Amphibian & reptile conservation

112 Pages·1996·11 MB·English

Published in the United States of America
VOLUME NUMBER
2011-2012 • 5 • 1
&
AMPHIBIAN
REPTILE
amphibian-reptile-conservation.org
ISSN: 1083-446X elSSN: 1525-9153
Editor
CraigHassapakis
Berkeley,California,USA
AssociateEditors
RaulE.Diaz HowardO.Clark,Jr. ErikR.Wild
UniversityofKansas,USA GarciaandAssociates,USA UniversityofWisconsin-StevensPoint,USA
AssistantEditors
AlisonR.Davis DanielD.Fogell
UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,USA SoutheasternCommunityCollege,USA
EditorialReviewBoard
DavidC.Blackburn BillBranch JelkaCrnobrnja-Isailovc
CaliforniaAcademyofSciences,USA PortElizabethMuseum,SOUTHAFRICA IBISSUniversityofBelgrade,SERBIA
C.KennethDodd,Jr. LeeA.Fitzgerald AdelA.Ibrahim
UniversityofFlorida,USA TexasA&MUniversity,USA Ha’ilUniversity,SAUDIAARABIA
HarveyB.Lillywhite JulianC.Lee RafaqatMasroor
UniversityofFlorida,USA Taos,NewMexico,USA PakistanMuseumofNaturalHistory,PAKISTAN
PeterV.Lindeman HenryR.Mushinsky ElnazNajafimajd
EdinboroUniversityofPennsylvania,USA UniversityofSouthFlorida,USA EgeUniversity,TURKEY
JaimeE.Pefaur RohanPethiyagoda NasrullahRastegar-Pouyani
UniversidaddeLosAndes,VENEZUELA AustralianMuseum,AUSTRALIA RaziUniversity,IRAN
JodiJ.L.Rowley PeterUetz LarryDavidWilson
AustralianMuseum,AUSTRALIA VirginiaCommonwealthUniversity,USA InstituteRegionaldeBiodiversidad,USA
AdvisoryBoard
AllisonC.Alberts AaronM.Bauer WalterR.Erdelen
ZoologicalSocietyofSanDiego,USA VillanovaUniversity,USA UNESCO,FRANCE
MichaelB.Eisen JamesHanken RoyW.McDiarmid
PublicLibraryofScience,USA HarvardUniversity,USA USGSPatuxentWildlifeResearchCenter,USA
RussellA.Mittermeier RobertW.Murphy EricR.Pianka
ConservationInternational,USA RoyalOntarioMuseum,CANADA UniversityofTexas,Austin,USA
EnvironmentanAdnStuosntaiionaWb.leSDaelvaeslopment,PERU AMNHSouthwDeaswtenrnS.RWeiselasrocnhStation,USA UniveJrossietpyhoTf.KCaonlslaisn,sUSA
HonoraryMember
CarlC.Gans
(1923-2009)
Cover:TheIranianspider-tailedhornedviper(Pseudocerastesurarachnoides),anoutstandingviper,ambushingforpreyinitsnaturalhabitat,in
Ilamprovince,westernIran.Thevipercolorationisconfusedwithitsbackgroundandhardtosee.Whileambushingforpreythebirdprey(spe-
ciesofLanius)isobservingthesnake’stail,nearthehead,andthetailpropelslikeatarantulaonthemove.Thebirdisattractedtothe“tarantula”
andissuddenlycaughtbytheviperandhelduntil itsvenomkills. Thecase,averyspecializedbehaviorforattractingprey, isakindoffatal
mimicry. Manybiologicalandecologicalaspectsoftheviperincludingconservationstatus, exactdistribution,reproductivestrategy, annual
cycles,molecularsystematics,andpopulationgeneticsareunknownbutbeinginvestigatedbyBehzadFathinia,RaziUniversity,Kermanshah,
Iran.Photograph:BehzadFathinia.
—
Amphibian&ReptileConservation WorldwideCommunity-SupportedHerpetologicalConservation(ISSN: 1083-446X; elSSN: 1525-9153)
ispublishedbyCraigHassapakis/4mphibian&ReptileConservationasfullissuesatleasttwiceyearly(semi-annuallyormoreoftendepend-
ingonneeds)andpapersareimmediatelyreleasedastheyarefinishedonourwebsite;http://amphibian-reptile-conservation.org; email: arc.
