South-western spiny-tailed gecko

The south-western spiny-tailed gecko (Strophurus spinigerus), also known commonly as the soft spiny-tailed gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Diplodactylidae. The species is endemic to Australia. Two subspecies are recognized.

South-western spiny-tailed gecko
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Diplodactylidae
Genus:	Strophurus
Species:	S. spinigerus
Binomial name
Strophurus spinigerus (Gray, 1842)
Synonyms[2]
Diplodactylus spinigerus Gray, 1842 Strophura spinigera — Gray, 1845 Phyllodactylus spinigerus — A.H.A. Duméril, 1851 Diplodactylus strophurus spinigerus — Mitchell, 1955 Strophurus spinigerus — Wells & Wellington, 1984

Geographic range

S. spinigerus is found in the southwestern part of the Australian state of Western Australia.^[1][2]

Habitat

The natural habitats of S. spinigerus are forest and shrubland.^[1]

Description

S. spinigerus may attain a total length (including tail) of 11.4 cm (4.5 in). Dorsally, it is olive-grey, speckled with black. It may have a broad zigzag black stripe along the back. The spiny tubercles on the back and tail are black. Ventrally, it is dirty white, either uniform or speckled with black.^[3]

Reproduction

S. spinigerus is oviparous.^[2]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.^[2]

• Strophurus spinigerus inornatus (Storr, 1988)
• Strophurus spinigerus spinigerus (Gray, 1842)

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

References

1. Cowan, M. (2017). "Strophurus spinigerus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T102702607A102702641. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T102702607A102702641.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
2. Species Strophurus spinigerus at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
3. Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume I. Gekkonidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 436 pp. + Plates I-XXXII. (Diplodactylus spinigerus, pp. 99–100).

Further reading

• Cogger HG (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. ISBN 978-0643100350.
• Gray JE (1842). "Description of some hitherto unrecorded species of Australian Reptiles and Batrachians". Zoological Miscellany 2: 51–57. (Diplodactylus spinigerus, new species, p. 53).
• Laube A, Langner C (2007). "Die Gattung Strophurus [= The genus Strophurus]". Draco 8 (29): 49–66. (in German).
• Rösler H (2000). "Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha) [= Annotated list of the recent, subrecent and fossil known Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)]". Gekkota 2: 28–153. (Strophurus spinigerus, p. 115). (in German).
• Storr GM (1988). "The subspecies of Diplodactylus spinigerus (Lacertilia: Gekkonidae)". Records of the Western Australian Museum 14 (2): 177–182. (Diplodactylus spinigerus inornatus, new subspecies, pp. 180–182, Figures 3 & 4).
• Wilson, Steve; Swan, Gerry (2013). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia, Fourth Edition. Sydney: New Holland Publishers. 522 pp. ISBN 978-1921517280.