Cnemaspis

Indeterminate species of the genus Cnemaspis from Kerala, India

The genus belongs to the subfamily Cnemaspis Gekkoninae within the family of geckos. The small, diurnal geckos are common in the tropics and subtropics of Africa and Asia.

Features

Geckos of the genus Cnemaspis are relatively small and slender. They have long, thin fingers and toes, which are provided with claws. The distal finger or toe bones are compressed laterally, forming an angle with the finger or toe bones base, which consists of round bone.

The eyes are forward and slightly oriented upward, her pupils are round, which is characteristic of diurnal geckos. The eyelids cover the entire eye. The tail is round in cross section. The males may have Präanal or Femoralporen, but these can also be missing depending on the type.

Dissemination

The more than 100 species described are native to the warmer climates of the old world, especially in tropical Africa and in South and Southeast Asia. The genus is divided into three geographically separated from each other clades. The South Asian clade is the most diverse, comprising India, Sri Lanka and belonging to Indonesia Mentawai islands southwest of Sumatra. This area overlaps with the South Asian Southeast Asian clade. The exact definition is not yet clear. Many species have been discovered in recent years in the karst areas of the Malay Peninsula.

Taxonomy and systematics

At present the first description of the genus by Alexander Strauch in 1889 many of today counted to Cnemaspis species had been placed in the genus Gonatodes because of the morphological characteristics of their fingers and toes. It was not until 1933, the New World species from South and Central America were separate from those of the Old World and remained in the genus Gonatodes, belongs today to the family of ball end geckos ( Spaerodactylidae ). The Gonatodes species from the Old World were provided by MA Smith in the genus Cnemaspis and remained with the Gekkonidae. It was found that the shape of the limb can not be a reliable feature for relationships between species because of the adaptation to different habitats and ecological niches, but most likely subject to convergent evolution. Similar lifestyles lead to similar limbs, which is reflected in the geckos in the multiple parallel development of adhesive organs or claws.

Crucial for Alexander Strauch were the big flat screens on the inside of the lower leg of the type species Cnemaspis boulengeri which he had previously seen only in lizards in his first description of the genus. The present copy it from the collections of the Zoological Museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg came from the Vietnamese island Côn Đạo.

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