[email protected]
Amphibian&ReptileConservationispublishedasanopenaccessjournal.Pleasevisittheofficialjournalwebsiteat: http://amphibian-reptile-
conservation.org
InstructionstoAuthors Amphibian&ReptileConservationacceptsmanuscriptsonthebiologyofamphibiansandreptiles,withemphasison
:
conservation,sustainablemanagement,andbiodiversity.Topicsintheseareascaninclude:taxonomyandphylogeny,speciesinventories,distri-
bution,conservation,speciesprofiles,ecology,naturalhistory,sustainablemanagement,conservationbreeding,citizenscience,socialnetwork-
ing,andanyothertopicthatlendstotheconservationof amphibiansandreptilesworldwide.Priorconsultationwitheditorsissuggestedand
importantifyouhaveanyquestionsand/orconcernsaboutsubmissions.Furtherdetailsonthesubmissionofamanuscriptcanbestbeobtained
byconsultingacurrentpublishedpaperfromthejournaland/orbyaccessingInstructionsforAuthorsattheAmphibianandReptileConservation
website:http://amphibian-reptile-conservation.org/submissions.html
©CraigHassapakis!Amphibian&ReptileConservation
CCoopmyrmiognhts:A©tt2r0ib1u2tiHoanssLaipcaeknises,anwdhiCclahrkp.erTmhiitssisunarnesotpreinc-taecdcuesses,ardtiisctlreibduitsitorni,buatneddurnedperrodtuhcettieornmsinofanthyemCeredaituimv,e Amphibian & Reptile Conservation5(1): i.
providedtheoriginalauthorandsourcearecredited.
Editorial
Amphibian & Reptile Conservation continues topublish Thefuture is brightforAmphibian & Reptile Conser-
relevant topical issues for herpetological conservation vation that specializes inproducingpapers ofrelevance
including those on the countries ofIran (this issue), Sri andimpacttowardperpetuatingherpetologicalbiodiver-
Lanka (following issue), and general interestpapers on sity. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation will continue to
the biodiversityandsustainabilityofamphibianandrep- publish the best in papers thatpresent information dis-
tilian species worldwide. Other issues currentlypublish- tinguishedbynumerousfull-colorphotographs, excellent
ingpapers are on the topics of: Conservation Breeding graphicdesign, andasuperiordistributionalnetwork. We
Programs, GiantSalamanders, andourfirstGlobalissue aimforthewidestglobalreadershipthroughopenaccess
(No. 1)forpapers (all issues dated 2012-2013) that do publishingandsupportedbyourlargesocialnetworks.
notfitatopicalissue. Amphibian&ReptileConservation As the readership ofAmphibian & Reptile Conserva-
willcontinuetoreleasenewpapersastheyarecompleted tionincreases, weextendanopeninvitationforthosewho
through2013onthesesubjects. see our vision ofproducing andpublishing Amphibian
Amphibian & Reptile Conservation is experiencing & Reptile Conservation as a major contributor to her-
tremendous growth andthis is due to the hardworkand petological conservation andoureverexpanding global
recentadditionsofmanyneweditorsandadvisors.Among audience tosupportthisvision.
these important additions are Howard Clarkas ournew
graphicdesignerwhohasshownunmatchedcommitment CraigHassapakis, Editor, Publisher, andFounder
and expertise in developing Amphibian & Reptile Con- HowardO. Clark, Jr.,AssociateEditor
servationintoamajorherpetologicalpublication.
Amphib. ReptileConserv. | amphibian-reptile-conservation.org August2012 | Volume5 | Number 1 | e48
CAtotpryirbiugthito:n©Lic2e0n1s2e,Anwdheircshonp.erTmhiitssiusnarnesotpreicnt-eadccuesse,sadritsitcrliebudtiisotnr,ibauntdedruenpdroedrutchteiotnerimnsaonfytmheedCirueamt,ivperoCvoimdemdotnhse Amphibian & Reptile Conservation5(1): ii.
originalauthorandsourcearecredited.
Guest Editorial: Iran Issue
WhenmostpeoplethinkofIran, they envision ahot, dry Some additional cultural and economic changes have
land.Althoughmuchofthecentralareaofthecountryfits strongly influenced the development ofinterest in wild-
this concept, Iran has a great geographical diversity and life and conservation in Iran. The growth ofan educated
a corresponding floral and faunal diversity as well. Ow- middle class, alongwith access tomodemfieldvehicles,
ing to the many geographically and ecologically distinct cameras, climbing gear, GPS, etc., has created a genera-
regions,ahighpercentageofthesmallanimalspecies,in- tion of outdoor sportspersons with an appreciation and
cluding amphibians andreptiles, arelimited, orendemic, respect for nature. For example, there are now excellent
tothese areas. Becausethereis alongtectonic history of photographs availableofmostcategoriesofanimals.
