T. rapicauda or not?

[Ingo]

Hi all,

what do you think about these geckos, which are currently offered in Germany?

http://www.terraristik.com/tb/ad_pics/372999__1.jpeg
http://www.terraristik.com/tb/ad_pics/372999__3.jpeg

They are imported as Thecadactylus rapicauda but the colouration really is unique. I have never seen such rapicauda.
Sadly I do have absolutely no space, otherwise I would try to get a pair.
Has anyone ever seen this morph?
Maybe its a new species anyhow.


Best

Ingo

 

[Ingo]

I just found out that these geckos were imported from St Martin.
The unusal colouration of specimens from this island is well known, while its taxonomic status is not fully clear.
See some quotes taken from Bergmann et al (2007) to understand, what I mean:

"All of these problems were observed with Thecadactylus. For example, specimens
from St. Martin often have a highly unusual spotted pattern, ...

The [genetic tree] plot does, however,
suggest that specimens from Colombia (Atlantico),
Venezuela (Amazonas) and St. Martin are
somewhat morphometrically distinct from those from
other localities...

However, the consensus tree resulting
from this analysis was particularly poorly resolved,
indicating poor support for all clades, with the affinity
of Colombia and St. Martin being best supported
(Pp = 0.87)."



Best

Ingo

 

[David]

news species, that's also what I thought when I saw the ad

when you read some descriptions of thecadactylus rapicauda, and esp. caribbean ones, it seems that it is more a complex than a species, which wouldn't be a surprise due to their extensive range

unfortunately they are too expensive for me

 

[David]

hmm I'm late haha

I even read about some orange and grey/blue ones..