Hemidactylus

Hemidactylus is a genus of the common gecko family, Gekkonidae. It has 192 described species, newfound ones being described every few years. These geckos are found in all the tropical regions of the world, extending into the subtropical parts of Africa and Europe. They excel in colonizing oceanic islands by rafting on flotsam, and are for example found across most of Polynesia. In some archipelagoes, cryptic species complexes are found. Geckos like to live in and out of houses. They have been introduced to Australia.^{[citation needed]}

Hemidactylus
Mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Gekkonidae
Subfamily:	Gekkoninae
Genus:	Hemidactylus Oken, 1817
Type species
Gecko tuberculosus Raddi, 1823
Diversity
190 species, see text
Synonyms
In alphabetical order: Aliurus E.R. Dunn & M.T. Dunn, 1940 Boltalia Gray, 1842 Bunocnemis Günther, 1894 Cosymbotus Fitzinger Doryura Gray, 1845 Emydactylus Bocourt, 1870 Eurhous Fitzinger, 1861 Hoplopodion Fitzinger, 1843 Leiurus Gray, 1845 (non Ehrenberg, [1828]: preoccupied) Liurus Cope, 1862 (non Ehrenberg, 1831: preoccupied) Lophopholis M.A. Smith & Deraniyagala, 1934 Microdactylus Fitzinger, 1843 (non É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809: preoccupied) Nubilia Gray, 1845 Onychopus Fitzinger, 1843 Pnoepus Fitzinger, 1843 Tachybates Fitzinger, 1843 Velernesia Gray, 1845

This species is closely related to the genus Gehyra, which belongs to the same family in Gekkonidae.

The species are typically known as house geckos, due to their readiness to adapt to and coexist with humans, and can be easily encountered in human habitations.

This genus was originally established by Lorenz Oken in 1817 for the species at that time known as Hemidactylus tuberculosus, and now described as the tropical house gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia). The species name in turn comes from the Greek words ἡμι hemi "half" and δάκτυλος dáktylos "fingers" because its toes has split or "half" lamella underneath them.

The origin of the genus Hemidactylus is still unclear as the higher level phylogeny is not well resolved. Moreover, much of the diversity in this group still remains to be discovered.

A house gecko will usually confine its excretions to one area of a house. This is sometimes considered a nuisance by home owners, and may stain certain surfaces. The feces are approximately five (5) millimeters in length, two (2) millimeters wide, and dark brown (almost black) in color.

 

The dorsal lepidosis is either uniform or heterogeneous. The pupil of the eye is vertical. Males have pre-anal or femoral pores. Each finger or toe has a slender distal clawed joint, angularly bent and rising from within the extremity of the dilated portion.

The fingers and toes are free, or more or less webbed, and dilated; underneath they bear two^{[citation needed]} rows of lamellae in a pattern resembling a paripinnate compound leaf. This leads to their other and more ambiguous common name, "leaf-toed geckos", used mainly for species from South Asia and its surroundings to prevent confusion with the many "leaf-toed" Gekkota not in Hemidactylus.

 

Some members of the genus, such as H. platyurus, are able to run quadrupedally across water by a partially surface tension-dependent mechanism distinct from the bipedal gait of basilisks.

Like many other gecko species, species in the genus Hemidactylus are able to communicate with distinct vocalizations. Depending on the species, their vocalizations range from quiet clicks to short squeaks and chirps. For example, the Asian common house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) is notable for its distinctive chirping.

The following phylogeny is from Pyron, et al. (2013), and includes 47 Hemidactylus species. Hemidactylus is a sister group of Cyrtodactylus.

• Gehyra
• Lepidodactylus
• Diplodactylidae