Description
''P. carteri'' may attain an average snout-to-vent length (SVL) of , and a total length (including tail) of .
Reproduction
''P. carteri'' reaches sexual maturity in roughly 10 months. Adult females lay 1–2 hard shelled eggs that are incubated at 28 °C (82.4 °F) for 70–90 days. Each neonate hatches out at a total length of about .
References
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. (''Pristurus carteri'', pp. 55–56).
* Gray JE (1863). "Description of a New Lizard obtained by Mr. Henry Carter on the South-east Coast of Arabia". ''Proc. Zool. Soc. London'' 1863: 236-237 + Plate XX, figure 2. (''Spatalura carteri'', new species).
* Parker HW (1931). "Some Reptiles and Amphibians from S.E. Arabia". ''Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Tenth Series'' 8: 514–522. (''Pristurus carteri tuberculatus'', new subspecies).
Pristurus
Reptiles described in 1863
Taxa named by John Edward Gray
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