southwesternAsia, a result ofcollisions ofEurasia with The papers in the current issue reflect something of
theAfrican andIndianplates and the nearclosing ofthe the variety of herpetological projects being carried out
Tethys Sea, the region is a crossroads ofdistributions of currentlybyIranianherpetologicalspecialists.Fewofthe
thefaunas,especiallyatthegenericlevel,ofanimalsorig- papers here can be characterized as conventional “con-
inating in these three geographic realms. These genera servation studies” investigating the broader issues of
have diverged during the periods ofmountain and high herpetological conservation. However, to be meaningful
plateau uplift and subsequent erosion to plains of great conservation studies require descriptive data of species
soil diversity, fromcourse pebbles to aeolian deposits of andhabitats, species distribution, and syntopy, andthese
sand and loess. Changes in elevation and changes in cli- arethekinds ofstudiesrepresentedinthisissue (Iran) of
mate have created both barriers to and reconnections of Amphibian &Reptile Conservation.
faunaldistributions. Thispaleogeographicdynamismhas Asinmostcountries, conservationeffortsforamphib-
resultedinthegreatestfaunaldiversitywithinthewestern ians and reptiles are incidental to conservation oflarger
PalearcticRealm. species ofwildlife, for which protected areas are desig-
Although the first accounts attempting to describe nated. Throughout the history of western cultures, rep-
and catalog the Iranian fauna according to modern bio- tilesandamphibianshavebeenreviledandpersecuted.In
systematic principles took place during the mid-to-late Iran, the Zoroastrians werepersistentdestroyers ofthese
nineteenth century, the number of species described, as animals,whichwereregardedas associatedwiththedark
well as interpretations oftheirevolutionaryrelationships and evil force of nature. Neither Islam nor Christianity
has grown steadily. With the spread ofgreater scientific held them in much higher regard. Only lately have they
education inIran and consequently, the growing number been seenasintegralunitsinecological systems.
ofzoologists, the twenty-first century has already seen a
flowering of renewed interest in herpetological studies Steven C.Anderson, GuestEditor
among those in aposition to carry out long-term studies
inecology, andtoinitiate scientific approachestoconser-
vationandwildlifemanagement.
Amphib. ReptileConserv. amphibian-reptile-conservation.org August2012 Volume5 Number1 e52
| | | |
CoofptyhreigChrte:at©ive20C1o1mGmhoolnasmiAftatrridbuatnidonRaLsitceegnasre-,Pwouhyiacnhi.peTrhmiistsisuannreospterinc-taecdceusses,ardtiisctlreibduitsitorni,buatneddurnedpreordtuhcetitoenrmisn Amphibian & Reptile Conservation5(1):1-6.
anymedium,providedtheoriginalauthorandsourcearecredited.
Distribution of Hemidactylus geckos (Reptilia:
Gekkonidae) in Fars Province, Southern Iran
ALI GHOLAMIFARD1 AND NASRULLAH RASTEGAR-POUYANI2
1DepartmentofBiology, CollegeofSciences,ShirazUniversity,Shiraz71454,IRAN
2DepartmentofBiology,FacultyofSciences,RaziUniversity,Kermanshah67149,IRAN
—
Abstract. During extensive field work on the reptiles of Fars Province, Iran from November 2007
to September 2010, a total of 18 specimens of Hemidactylus, belonging to three species, were col-
lected. In April 2010 a single specimen of H. turcicus, with two additional specimens in September
2010, were collected from different urban areas close to a mountainous region in the city ofVaravi,
25 km from the city of Lamerd, in southwestern region of Fars Province.
Keywords.Lizard,Hemidactylus, distribution,FarsProvince, southernIranianPlateau
Citation:Gholamifard,A.andRastegar-Pouyani,N.2011.DistributionofHemidactylusgeckos(Reptilia:Gekkonidae)inFarsProvince,SouthernIran.
Amphib. ReptileConserv.5(1):1-6(e19).
