Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2017-09-14
Page range: 183–192
Abstract views: 146
PDF downloaded: 2

Implication of variable characters for the taxonomy of Altiphylax stoliczkai (Steindachner, 1867) and Altiphylax yarkandensis (Anderson, 1872) (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) with comments on the ZSI ‘syntype’ of the latter taxon’

Department of Life Sciences, Presidency University, Kolkata-700073, West Bengal, India.
Reptilia Section, Zoological Survey of India, Fire-proof Spirit Building, Kolkata-700016, West Bengal, India
Badu Reptile Conservation Society, Badu, Kolkata-700128, West Bengal, India
Amphibia Section, Zoological Survey of India, Fire-proof Spirit Building, Kolkata-700016, West Bengal, India
Reptilia Ladakh Tenuidactylus Altiphylax Yarkand Expedition synonym

Abstract

We studied the available specimens of Altiphylax stoliczkai (Steindachner, 1867) collected during the Second Yarkand Expedition (1873–74) by Ferdinand Stoliczka. During our study we found some characters that exhibit intrapopulational variation which were not reported in previously published works on this species. We also examined ZSI 3792, said to be the ZSI syntype of Altiphylax yarkandensis (Anderson, 1872) and provide comments on its taxonomy and true status. Based on our study of specimens of A. stoliczkai and comparison with the published description and photographs of the Natural History Museum (NHM) syntype of A.yarkandensis, we regard the former to be a junior synonym of A. stoliczkai.

 

References

  1. Agarwal, I., Bauer, A., Jackmann, T.R. & Karanth, P. (2012) Cryptic species and Miocene diversification of Palaearctic naked-toed geckos (Squamata: Gekkonidae) in the Indian dry zone. Zoologica Scripta, 43, 1–17.
    https://doi.org/10.1111/zsc.12062

    Anderson, J. (1872) On some Persian, Himalayan, and other reptiles. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 40, 371–404.

    Annandale, N. (1913) The Indian geckos of the genus Gymnodactylus. Records of the Indian Museum, 9, 309-–326, pls. XVI–XVII.

    Auffenberg, K., Krysko, K.L. & Auffenberg, W. (2004) Studies on Pakistan lizards: Cyrtopodion stoliczkai (Steindachner, 1867) (Gekkonidae: Gekkoninae). Asiatic Herpetological Research, 10, 151–160.

    Auffenberg, K., Krysko, K.L. & Rehman, H. (2010) Studies on Pakistan lizards: Cyrtopodion baturense (Khan and Baig 1992) and Cyrtopodion walli (Ingoldby 1922) (Sauria: Gekkonidae). Zootaxa, 2636, 1–20.

    Bauer, A.M., Masroor, R., Titus-Mcquillan, Heinicke, M.P., Daza, J.D. & Jackman, T.R. (2013) A preliminary phylogeny of the Palearctic naked-toed geckos (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae) with taxonomic implications. Zootaxa, 3599 (4), 301–324.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3599.4.1

    Blanford, W.T. (1875) List of Reptilia and Amphibia collected by late Dr. Stoliczka in Kashmir, Ladak, Eastern Turkestan and Wakhan with descriptions of new species. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 44, 191–196.

    Blanford, W.T. (1878) Reptilia and Amphibia In: Scientific Results of the Second Yarkand Mission: Based upon the Collections and Notes of the Late Ferdinand Stoliczka, PhD. Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta, 26 pp., 2 pls.

    Boulenger, G.A. (1885) Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. I. Geckonidæ, Eublepharidæ, Uroplatidæ, Pygopodidæ, Agamidæ. Trustees of the British Museum, London, xii + 436 pp., XXXII pls.

    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.21097

    Boulenger, G.A. (1890) The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Reptilia and Batrachia). Taylor & Francis, London, 541 pp.

    Das, I., Duttagupta, B. & Gayen, N.C. (1998) History and catalogue of reptile types in the collection of the Zoological Survey of India. Journal of South Asian Natural History, 3, 1–52.

    Hammer, Ø., Harper, D.A.T. & Ryan, P.D. (2001) PAST: Paleontological Statistics software package for Education and Data Analysis. Palaeontologia Electronica, 4, 1–9.

    Henderson, G. & Hume, A.O. (1873) Lahore to Yarkand: Incidents of the Route and Natural History of the Countries Traversed by the Expedition of 1870. L. Reeve & Co., London, xiv + 370 pp., folding map, frontispiece, 54 pls.

    Khan, M.S. (1994) Validity and redescription of Tenuidactylus yarkandensis (J. Anderson, 1872). Pakistan Journal of Zoology, 26, 139–143.

    Khan, M.S. (2002) Key and checklist to the lizards of Pakistan (Reptilia: Squamata: Sauria). Herpetozoa, 15, 99–119.

    Khan, M.S. & Rösler, H. (1999) Redescription and generic redesignation of the Ladakhian gecko Gymnodactylus stoliczkai Steindachner, 1969. Asiatic Herpetological Reserch, 8, 60–68.

    Kluge, A.G. (1991) Checklist of Gekkonoid lizards. Smithsonian Herpetological Information Service, 85, 1–35.

    https://doi.org/10.5479/si.23317515.85.1

    Krause, V., Ahmadzadeh, F., Moazeni, M., Wagner, P. & Wilms, T.M. (2013) A new species of the genus Tropiocolotes Peters, 1880 from western Iran (Squamata: Sauria: Gekkonidae). Zootaxa, 3716 (1), 22–38.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3716.1.2

    Krysko, K.L., Rehman, H. & Auffenberg, K. (2007) A new species of Cyrtopodion (Gekkonidae: Gekkoninae) from Pakistan. Herpetologica, 63, 100–113.

    https://doi.org/10.1655/0018-0831(2007)63[100:ANSOCG]2.0.CO;2

    Mayr, E. & Ashlock, P.D. (1991) Principles of Systematic Zoology. McGraw Hill Education, Private Limited, New Delhi, 473 pp. [Indian edition 2014]

    Minton, S.A. (1966) A contribution to the herpetology of West Pakistan. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 134, 27–184, pls. 9–36.

    Smith, M.A. (1935) The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. II. Sauria. Taylor and Francis, London, xiii + 440 pp., 2 folding maps, 1 pl.

    Steindachner, F. (1867) Reptilien In: Reise der Österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859 unter den Befehlen des Commodore B. von Wüllerstorf-Urbair, Zoologischer Theil, Erster Band, Kaiserlich-Königlichen Hof-Staatsdruckerei, Wien, 98 pp., 3 pls.

    Szczerbak, N.N. & Golubev, M.J. (1996) Gecko Fauna of the USSR and Contiguous Regions. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Ithaca, New York, xii + 233 pp., 8 pp. pls.

    Underwood, G. (1954) On the classification and evolution of geckos. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 124, 469–492.
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1954.tb07789.x

    Wiley, E.O. & Mayden, R.L. (2000) The Evolutionary Species Concept. In: Wheeler, Q.D. & Meier, R. (Eds.), Species Concepts and Phylogenetic Theory: A Debate. Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 70–89.

    Zhao, E., Jiang, Y. & Yang, S. (1977) Systematic Key of the Reptiles of China [in Chinese]. Science Press, Beijing, 110 pp., 28 pls.

    Zhao, E. & Jiang, Y. (1986) Key to the snakes and lizards of China [English translation by Yang, D. & Inger, R.F.]. Smithsonian Herpetological Information Service, 71, 1–21.

    https://doi.org/10.5479/si.23317515.71.1