Hemidactylus bouvieri

Hemidactylus bouvieri
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Infraorder:	Gekkota
Family:	Gekkonidae
Genus:	Hemidactylus
Species:	H. bouvieri
Binomial name
Hemidactylus bouvieri (Bocourt, 1870)
Synonyms[1]
Emydactylus bouvieri Bocourt, 1870 Hemidactylus cessacii Bocage, 1873 Hemidactylus bouvieri — Rochebrune, 1884

Hemidactylus bouvieri, also known commonly as Bouvier's leaf-toed gecko and the Cape Verde leaf-toed gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae.[2] The species is endemic to the Cape Verde Islands and is listed as critically endangered. There are two recognized subspecies.

Geographic range

In the Cape Verde Islands H. bouvieri has been found on the islands of São Vicente, Santo Antão, Santa Luzia, São Nicolau, Santiago and Ilhéu Raso.[3]

Taxonomy and etymology

H. bouvieri was originally described and named by Marie Firmin Bocourt in 1870. The specific name, bouvieri, is in honor of French zoologist Aimé Bouvier (died 1919).[2][4]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of H. bouvieri are grassland and shrubland, at altitudes of 250–700 m (820–2,300 ft).[1]

Reproduction

H. bouvieri is oviparous.[2]

Subspecies

There are two subspecies which are considered to be valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.[3]

• Hemidactylus bouvieri bouvieri (Bocourt, 1870)
• Hemidactylus bouvieri razoensis Gruber & Schleich, 1982

The former subspecies, Hemidactylus bouvieri boavistensis Boulenger, 1906, is considered a separate species, Hemidactylus boavistensis.[3][5]

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

References

1. Vasconcelos, R. (2013). "Hemidactylus bouvieri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T203840A2771787. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T203840A2771787.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
2. Hemidactylus bouvieri at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 3 April 2017.
3. Arnold EN, Vasconcelos R, Harris DJ, Mateo JA, Carranza S (2008). "Systematics, biogeography and evolution of the endemic Hemidactylus geckos (Reptilia, Squamata, Gekkonidae) of the Cape Verde Islands: based on morphology and mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences" (PDF). Zoologica Scripta. 37 (6): 619–636. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2008.00351.x. S2CID 54963695. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
4. Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Hemidactylus bouvieri, p. 35).
5. Vasconcelos, R. (2013). "Hemidactylus boavistensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T18486000A18486039. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T18486000A18486039.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.

Further reading

• Bocourt MF (1870). "Description de quelques sauriens nouveaux originaires de l'Amérique méridionale [= Description of Some New Lizards Originating in Central America]". Nouvelles Archives du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris [= New Archives of the Natural History Museum of Paris] 6: 11–18. (Emydactylus bouvieri, new species, pp. 17–18). (in French).
• Boulenger GA (1906). "Report on the reptiles collected by the late L. Fea in West Africa". Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova [= Annals of the Civic Museum of Natural History of Genoa], Series 3, 42: 196–216. (Hemidactylus boavistensis, new species, p. 198).
• Gruber HJ, Schleich HH (1982). "Hemidactylus bouvieri razoensis nov. ssp. von den Kapverdischen [= Hemidactylus bouvieri razoensis, new subspecies, from the Cape Verde Islands]". Spixiana 5 (3): 303–310. (in German).