Introduction terms of amphibian and reptilian fauna owing to geo-
graphical and zoogeographical features. After carrying
The genus Hemidactylus Oken, 1817 comprises about out field work in various regions ofFars Province, we
100 described species and is one of the most speciose aimheretoupdatetheknowledgeofthegenusHemidac-
genera ofthe second most species-rich lizard family in tylusinthisregionandreportourfindings.
theworld,Gekkonidae,aswellasoneofthemostwidely
distributedgeneraofgeckos (CarranzaandArnold2006;
McMahan and Zug 2007; Sindaco et al. 2009; Javed et Materials and methods
al. 2010). These geckos are distributed over large parts
ofAfrica, Mediterranean Europe, southern Asia, Ocea- TheprovinceofFarscoversalandareaofabout 125,000
nia, and tropical America, with the main center of spe- km2 (7.6% oftotal area ofIran) and is located between
ciationin Somalia andits adjoining areas (Carranza and latitudes 27°-31°N andlongitudes 50°-55°E. Theregion
Arnold 2006; Sindaco et al. 2007, 2009; Giri and Bauer is bordered to the north by Esfahan and by Kohgiluyeh
2008). Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Eritrea host more andBoyerAhmadProvinces,tothesouthbyHormozgan
than 40 species ofHemidactylus, most ofwhich are en- Province,tothewestbyBushehrProvince,andtotheeast
demics (Sindaco et al. 2007, 2009; Spawls and Largen byYazdandKermanProvinces.Theelevationalrangein
m
2010). However, the great majority of Hemidactylus this province extends from4050 inthenorthernparts
m
species have relatively small distributions confined to (Boll Mountain) to about 450 in the southern parts,
southernAsiaandAfrica,withonlyeightspeciesnamely with a mean of 1491 m. The mean yearly precipitation
H. brookii, H. bowringii, H.flaviviridis, H.frenatus, H. ranges from 150 mmto 1200 mm. This survey was car-
garnotii, H.persicus, H. mabouia, andH. turcicus colo- ried out from November 2007 to September 2010. The
nizingmostofthegeographicalextentofthisgenus(Car- materialcollectedduringthissurveyconsistsof18 speci-
ranza and Arnold 2006; Giri and Bauer 2008; Javed et mens ofHemidactylus which are now deposited in the
al 2010). The gekkotan fauna ofIran includes about 45 Collection ofthe Biology Department ofShiraz Univer-
species (Anderson 1999; Rastegar-Pouyani et al., 2008). sity(CBSU),Iran(seematerialexamined).Thecollected
Among these, Iran hosts four species of Hemidactylus specimens were kept at low temperature (0°C), fixed in
geckos including: H. persicus J. Anderson, 1872; H. 75% ethanol, and then identified using valid identifica-
turcicus (Linnaeus 1758); H.flaviviridis Ruppell, 1840; tionkeys (Levitonetal. 1992;Anderson 1999;Rastegar-
and H. robustus Heyden, 1827 (Rastegar-Pouyani et al. Pouyanietal.2006). InApril2010,duringourfieldwork
2008).FarsProvince(Fig. 1)hasoneofthemostdiverse ontheherpetofaunaofsouthernregionsofFarsProvince,
climates in southern Iran and is ofgreat significance in a single specimen ofHemidactylus turcicus (Fig. 2) was
Correspondence. 2Email:[email protected]
Amphib. ReptileConserv. amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 001 September2011 Volume5 Number1 el9
| | | |
9
Gholamifard and Rastegar-Pouyani
N
Shir??
• Hemidactyluspersicus
Hemidactylusflaviviridis
•Hemidactylusturcicus
Figure 1. Location of Fars Provinceon the Iranian Plateau. The blackcircle, red quadrangularand blue polygon indi-
catethe previous and new locality recordsfor H. persicus, H. flaviviridis, and H. turcicus, respectively.
Figure2. Oneofthethreecollected specimens of Hemidactylus turcicusfrom southwestern regions of Fars Province.
Figure3.Aspecimen of H.persicuswith autotomized Figure4.Anewspecimen ofH. flaviviridisfrom south-
tail from Shiraz, thecapital of Fars Province. westof Fars Province.
Amphib. ReptileConserv. | amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 002 September2011 | Volume5 | Number 1 | el
*
Distribution of Hemidactylusgeckos
Table 1. Listofthe previous (*) and new locality records of Hemidactylusin Fars Province.
Species Locality Coordinates
m
Hemidactyluspersicus Fork,DarabTownship 28°17'04.1'" N, 55°13'24.1" E; ele. 897
m
Hemidactyluspersicus Jahrom, JahromTownship 28°57'N, 53°57'E, ele. 1050
m
Hemidactyluspersicus Shiraz, ShirazTownship 29°37'N, 52°32'E, ele. 1500
Hemidactyluspersicus Kazeroon, KazeroonTownship 29°37'6"N, 51°39'30"E, ele. 860m
Hemidactyluspersicus* KooheGormNonHuntingArea, Zareianetal. 2010
JahromTownship
Hemidactylusflaviviridis Ghaleh Seied, approximately25 km 29°36T5''N, 51°32'51"E; ele. 900m
northwestoftheParishanLake,
KazeroonTownship
Hemidactylusflaviviridis Varavi,MohrTownship 27°27'58.36'7N, 53°03'45.03"E; ele. 447m
Hemidactylus turcicus Varavi,MohrTownship 27°28'21.12"N, 53°03'00.20"E; ele. 421m
Hemidactylus turcicus Varavi,MohrTownship 27°28'02.38"N, 53°02'55.52"E; ele. 421 m
collected from the city of Varavi, 25 km from the city men is from Shiraz in Fars Province (Anderson 1999).
