Eurydactylodes Wermuth, 1965

Bauer, Aaron M., Jackman, Todd R., Sadlier, Ross A. & Whitaker, Anthony H., 2012, Revision of the giant geckos of New Caledonia (Reptilia: Diplodactylidae: Rhacodactylus), Zootaxa 3404, pp. 1-52 : 16

Eurydactylodes Wermuth, 1965

Content. Eurydactylodes vieillardi ( Bavay, 1869) , E. symmetricus ( Andersson, 1908) , E. agricolae Henkel & Böhme, 2001 , E. occidentalis, Bauer, Jackman, Sadlier & Whitaker, 2009 ( Fig. 3 E).

Type species. Platydactylus vieillardi Bavay, 1869 by monotypy [as type of Eurydactylus Sauvage, 1878 ; this name was preoccupied by Eurydactylus Laferté, 1851 = Coleoptera ]

Diagnosis. Eurydactylodes is distinguished from all other New Caledonian diplodactylid gekkotans by the following combination of characters: body size small (to 60.3 mm SVL); neural spines of trunk vertebrae elongate, body laterally compressed, six or seven inscriptional ribs, dorsal body scalation consists of enlarged, smooth, flattened scales; dorsal head scales enlarged to greatly enlarged; a postlabial slit present, confluent or not with subauricular groove; endolymphatic sacs expanded extracranially; margins of jaws and limbs with folds of skin; subdigital lamellae undivided or with irregular divisions; claw of digit I of manus and pes lies between a pair of separate terminal subdigital scansors; precloacal pores in males in 3–5 rows sometimes extending onto base of thighs (50–68 pores in total); original tail (100–115% of SVL) with distal adhesive subcaudal lamellae and possessing caudal glands and a “tail-squirting” mechanism; tongue and mouth lining yellow to orange; dorsal color pattern grayish, cream, tan, or beige with darker transverse bands or markings; venter white.

Distribution. Eurydactylodes has been recorded from the Îles Belep (Île Art and Île Pott only), Île Yandé, the Grande Terre and Île des Pins, but has not been found on the Loyalty Islands or any smaller satellite islands.

Remarks. See Bauer and Henle (1994); Bauer and Sadlier (2000), and Bauer et al. (2009) for additional details about this genus.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Representatives of each of the eight genera of endemic New Caledonian diplodactylid geckos. A. Oedodera marmorata. B. Dierogekko nehoueensis. C. Bavayia pulchella. D. Paniegekko madjo. E. Eurydactylodes occidentalis. F. Rhacodactylus leachianus. G. Correlophus belepensis sp. nov. H. Mniarogekko jalu sp. nov. Photos A, E, G – H by A. H. Whitaker, photo B by A. M. Bauer, photos C – D by R. A. Sadlier. Photo F courtesy of Mark O’Shea.