Coleodactylus, PARKER, 1926

Gamble, Tony, Daza, Juan D., Colli, Guarino R., Vitt, Laurie J. & Bauer, Aaron M., 2011, A new genus of miniaturized and pug-nosed gecko from South America (Sphaerodactylidae: Gekkota), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 163 (4), pp. 1244-1266 : 1252-1254

COLEODACTYLUS PARKER, 1926

Type species: Sphaerodactylus meridionalis ( Boulenger, 1888) .

Diagnosis and description: A miniaturized species complex of diurnal sphaerodactyl geckos. SVL 20–28 mm ( Vanzolini, 1968b; Avila-Pires, 1995). Snout elongate. Pupil round. Body cylindrical. Dorsal scales smooth or imbricate. Claws enclosed in an ungual sheath consisting of five scales.

Coleodactylus is a miniaturized species complex of diurnal sphaerodactyl geckos that can be differentiated from all other gekkotans by the following unique combination of characters: (1) claws enclosed in ungual sheath consisting of five scales ( Parker, 1926; Vanzolini, 1957; Avila-Pires, 1995); (2) smooth or imbricate scales on dorsal body surface ( Vanzolini, 1957; Avila-Pires, 1995), present in most other gekkotans; (3) ascending nasal process separates nasals approximately onequarter their length, one of the shortest among sphaerodactyl geckos ( Daza et al., 2008); (4) proximal portion of metatarsal IV not very expanded; and (5) two separate deletions of 18 and 6 bp in exon 1 (in Gallus ) of RAG1.

Distribution: Northern and eastern Brazil including states of Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato

· Figure 5. Skull of Chatogekko amazonicus (USNM 290904) from Pará, Brazil. A, dorsal; B, ventral; and C, lateral views of the cranium. D, labial view of the jaw. Abbreviations: ar, articular; ascc, anterior semicircular canal; asnp, ascending nasal process; bo, basioccipital; bp, basipterygoid process; bpcp, cartilaginous pad of the basipterygoid process; c, choana; cc, choanal canal; cal, crista alaris; clp, clinoid process; cob, compound bone; cor, coronoid; cp, cultriform process; cpro, crista prootica; d, dentary; dpp, decensus parietalis process; eco, extracollumella; ect, ectopterygoid; en, external nares; ept, epipterygoid; f, frontal; fco, fossa columellae; fe, fenestra exochoanalis; fov, fenestra ovalis; f-par, frontoparietal suture; hscc, horizontal semicircular canal; iptv, interpterygoid vacuity; j, jugal; lf, lacrimal foramen; mis, median interorbital septum; msy, mandibular symphysis; mx, maxilla; mxlp, maxillary lappet; mxs, maxillary shelf; mxsf, foramen of the maxillary shelf; n, nasal; occ, occipital condyle; ocr, occipital recess; ors, orbitosphenoid; oto, otooccipital; pa, pila accessoria; pal, palatine; par, parietal; pmx, premaxilla; pmx-v f, premaxillary-vomer fenestra; pof, postorbitofrontal; polc, posterior opening of the longitudinal canal; pop, paroccipital process; ppp, postparietal process; prf, prefrontal; pro, prootic; ps, planum supraseptale; psaf, posterior surangular foramen; pscc, posterior semicircular canal; pt, pterygoid; pvc, posterior opening of vidian canal; q, quadrate; qf, quadrate foramen; rap, retroarticular process; rvj, recessus vena jugularis; saf, surangular foramen; sop, subolfactory process; spht, sphenooccipital tubercle; st, stapes; stf; stapedial foramen; stfp, stapedial footplate; sa, surangular; smx, septomaxilla; so, supraoccipital; sof, suborbital fenestra; sph, sphenoid; sq, squamosal; V, incisura prootica; vo, vomer. Scale bar = 5 mm.

f-par pof f q A

pmx asnp so n

pt par ept iptv q ept

B pscc

bopmx occ polc pmx-v f mxlp

spht

pt cp bpcp

Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, Roraima, Sergipe, and Tocantins; Guyana; Suriname; the Venezuelan states of Monagas, Delta Amacuro and possibly Bolívar ( Vanzolini, 1980; Hoogmoed, 1985; Avila-Pires, 1995; Freire, 1999; Rivas & Molina R., 2001).

Species composition: Coleodactylus brachystoma ( Amaral, 1935) ; C. meridionalis ( Boulenger, 1888) ; C. natalensis Freire, 1999 ; and C. septentrionalis Vanzolini, 1980 .