This species is closely related to the genus Gehyra, which belongs to the same family in Gekkonidae.
The species are typically known as house geckos, due to their readiness to adapt to and coexist with humans, and can be easily encountered in human habitations.
Taxonomy
This genus was originally established by Lorenz Oken in 1817 for the species at that time known as Hemidactylus tuberculosus, and now described as the tropical house gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia).[2] The species name in turn comes from the Greek words ἡμιhemi "half" and δάκτυλοςdáktylos "fingers" because its toes has split or "half" lamella underneath them.[6]
Evolution
The origin of the genus Hemidactylus is still unclear as the higher level phylogeny is not well resolved. Moreover, much of the diversity in this group still remains to be discovered.
Feces
A house gecko will usually confine its excretions to one area of a house. This is sometimes considered a nuisance by home owners, and may stain certain surfaces.[7] The feces are approximately five (5) millimeters in length, two (2) millimeters wide, and dark brown (almost black) in color.
The dorsallepidosis is either uniform or heterogeneous. The pupil of the eye is vertical. Males have pre-anal or femoral pores. Each finger or toe has a slender distal clawed joint, angularly bent and rising from within the extremity of the dilated portion.[8]
The fingers and toes are free, or more or less webbed, and dilated; underneath they bear two[citation needed] rows of lamellae in a pattern resembling a paripinnatecompound leaf.[8] This leads to their other and more ambiguous common name, "leaf-toed geckos", used mainly for species from South Asia and its surroundings to prevent confusion with the many "leaf-toed" Gekkota not in Hemidactylus.
Underside of a leaf-toed Gecko.
Some members of the genus, such as H. platyurus, are able to run quadrupedally across water by a partially surface tension-dependent mechanism distinct from the bipedal gait of basilisks.[9]
Communication
Like many other gecko species, species in the genus Hemidactylus are able to communicate with distinct vocalizations. Depending on the species, their vocalizations range from quiet clicks to short squeaks and chirps. For example, the Asian common house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) is notable for its distinctive chirping.
^Angarwal I, Giri VB, Bauer AM (2011). "A new cryptic rock-dwelling Hemidactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from south India". Zootaxa2765: 21–37. (Hemidactylus graniticolus, new species).
^ abBeolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN978-1-4214-0135-5. (Hemidactylus greeffii, p. 107; Cyrtodactylus malcolmsmithi, p. 247).
^ abPyron, R. Alexander; Burbrink, Frank T.; Wiens, John J. (2013). "A phylogeny and revised classification of Squamata, including 4161 species of lizards and snakes". BMC Evolutionary Biology13 (1): 93. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-13-93
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hemidactylus.
