Southern Ghats slender gecko

The Southern Ghats slender gecko (Hemiphyllodactylus aurantiacus) is a species of gecko with a restricted distribution in the hills of southern India.

Southern Ghats slender gecko
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Gekkota
Family:	Gekkonidae
Genus:	Hemiphyllodactylus
Species:	H. aurantiacus
Binomial name
Hemiphyllodactylus aurantiacus (Beddome, 1870)[2]
Synonyms
Hemiphyllodactylus typus ssp. aurantiacus (Beddome, 1870)

Description

Head oviform, longer than broad; snout rounded, very convex, slightly shorter than, distance between eye and ear-opening, l.3 times the diameter of orbit; ear-opening very small, round. Body elongate, more so in females than in males; limbs short, fore limb measuring half the distance between axilla and groin, or rather less. Digits short, free, inner very small, rudimentary; only two large chevron-shaped divided lamellae under the distal part of the digits, followed by transverse undivided lamellae, decreasing in width. Head covered with very minute granules; rostral and mental very small, former four-sided, latter pentagonal or triangular; nostril pierced between rostral, first labial, and several granules; labials very small, 9 or 10 upper and as many lower, no chin-shields. Back covered with very small granular scales, abdominal scales a little larger, flat, imbricate. Male with an angular series of 7 to 9 preanal pores. Tail cylindrical, tapering, covered with small imbricated smooth scales, larger below. Grey-brown above, with, along the head and back, dark-brown undulating lines, which may be broken up into spots; a dark brown streak from the tip of the snout to the fore limb, passing through the eye; whitish dots scattered on the head and back; tail with darker spots or annuli and two large whitish black-edged spots at the base, frequently and two large whitish black-edged spots at the base, frequently confluent mesially. Lower surfaces whitish, more or less speckled with brownish.^[3]

From snout to vent 1.4 in (36 mm); tail 1.25 in (32 mm).

Distribution

S India (Anamallays = Anailmalais, Western Ghats, Bangalore, Kolli Hills) Type locality: "Shevaroys, under stones about Yercaud and elsewhere, at an elevation of 4,000 feet".