ofLamerd, and 15 km from the city ofMohr. The col- ThisspeciesisdistributedinCoastaleasternArabianorth
lected specimenwasfoundactive atnightonthewall of to southern Iran and Iraq, east to Sind and Wazirestan,
ahousenearto amountainous area. In September2010, Pakistan. InIranitisknownfromIlam, Khuzestan,Cha-
two additional specimens ofH. turcicus were collected harmahal andBakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh andBoyerAhmad,
atmidday in ahouse depot, approximately onekmfrom Fars, Bushehr, Hormozgan, Kerman, and Sistan and
thepreviousrecord.Thesetwospecimenswererelatively Baluchistan Provinces (Leviton et al. 1992; Anderson
active during midday, though they were fully active at 1999; Rastegar-Pouyani et al. 2006, 2007). Hemidacty-
night. luspersicushasbeencollectedfromfivedifferentlocali-
tiesinFarsProvince(Table 1).Thenorthernmostrecords
arefromShiraz andthe southernmostrecordsfromForg
Results and discussion (Darab Township), close to Hormozgan Province. Ac-
cordingtoourdata, it seemsthatofthethree species,H.
Previous andnewrecords ofHemidactylusinFarsProv- persicus has the largest distribution range ofany Hemi-
ince are given in (Table 1). The newly collected speci- dactylus speciesinFarsProvince.
mens were identifiedasH. turcicus (Fig. 2), H. persicus
(Fig. 3), andH.flaviviridis (Fig. 4).Amongthecollected
material three specimens ofH. turcicus are reported for Hemidactylus flaviviridis Ruppell 1840.
the first time from Fars Province. So far, 14 species of Yellow-bellied house gecko
gekkotanlizardshavebeenreportedfromFarsProvince.
Ofthese, three speciesbelongingtothegenusHemidac- ThetypespecimenofH.flaviviridisisfromMassawaIs-
tylus (Rastegar-Pouyani et al. 2006, 2008; Gholamifard land,Eritrea(Anderson 1999).Theyellow-belliedhouse
etal. 2009, 2010)whichare asfollows: gecko,hasbeenreportedoccurringfromthenortheastern
African and Arabian shores ofthe Red Sea and around
thecoastofArabiaandIran, acrossPakistan, easternAf-
HemidactyluspersicusAnderson, 1872. ghanistan and northern India to West Bengal and south
Persian gecko to the vicinity ofBombay (Anderson 1999). In Iran, H.
flaviviridis has already been reported from the coastal
ThetypelocalityofH.persicusisIranbutnoexactlocal- towns and villages of southern Baluchistan, Kerman,
itywasgiven.AccordingtoSmith(1935)thetype speci- Fars, and Khuzestan Provinces (Anderson 1999). Ac-
Amphib. ReptileConserv. amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 003 September2011 Volume5 Number1 el9
| | | |
9
Gholamifard and Rastegar-Pouyani
cording to the new provincial divisions, Rastegar-Pouy- coast ofEgypt (Baha el Din 2005). Iran probably hosts
anietal. (2006)reportedthis speciesfromthetownsand both H. turcicus and H. robustus. Presumably, popula-
villagesofcoastalprovinces, including: SistanandBalu- tions ofH. turcicus expanded their distributional range
chistan, Hormozgan, Bushehr and Khuzestan. Recently, fromtheir area oforigin, probably inthe Mediterranean
Gholamifard et al. (2010) recorded H.flaviviridis from region,tonorthwestofIranandexpanded, orwereintro-
Fars Province and completed the distribution range in ducedintootherregionsofIranindifferentways, andH.
the southern belt ofthe Iranian Plateau. The previously robustus was introduced via Arabian Peninsula to Iran
recorded specimens ofH.flaviviridis are from “Ghaleh and expanded in different directions, as its distribution
Seied,” approximately 25 km northwest of Parishan range is completed in the southern belt of the Iranian
Lake in Kazeroon Township, western Fars Province Plateau. Baha El Din (2005) stated that human activity
(Fig. 1) (Gholamifard et al. 2010). In the present work, highly influenced the current distribution pattern ofH.
