Reevaluation of the Taxonomic Status of Two Lepidodactylus Species (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Lesser Sunda Archipelago, Indonesia
Lepidodactylus lombocensis and Lepidodactylus intermedius, both from the Lesser Sunda Archipelago, Indonesia, are usually considered synonyms or subspecies of the broadly distributed Lepidodactylus lugubris. However, reexamination of the type specimens of these taxa revealed that they are actually distinct from L. lugubris in having characteristics of Brown and Parker's (1977) Group II, such as undivided terminal scansors on all digits and subcylindrical tails without distinct lateral edges or serrations. The two species also differ from other Group II species in several meristic characters. Furthermore, L. lombocensis and L. intermedius differ from each other in a few characters, such as the number of scale rows at midbody and dorsal color pattern. We thus consider both of these species as valid. A revised key is provided to the Group II species of Lepidodactylus.Abstract
Dorsal views of holotypes of (A) Lepidodactylus lombocensis Mertens, 1929 (SMF 22097, SVL = 38.6 mm), and (B) Lepidodactylus intermedius Darevsky, 1964 (ZIL 17614, SVL = 39.2 mm)
Maps of Southeast Asia showing the location of the Lesser Sunda Archipelago, and (insert) of the central part of the archipelago (corresponding to the squared area in the former) showing locations of Lombok (a), Komodo (b), Rintja (c), and Padar (d) Islands. Shaded portions represent current land areas, and unshaded lines are < 120 m underwater bathymetric contours that are considered to have been exposed above the sea during the late Pleistocene glacial maxima (Heaney, 1984). Bar equals 100 km