Pristurus carteri

Pristurus carteri
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Sphaerodactylidae
Genus:	Pristurus
Species:	P. carteri
Binomial name
Pristurus carteri (Gray, 1863) [2]
Synonyms [3]
Spatalura carteri Gray, 1863 Pristurus carteri — Boulenger, 1885

Pristurus carteri, commonly known as Carter's rock gecko or Carter's semaphore gecko, is a species of gecko, a lizard in the family Sphaerodactylidae. The species is endemic to the Sinai Peninsula.

Etymology

The generic name, Pristurus, means "saw-tailed" in Latin.^{[ citation needed ]}

The specific name, carteri, is in honor of Dr. Henry Carter who collected the holotype. ^[4]

Subspecies

There are two subspecies of Pristurus carteri. The first is the nominotypical subspecies, Pristurus carteri carteri(Gray, 1863), and the other is Pristurus carteri tuberculatus Parker, 1931, ^[3] P. c. carteri being the more common.^{[ citation needed ]}

Common names

The species P. carteri has many common names such as Carter's rock gecko, ornate rock gecko, and scorpion-tailed gecko.^{[ citation needed ]}

Geographic range and habitat

P. carteri is native to Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, ^[3] where it often is found basking on rocks or in urban areas.^{[ citation needed ]}

Behavior

P. carteri are often seen swaying their curly tails back and forth to each other in a way to sort of communicate to each other. The males develop little fleshy spikes on their tails upon reaching sexual maturity. When they feel threatened they curl their tails in a scorpion-like fashion and even mimic the movements a scorpion will use as a threat display; this and the tail waving are the source of the common name scorpion-tailed geckos.^{[ citation needed ]}

Members of the genus Pristurus are diurnal. This is unusual in geckos except in the genera Phelsuma , Lygodactylus , Naultinus , Quedenfeldtia , Rhoptropus , all Sphaerodactylids, and, of course, Pristurus. ^[5]

Description

P. carteri may attain an average snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in), and a total length (including tail) of 8–9 cm (3.1–3.5 in).^{[ citation needed ]}

Reproduction

P. carteri reaches sexual maturity in roughly 10 months. Adult females lay 1–2 hard shelled eggs that are incubated at 28 °C (82.4 °F) for 70–90 days. Each neonate hatches out at a total length of about 3.5–4 cm (1.4–1.6 in).^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. Sindaco R, Wilms T, Mohammed SF (2012). "Pristurus carteri ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012: e.T199586A2605065. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012.RLTS.T199586A2605065.en. Downloaded on 21 February 2019.
2. "Pristurus carteri ". ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.
3. Species Pristurus carteri at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
4. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN   978-1-4214-0135-5. (Pristurus carteri, p. 49).
5. Pianka ER, Vitt LJ (2003). Lizards: Windows to the Evolution of Diversity. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. 346 pp. ISBN   978-0520234017. (Genus Pristurus, pp. 174, 179).

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume I. Geckonidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 436 pp. + Plates I-XXXII. (Pristurus carteri, pp. 55–56).
• Gray JE (1863). "Description of a New Lizard obtained by Mr. Henry Carter on the South-east Coast of Arabia". Proc. Zool. Soc. London1863: 236-237 + Plate XX, figure 2. (Spatalura carteri, new species).
• Parker HW (1931). "Some Reptiles and Amphibians from S.E. Arabia". Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Tenth Series8: 514–522. (Pristurus carteri tuberculatus, new subspecies).