Lygodactylus dysmicus Perret 1963
Creators: name: Lobón-Rovira, Javier
name: Bauer, Aaron M.
name: Pinto, Pedro Vaz
name: Trape, Jean-Francois
name: Conradie, Werner
name: Kusamba, Chifundera
name: Júlio, Timóteo
name: Cael, Garin
name: Stanley, Edward L.
name: Hughes, Daniel F.
name: Behangana, Mathias
name: Masudi, Franck M.
name: Pauwels, Olivier S. G.
name: Greenbaum, Eli
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Squamata
Gekkonidae
Lygodactylus
Lygodactylus dysmicus

description: LYGODACTYLUS DYSMICUS Perret, 1963  (Fig. 12; Table 3)   
 Lygodactylus angularis dysmicus: Perret (1963).   
 Lygodactylus gutturalis dysmicus: Pasteur (1964); Kluge (1991, 1993, 2001); Schätti and Perret (1997); LeBreton (1999); Schätti et al. (2002); Röll (2005); de Lisle et al. (2013, 2016).   
 Lygodactylus (Lygodactylus) gutturalis dysmicus: Rösler (2000).   
 Lygodactylus dysmicus: Chirio and LeBreton (2007).   
 Lygodactylus picturatus dysmicus: Thys van den den Audenaerde (1967).   
 Perret (1963) described L. a. dysmicus from Foulassi, South Region, Cameroon, as the western race of L. angularis that differs from the nominotypical form by its gular ornamentation. However, Perret never compared this species to L. gutturalis in neighbouring areas. In 1991, Kluge considered L. a. dysmicus as a subspecies of L. gutturalis, although he did not provide any justification. This taxonomic change was followed by other authors until Chirio and LeBreton (2007) considered L. dysmicus as a full species in their ‘ Atlas des reptiles du Cameroun ’ again without justification. Until then, the only known record of this species was the holotype; however, Chirio and LeBreton (2007) added a new photographic record from Nglochifen, West Region, Cameroon, in their book. Herein, based on the osteological evidence mentioned above, and the presence of terminal scansors on the tail tip, which are absent in the L. angularis group, we regard L. dysmicus to be part of the L. gutturalis subgroup. Despite the lack of molecular data, distinctive morphology supports the validation of L. dysmicus as a full species, as suggested by Chirio and LeBreton (2007) and Kluge (1991). Based on the detailed description provided by Perret (1963), we provide only a diagnosis and comparison with L. gutturalis s.s. and the L. angularis group.   
 Holotype: MHNG 1005.72, adult male, collected from forest at Foulassi, South Region, Cameroon (~ 665 m a.s.l.), at the north-west limit of the Congo Basin. Specimen fixed in formalin, now preserved in ethanol.   
 Diagnosis (Fig. 12): As noted by Perret (1963), the species differs from the L. angularis group mainly by the gular ornamentation, which consists of two ∩ -shaped chevrons, one within the other, and a central mark vs. two V -shaped marks or broken pattern (in L. heeneni and L. paurospilus) chevrons that converge posteriorly. It also differs from the angularis group by having a reduced, almost vestigial postorbitofrontal vs. a well-developed postorbitofrontal bone in the angularis group. Lygodactylus dysmicus can be differentiated from L. gutturalis by having more precloacal pores (9 vs. 5–8); nostril in narrow contact with rostral scales vs. never in contact in L. gutturalis. We have also recorded some minor differences as follows: fewer lamellae under fourth toe (4 vs. 5–6); a greater number of ventral scales across the body (21 vs. 15–20); and a greater number of scales between the eyes (25 vs. 17–24). It is noteworthy that L. dysmicus is small [SVL 27.6 mm vs. 33.3 ± 1.8 mm (mean) in L. gutturalis], with a paedomorphic skull that has an unfused frontal bone, braincase, and compound bone + surangular (Fig. 5). However, the well-developed state of the precloacal pores suggest sexual maturity of this specimen (Rhen et al. 2005; Fig. 12B). Finally, L. dysmicus can be differentiated from L. gutturalis based on its distribution in lowland Congolian rainforest vs. the sub-Saharan savannah (Fig. 6).   
 Habitat and distribution (Fig. 6): Lygodactylus dysmicus is only known from the type locality in Foulassi, South Region, Cameroon, and an additional photographic record (unconfirmed) from Nglochifen, West Region, Cameroon. Lygodactylus dysmicus is considered a rainforest species distributed near the northern limit of the Congolian Rainforest.   
 Natural history: Diurnal gecko that lives on trees in dense semideciduous forests (Chirio and LeBreton 2007).
description: Published as part of Lobón-Rovira, Javier, Bauer, Aaron M., Pinto, Pedro Vaz, Trape, Jean-Francois, Conradie, Werner, Kusamba, Chifundera, Júlio, Timóteo, Cael, Garin, Stanley, Edward L., Hughes, Daniel F., Behangana, Mathias, Masudi, Franck M., Pauwels, Olivier S. G. & Greenbaum, Eli, 2024, Integrative revision of the Lygodactylus gutturalis (Bocage, 1873) complex unveils extensive cryptic diversity and traces its evolutionary history, pp. 447-492 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society (Zool. J. Linn. Soc.) (Zool. J. Linn. Soc.) 201 (2) on pages 468-470, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad123, http://zenodo.org/record/13302833