a single specimen ofH.flaviviridis was photographed robustus.Aswell,CaravanrouteshadspreadH. turcicus-
(Fig. 4) (notcollected) onthewallsofahouse (syntopic likegeckos throughmuch oftheMiddleEast (Anderson
with Cyrtopodion scabrum), near a mountainous area 1999).However,thepresenceanddefinitionofexactdis-
northeast ofthe city ofVaravi (MohrTownship), in the tributional ranges of these species, in Iran, needs more
southwesternregion ofFars Province (Fig. 1). This new material and DNAanalyses. According to Moravec and
localityisabout300kmnorthwesterlyfromtheonlypre- Bohme (1997), H. robustus differs markedly from H. t.
viouslypublishedrecordforFars. turcicus in its robust head, body, and tail, in very small
andweaklykeeledtailtubercles andinhaving anincon-
spicuous colorpattern. Accordingto this study, it seems
Hemidactylus turcicus (Linnaeus, 1758). thatH. turcicus has a smaller distributionrange than its
Mediterranean house gecko congenersinFarsProvince.
Thetypelocalityofthisspeciesis“inOriente,”restricted
toAsiatic Turkey (Leviton et al. 1992; Anderson 1999). Presumable routes of distribution of
TheMediterraneanhousegeckoisnativetocountriessur- Hemidactylusspecies in Fars Province
roundingtheMediterraneanSeaandextendseasttoIndia
andsouthtoSomalia.However,H. turcicushasspreadto Basedonthe availableevidence,H.flaviviridishasbeen
several New World countries including Cuba, Mexico, reported only from the northwestern regions of Fars
Puerto Rico, Panama, and the United States (Anderson Province (Gholamifard et al. 2010). In this survey, as
1999; Farallo et al. 2009). In Iran, it has been collected mentionedabove, it wasrecordedfromanewlocality in
primarily in port towns of the Persian Gulf, although thesouthwesternFarsProvince.Sincetheselocalitiesare
there are scattered inland records (Shahbazan, Qazvin, neartheborderswithBushehrProvince,andasoneofthe
RigMati) asis alsothecaseinTurkey, Jordan, andIraq, previously recorded localities of this species, probably
but all ofthese localities lie along trade routes (Ander- southern and western parts ofFars Province are within
son 1999). In Iran, this species has been recorded from thenatural distributionalrange ofthis lizard.As another
Sistan and Baluchistan, Kerman, Hormozgan, Bush- possiblemechanism ofdistribution,H.flaviviridis could
ehr, Khuzestan, Ilam, and Qazvin Provinces (Rastegar- have been distributed to Fars Province incidentally via
Pouyani et al. 2006). Populations ofthis species in Iran human agency or by destruction and reduction of geo-
are considered as H. t. turcicus (Rastegar-Pouyani et al. graphicalbarriers. Thepossiblemechanisms ofdistribu-
2006,2008).BothH. turcicusandH. robustushavebeen tion, mentioned above, may also be considered for H.
recordedfortheherpetofauna ofIranbyRastegar-Pouy- tursicus. Probably this species colonized Fars Province
ani et al. (2008); however, populations ofH. turcicus in or expanded its distributional range from the southern
Iranarereferred asH. robustusby Baueret al. (2006) as provinces (Bushehr and HormozganProvinces). Among
well as Sindaco and Jeremcenko (2008). Hemidactylus the three studied taxa here, H. persicus has the widest
robustus,ofcoastalNortheastAfricaandArabia,Iranand range in Fars Province. The type locality of this spe-
Pakistan(BahaElDin2005; Baueretal. 2006; Carranza ciesis Iran,butnoexactlocalitywas given. Terratypica
andArnold2006),hasoftenbeenregardedasconspecific probably is nearBushehr, BushehrProvince (Leviton et
with H. turcicus, and its complex nomenclatorial his- al. 1992; Anderson 1999), and restricted to Shiraz, Fars
tory is most recently reviewed by Moravec and Bohme Province by Smith (1935). With regard to these ambi-
(1997). Carranza and Arnold (2006) in their molecular guities, as one of the possible mechanisms of distribu-
study confirmed separate status of both taxa. Accord- tion,H.persicuscouldhaveexpandeditsrangeintoFars
ing to their study, H. robustus populations from Egypt Province from Bushehr Province (southwest) or, alter-
andtheUnitedArab Emirates show approximately 14% natively, it originatedin Fars Province and expandedits
genetic divergence from H. turcicus, and the two taxa rangeintoneighboringprovincesindifferentdirections.
