Pristurus carteri

Pristurus carteri
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Sphaerodactylidae
Genus:	Pristurus
Species:	P. carteri
Binomial name
	Pristurus carteri; (Gray, 1863)
Synonyms
	Spatalura carteri ; Gray, 1863; Pristurus carteri ; — Boulenger, 1885;

Pristurus carteri, commonly known as Carter's rock gecko or Carter's semaphore gecko, is a species of gecko, a lizard in the family Sphaerodactylidae.

Etymology

The generic name, Pristurus, means "saw-tailed" in Latin.^{[citation needed]}

The specific name, carteri, is in honor of Dr. Henry Carter who collected the holotype.^[4]

Subspecies

There are two subspecies of Pristurus carteri. The first is the nominotypical subspecies, Pristurus carteri carteri (Gray, 1863), and the other is Pristurus carteri tuberculatus Parker, 1931,^[3] P. c. carteri being the more common.^{[citation needed]}

Common names

The species P. carteri has many common names such as Carter's rock gecko, ornate rock gecko, and scorpion-tailed gecko.^{[citation needed]}

Geographic range and habitat

P. carteri is native to Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen,^[3] where it often is found basking on rocks or in urban areas.^{[citation needed]}

Behavior

P. carteri are often seen swaying their curly tails back and forth to each other in a way to sort of communicate to each other. The males develop little fleshy spikes on their tails upon reaching sexual maturity. When they feel threatened they curl their tails in a scorpion-like fashion and even mimic the movements a scorpion will use as a threat display; this and the tail waving are the source of the common name scorpion-tailed geckos.^{[citation needed]}

Members of the genus Pristurus are diurnal. This is unusual in geckos except in the genera Phelsuma, Lygodactylus, Naultinus, Quedenfeldtia, Rhoptropus, all Sphaerodactylids, and, of course, Pristurus.^[5]

Description

P. carteri may attain an average snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in), and a total length (including tail) of 8–9 cm (3.1–3.5 in).^{[citation needed]}

Reproduction

P. carteri reaches sexual maturity in roughly 10 months. Adult females lay 1–2 hard shelled eggs that are incubated at 28 °C (82.4 °F) for 70–90 days. Each neonate hatches out at a total length of about 3.5–4 cm (1.4–1.6 in).^{[citation needed]}

References

^ Sindaco R, Wilms T, Mohammed SF (2012). "Pristurus carteri ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012: e.T199586A2605065. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012.RLTS.T199586A2605065.en. Downloaded on 21 February 2019.
^ "Pristurus carteri ". ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.
^ ^a ^b ^c Species Pristurus carteri at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Pristurus carteri, p. 49).
^ Pianka ER, Vitt LJ (2003). Lizards: Windows to the Evolution of Diversity. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. 346 pp. ISBN 978-0520234017. (Genus Pristurus, pp. 174, 179).