A revision of the fish scale geckos, genus Geckolepis Grandidier (squamata, Gekkonidae) from Madagascar and the Comoros

Abstract

The Geckolepis fish-scale geckos, which exhibit extreme skin and scale autotomy, and are endemic to Madagascar and the Comoros, have long been considered problematic concerning species recognition, with the last review of the group made by Angel (1942). Here we report the results of our morphological study, which examined 178 specimens representing most of the intact museum specimens that are currently available. We find a total of three valid species within the genus Geckolepis: G. typica Grandidier, 1867; G. maculata Peters, 1880; and G. polylepis Boettger, 1893. We consider three previously described taxa: G. petiti Angel, 1942; G. typica anomala Mocquard, 1909; and G. typica modesta Methuen and Hewitt, 1913, as junior synonyms of G. typica; and G. humbloti Vaillant, 1887, as a junior synonym of G. maculata. We designate MNHN 1994.1748 as the lectotype of Geckolepis typica. For each recognized species we provide a diagnosis and new description, summarize individual variation, and describe geographical distribution. We also present an identification key for the group and discuss systematic and biogeographic issues and the unusual scale fragility of Geckolepis. © 2009 The Herpetologists' League, Inc.