have recently been found in sympatry on the Red Sea
Amphib. ReptileConserv. | amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 004 September2011 | Volume5 | Number1 | el
9
Distribution of Hemidactylusgeckos
—
Acknowledgments. WethankH. R.EsmaeiliandE. Reptiles. Society for the Study of Amphibians and
FarajZadehfortheirvaluablehelpduringfieldwork.We Reptiles, ContributionstoHerpetology8:1-252.
also thankthe authorities ofShiraz University forfinan- McMahan, C. D. and Zug, G. R. 2007. Burmese Hemi-
cial support. dactylus (Reptilia, Squamata, Gekkonidae): geo-
graphic variationinthemorphologyofHemidactylus
bowringii in Myanmar andYunnan, China. Proceed-
References ings ofthe CaliforniaAcademyofSciences, Series 4,
58(24):485-509.
Anderson, S. C. 1999. The Lizards ofIran. Society for Moravec, J. and Bohme, W. 1997. Anew subspecies of
the Study ofAmphibians and Reptiles Contributions theMediterraneangecko,Hemidactylusturcicusfrom
toHerpetology 15:1-442. the Syrian lava desert (Squamata: Sauria: Gekkoni-
BahaEl Din, S. M. 2005.Anoverview ofEgyptian spe- dae).Herpetozoa 10 (3/4):121-128.
cies ofHemidactylus (Gekkonidae) with the descrip- Rastegar-Pouyani, N., Johari, M., and Parsa, H. 2006.
tion of a new species from the high mountains of FieldGuidetotheReptilesofIran. Volume1:Lizards.
South Sinai.Zoologyin theMiddleEast34:11-26. Firstedition. Iran, RaziUniversityPublishing. 286p.
Bauer, A. M., Jackman, T., Greenbaum, E., and Papen- (InFarsi).
fuss, T. J. 2006. Confirmation of the occurrence of Rastegar-Pouyani,N.,Johari,M., andRastegar-Pouyani,
Hemidactylus robustus Heyden, 1827 (Reptilia: Gek- E. 2007. Field Guide to the Reptiles ofIran. Volume
konidae) inIran and Pakistan. Zoology in the Middle 1:Lizards. Secondedition.Iran,RaziUniversityPub-
East39:59-62. lishing. 296p. (InFarsi).
Carranza, S. and Arnold, E. N. 2006. Systematics, bio- Rastegar-Pouyani, N, Kami, H. G., Rajabizadeh, M.,
geography, and evolution of Hemidactylus geckos Shafiei, S., and Anderson, S. C. 2008. Annotated
(Reptilia: Gekkonidae) elucidated using mitochon- checklist of amphibians and reptiles ofIran. Iranian
drial DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and JournalofAnimalBiosystematics4(l):43-66.
Evolution38:531-545. Sindaco, R., Razzetti,E.,Ziliani,U.,Wasonga,V., Caru-
Farallo, V. R., Swanson, R. L., Hood, G. R., Troy, J. R., gati,C., andFasola,M. 2007.AnewspeciesofHemi-
andForstner, M. R. J. 2009. New county records for dactylus fromLakeTurkana, Northern Kenya (Squa-
the Mediterranean house gecko Hemidactylus turci- mata: Gekkonidae).ActaHerpetologica2(l):37-48.
(.
cus) in CentralTexas, withcomments onhuman-me- Sindaco, R., Ziliani, U., Razzetti, E., Carugati, C.,
diateddispersal.AppliedHerpetology6:196-198. Grieco, C., Pupin, F., Al-Aseily, B. A., Pella, F., and
Gholamifard,A.,Esmaeili,H.R., andKami,H. G. 2009. Fasola, M. 2009. Amisunderstood new gecko ofthe
FirstrecordofBlanford’ssemaphoregecko,Pristurus genus Hemidactylus from Socotra Island, Yemen
rupestris Blanford, 1874 (Sauria: Gekkonidae) from (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae). Acta Herpetolica
Fars Province, Iran. Iranian Journal ofAnimal Bio- 4(l):83-98.
systematics5(2):91-93. Sindaco,R. andJeremcenko,V.K. 2008. TheReptilesof
Gholamifard, A., Gholamhosseini, A., Rastegar-Pouy- the WesternPalearctic.AnnotatedChecklistandDis-
ani, N., Esmaeili, H. R., andKami, H. G. 2010. First tributionalAtlas ofthe Turtles, Crocodiles, Amphis-
Records of Tropiocolotes steudneri Peters, 1869 and baeniansandLizardsofEurope,NorthAfrica,Middle
HemidactylusflaviviridisRuppell, 1840(Sauria: Gek- East and Central Asia. Volume I. Monografie della
konidae)fromFarsProvince,Iran.AsianHerpetolog- Societas Herpetologica Italica. Edizioni Belvedere,
icalResearch l(l):61-63. Latina, Italy. 579p.
