''Altiphylax stoliczkai'', also known commonly as the frontier bow-fingered gecko, the Baltistan gecko, and the Karakorum gecko is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Gekkonidae Gekkonidae (the common geckos) is the largest family of geckos, containing over 950 described species in 62 genera. The Gekkonidae contain many of the most widespread gecko species, including house geckos (''Hemidactylus''), the tokay gecko (''Ge ...

. The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''stoliczkai'', is in honor of

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

n zoologist

Ferdinand Stoliczka Ferdinand Stoliczka (Czech language, Czech written Stolička, 7 June 1838 – 19 June 1874) was a Moravian palaeontologist who worked in India on paleontology, geology and various aspects of zoology, including ornithology, malacology, and herpe ...

Geographic range

''A. stoliczkai'' is found in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

(

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

, Karoo/

Dras Dras (also spelt Drass, ISO transliteration: '), also known locally in Shina as Himababs, Hembabs, or Humas, is a town and hill station in Kargil district of the union territory of Ladakh in India. It is on the NH 1 between Zoji La pass and ...

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

) and western

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The type locality given by

Steindachner Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner descri ...

is "''bei Karoo, nördlich von Dras, Kashmir'' ".

Habitat

The preferred natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s of ''A. stoliczkai'' are

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

, and rocky areas, at altitudes of .

Reproduction

''A. stoliczkai'' is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

Taxonomy

Most authorities, most recently Bauer et al. 2013, now consider Böhme's mountain gecko to be a subspecies of this species (''A. s. boehmei)''. Bauer AM, Masroor R, Titus-McQuillan J, Heinicke MP, Daza JD, Jackman TR (2013). "A preliminary phylogeny of the Palearctic naked-toed geckos (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae) with taxonomic implications". ''Zootaxa'' 3599 (4): 301-324.

References

* Shcherbak NN (1991). "''Eine neue Gecko-Art aus Pakistan:'' Alsophylax (Alsophylax) boehmei sp. nov." ''Salamandra'' 27 (1): 53-57. (in German). *Shcherbak NN, Golubev ML (1996). ''Gecko fauna of the USSR and contiguous regions.'' SSAR (Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles). (English translation of Russian original published in 1986). * Anderson J (1872). "On some Persian, Himalayan, and other Reptiles". ''Proc. Zool. Soc. London'' 1872: 371-404. * Boulenger GA (1885). ''Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume I. Geckonidæ ... '' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 436 pp. + Plates I-XXXII. ("''Gymnodactylus stoliczkæ'' ic, pp. 30–31). *Boulenger GA (1890). ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia.'' London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xviii + 541 pp. ("''Gymnodactylus stoliczkæ'' ic, pp. 63–64). * Ingoldby CM (1922). "A new stone gecko from the Himalaya". ''J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.'' 28: 1051. (''Gymnodactylus walli'', new species). * Khan MS, Rösler H (2000). "Redescription and generic redesignation of the Ladakhian gecko ''Gymnodactylus stoliczkai'' Steindachner, 1969 867. ''Asiatic Herpetological Research'' 8

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Media Books * 999 (anthology), ''99 ...

60-68. *Khan MS (2000). "Redescription and generic redesignation of ''Gymnodactylus stoliczkai'' Steindachner, 1867". ''Pakistan J. Zool.'' 32 (2): 157. * Smith MA (1935). ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. II.—Sauria.'' London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 440 pp. + Plate I + 2 maps. (''Gymnodactylus stoliczkai'', pp. 57–58). * Steindachner F (1867). "''Reptilien'' ". pp. 1–98. ''In'': von Wüllerstorf-Urbair B (1867) 1869" on title page ''Reise der Österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859 unter den Befehlen des Commodore B. von Wüllerstorf-Urbair (Zoologie)'', ol. 1, part 3 Vienna: K. Gerold's Sohn/Kaiserlich-Königl. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei. (''Gymnodactylus stoliczkai'', new species, pp. 15–16). (in German).

External links

* Altiphylax Lizards of Asia Reptiles of China Reptiles of India Reptiles of Pakistan Reptiles described in 1867 Taxa named by Franz Steindachner {{Gekkonidae-stub