Chondrodactylus pulitzerae ( Schmidt, 1933 )

Ceríaco, L. M. P., De Sá, S., Bandeira, S., Valério, H., Stanley, E. L., Kuhn, A. L., Marques, M. P., Vindum, J. V., Blackburn, D. C. & Bauer, A. M., 2016, Herpetological Survey of Iona National Park and Namibe Regional Natural Park, with a Synoptic List of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Namibe Province, Southwestern Angola, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 63 (2), pp. 15-61 : 23-25

PULITZER’S THICK-TOED GECKO – Fig. 6

Chondrodactylus pulitzerae ( Schmidt, 1933)

MATERIAL.— INP, 9.65 km (by air) west-south-west of Espinheira, 30 November 2013, 16º48ʹ43.19ʺS, 12º16ʹ16.55ʺE, 488 m ( CAS 254790 – CAS 254792 ); Espinheira , 29 November 2013, 16º47ʹ11.01ʺS, 12º21ʹ28.77ʺE, 457 m ( CAS 254796–254798 ) , 16º47ʹ8.1ʺS, 12º21ʹ16.44ʺE, 457 m ( CAS 254804 , 30 November , 16º47ʹ14.3ʺS, 12º21ʹ29.4ʺE, 457 m ( CAS 254814–254815 ) , 16º47ʹ15.1ʺS, 12º21ʹ23.8ʺE, 457 m ( CAS 254816 ) , 16º47ʹ14.0ʺS, 12º21ʹ29.6ʺE, 457 m ( CAS 254817 ) , 16º47ʹ17.3ʺS, 12º21ʹ25.1ʺE, 457 m ( CAS 254818 ) , 16º47ʹ11.1ʺS, 12º21ʹ30.2ʺE, 457 m ( CAS 254819 ) ; Omauha Lodge, 28 November 2013, 16º11ʹ55.01ʺS, 12º24ʹ3.12ʺE, 338 m ( CAS 254830 ) , 2 December 2013, 16º11ʹ55.4ʺS, 12º24ʹ0.3ʺE, 338 m ( CAS 254833 ) , 28 November 2013, 16º11ʹ54.19ʺS, 12º24ʹ2.45ʺE, 338 m ( CAS 254843 ) ; INP, Rio Curoca in Pediva Hot Springs area , 3 December 2013, 16º17ʹ0.93ʺS, 12º33ʹ39.81ʺE, 247 m ( CAS 254854 ) ; Namibe-Lubango road, road marker 59, 1.8 km west (by road) of Caraculo, on the north side of the road , 6 December 2013, 15º0ʹ57.3ʺS, 12º38ʹ32.6ʺE, 497 m ( CAS 254915 ) ; Pico Azevedo, 7 December 2013, 15º32ʹ2.4ʺS, 12º29ʹ31.1ʺE, 359 m ( CAS 254920 , CAS 254943 ) .

COMMENTS.— This species occurs from the southern regions of Angola in Namibe (Bocage 1867, 1887, 1895; Laurent 1964a; Schmidt 1933) and Cunene ( Monard 1937) provinces to Malange, where it reaches its northern distribution in Capanda ( Ceríaco et al. 2014). There are records from the far northwest of Namibia as well, although these have been consistently treated as either C. turneri or C. laevigatus . This species was originally described as a subspecies of C. bibronii (now regarded as limited to South Africa, southern Namibia and adjacent areas; Benyr 1995; Bauer and Lamb 2005) based on material from Pico Azevedo ( Schmidt 1933). Heinz (2011) provided evidence for the specific distinctness of C. pulitzerae ; see Ceríaco et al. (2014) for brief discussion ofthe nomenclatural and taxonomic history of this taxon. One specimen (CAS 254920) represents topotypical material. The species was common and found hiding on shaded areas of rocky crevices, houses, and other structures.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Subdult male Pulitzer’sThick-toed Gecko, Chondrodactylus pulitzerae. (Schmidt, 1933), from Chimalavera, Benguela Province, Angola. Photo by Luis Ceríaco.