Giri, V. B. andBauer,A. M. 2008.Anew ground-dwell- Smith, M. A. 1935. Reptilia and Amphibia. Volume 2.
ingHemidactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) fromMa- Sauria. TheFauna ofBritishIndia, including Ceylon
harashtra, with a key to the Hemidactylus of India. and Burma. Taylor and Francis, London, England,
Zootaxa 1700:21-34. UnitedKingdom. 440p.
Javed, S. M. M., Srinivasulu, C., Lakshmi Rao, K., Zareian,H.,Esmaeili,H.R., Gholamhosseini,A.,Teimo-
Raseswari, T., and Tampal, F. 2010. A divergent ri,A., Zohrabi, H., andKami, H. G. 2010. Aprelimi-
population ofHemidactylusfrenatus Dumeril & Bi- nary study on the herpetofauna of Gorm mountain
bron, 1836 (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from the northern non-hunting area in Fars Province. Journal of Tax-
Eastern Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa onomyandBiosystematics 1(1):1-8. (InFarsi).
2(10):1205-1213.
Largen, M. and Spawls, S. 2010. The Amphibians and Manuscriptreceived: 5January2011
Reptiles ofEthiopia and Eritrea. Edition Chimaira, Accepted: 14March2011
Frankfurt, Octavo. 687p. Published: 18May2011
Leviton, A. E., Anderson, S. C., Adler, K., and Minton, Finalversion: 13September2011
S.A. 1992.HandbooktoMiddleEastAmphibiansand
Amphib. ReptileConserv. amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 005 September2011 Volume5 Number1 el
| | | |
Gholamifard and Rastegar-Pouyani
Appendix
Materialexamined
Hemidactyluspersicus (n=12)
CBSU R014, R015: Iran, Fars Prov., SE Darab, Fork
[28°17’04.1”N,55°13’24.1”E,alt.897m].CBSU4217:
Iran, Fars Prov., Jahrom [28°57’ N, 53°57’ E|. CBSU
5395, 8056.
R009: Iran, Fars Prov., Shiraz [29°37’ N, 52°32’ E].
CBSU 8055: Iran, Fars Prov., Kazeroon [29°37’6” N,
51°39’30” E]. CBSU 8068, 8071, 8083, 8091, B628
NW
(Re. ex.): Iran,FarsProv., JahromTownship,Koohe
Gonnnon-HuntingArea [28°33'N, 53°6' E]. AM Gholamifard earned his B.S. in Animal Biology from
the Shahed UniversityofTehran, Iran, 2005 and his M.S.
Hemidactylusturcicus (n=3) in Animal Biosystematics from Shiraz University, Shiraz,
Iran in 2009, where he studied the reproductive biology
CBSUR081- 83:Iran,FarsProv.,25kmNWofFamerd, of the endemic Iranian cyprinid, Cyprinion tenuiradius
Varavi [27°28’N, 53°03’E, ele. 421 m]. Heckel, 1849 under the advisement of Dr. Hamid Reza
Esmaeili. His research interests include taxonomy, ecol-
Hemidactylusflaviviridis(n=3) ogy, biology, conservation, and phylogeography.
CBSU B636, R004, R044: Iran, Fars Prov., Kazer-
oon, Ghaleh Seied village, 25 km NW Parishan Fake
[29°36'15”N, 51°32'51"E, ele. 900m].
Nasrullah Rastegar-Pouyani earned his B.S. inZoology
from Razi University Kermanshah, Iran in 1986 and his
M.S. in Zoology from Tehran University, Tehran, Iran in
1991 where he studied herpetologywith the agamids as
,
the central object. He started his Ph.D. in Gothenburg
University, Sweden in 1994 underthe advisementof Pro-
fessor Goran Nilson and graduated in 1999, working on
taxonomy and biogeography of Iranian Plateau agamids
with Trapelus as the main object. His research interests
include taxonomy and biogeography of the Iranian Pla-
teau, the Middle Eastand CentralAsian herpetofauna.
Amphib. ReptileConserv. | amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 006 September2011 | Volume5 | Number 1 | el9