Fig 1
Fig 1
Fig 2
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Family : GEKKONIDAE
Species : Cyrtodactylus majulah
Size (snout to vent) : 68 mm
Size (total length) : ~ 156 mm
First described in 2012,
this species was formerly confused with the
Marbled Bent-toed Gecko, however
molecular analyses have proved it to be a separate species more closely
related to a specialist group of bent-toed geckos, which includes the
Panti Bent-toed Gecko, which inhabit
freshwater swamp forest in various parts of Peninsular Malaysia.
In the field the species can be identified by its maximum size of 68 mm, by
the blotched pattern on its dorsal surface, and the mottled pattern on top
of the head.
The three examples shown here illustrate the normal variability of the
species.
Little is known of the ecology of this species, except for its preference
for mainly freshwater swamp forest habitat (although it has also possibly been
recorded in drier forests some distance from damp, waterlogged forest).
The species occurs in the central swamp forests of Singapore, as well as the
island of Bintan, in the Riau Archipelago, Indonesia.
Fig 1 : This example was spotted clinging
3-4 metres up on the trunk of a fig tree, in secondary swamp forest at
Springleaf, Singapore.
Fig 2 : Example clinging to low vegetation
above a small stream within freshwater swamp forest, Singapore.
Fig 3 : Example clinging to a broad leaf, about one metre above the forest
floor adjacent to a small stream, Singapore.
References :
Grismer, L. L. (2011). Lizards of Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, and their
Adjacent Archipelagos. Their Description, Distribution, and Natural History.
Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main. 728 pp.
Grismer, L. et al, 2012. Cyrtodactylus majulah, a new species of
bent-toed gecko (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Singapore and the Riau
Archipelago. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 60(2) :
487-499.
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