South-western spiny-tailed gecko

The south-western spiny-tailed gecko (Strophurus spinigerus), also known commonly as the soft spiny-tailed gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Diplodactylidae. The species is endemic to Australia. Two subspecies are recognized.

South-western spiny-tailed gecko
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Diplodactylidae
Genus: Strophurus
Species:
S. spinigerus
Binomial name
Strophurus spinigerus
(Gray, 1842)
Synonyms[2]
  • Diplodactylus spinigerus
    Gray, 1842
  • Strophura spinigera
    — Gray, 1845
  • Phyllodactylus spinigerus
    — A.H.A. Duméril, 1851
  • Diplodactylus strophurus spinigerus
    — Mitchell, 1955
  • Strophurus spinigerus
    — Wells & Wellington, 1984

Geographic range

S. spinigerus is found in the southwestern part of the Australian state of Western Australia.[1][2]

Habitat

The natural habitats of S. spinigerus are forest and shrubland.[1]

Description

S. spinigerus may attain a total length (including tail) of 11.4 cm (4.5 in). Dorsally, it is olive-grey, speckled with black. It may have a broad zigzag black stripe along the back. The spiny tubercles on the back and tail are black. Ventrally, it is dirty white, either uniform or speckled with black.[3]

Reproduction

S. spinigerus is oviparous.[2]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.[2]

  • Strophurus spinigerus inornatus (Storr, 1988)
  • Strophurus spinigerus spinigerus (Gray, 1842)

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Strophurus.

References
  1. Cowan, M. (2017). "Strophurus spinigerus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T102702607A102702641. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T102702607A102702641.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. Species Strophurus spinigerus at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  3. Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume I. Gekkonidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 436 pp. + Plates I-XXXII. (Diplodactylus spinigerus, pp. 99-100).

Further reading
  • Cogger HG (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. ISBN 978-0643100350.
  • Gray JE (1842). "Description of some hitherto unrecorded species of Australian Reptiles and Batrachians". Zoological Miscellany 2: 51–57. (Diplodactylus spinigerus, new species, p. 53).
  • Laube A, Langner C (2007). "Die Gattung Strophurus [= The genus Strophurus]". Draco 8 (29): 49–66. (in German).
  • Rösler H (2000). "Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha) [= Annotated list of the recent, subrecent and fossil known Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)]". Gekkota 2: 28–153. (Strophurus spinigerus, p. 115). (in German).
  • Storr GM (1988). "The subspecies of Diplodactylus spinigerus (Lacertilia: Gekkonidae)". Records of the Western Australian Museum 14 (2): 177–182. (Diplodactylus spinigerus inornatus, new subspecies, pp. 180–182, Figures 3 & 4).
  • Wilson, Steve; Swan, Gerry (2013). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia, Fourth Edition. Sydney: New Holland Publishers. 522 pp. ISBN 978-1921517280.


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