Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was surfing the web today and found website that made me think. Are the colourful morths of today really leopards or are they just crossbred mutts ????????
Check out this site and tell me your views.

http://afghangeckos.netfirms.com/index.htm

Look exactly like morphs ive seen.

I wouldn't believe that website because if there were different species of leos it would be subspecies so they would all be eblepharis macularius ssp.

I'll name the morph
top right-" e.turkmenicus"-banded/reduced pattern
below top right-" e.afghanicus"-Hypo/super hypo tangerine
below " e.afghanicus"-"e.angramainyu "-Patternless
below "e.angramainyu"-e.macularius-Normal

The reason why i don't think there is different species or subspecies for that matter is because
1. You can easily tell the difference between different species of animals
2.
-----
0.1 Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 ball python (felix)
1.1 feral cats (Fuzzy, and Bear; it used to be fuzzy, wuzzy, bear)

The reason why i don't think there is different species or subspecies for that matter is because
1. You can easily tell the difference between different species of animals
2. There is no difference in the shape of the actual reptile in those photos
3. Because leos are so popular if there actually was subspecies/species of leos then more people would say there is
-----
0.1 Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 ball python (felix)
1.1 feral cats (Fuzzy, and Bear; it used to be fuzzy, wuzzy, bear)

that website was actually brought up recently...do a search for it to see what everyone said.
-----
Christina

1.3.1 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)

-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)

-0.0.1 albino (supposed Tremper)(Spitfire)

-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

actually a lot of discussion was over whether they are subspecies or not...I believe the answer was that they are. There is different scalation and toe structure among the different ones, and some live in slightly different environments.
-----
Christina

1.3.1 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)

-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)

-0.0.1 albino (supposed Tremper)(Spitfire)

-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

There are subspecies of leopard geckos, but the morphs you usually find are all the same type.
-----
My blood is workin', but my, my heart is...DEAD!

Sorry to chime in so late on this issue.
There are indeed different species of leopard gecko.
E. macularius is the common one found in the pet trade, regardless of the color or pattern. What distinguishes the various species of Eublepharis is not necessarily color or pattern, but mainly scalation and anatomical structure. Check these links for more info:

www.nafcon.dircon.co.uk/geckos_eublepharis.htm

bornova.ege.edu.tr/~bgocmen/home14.html

No doubt there has been interbreeding of the various species, but it can hardly be significant when you consider how few wild caught leos there are in comparison with the number of captive bred. Use the key on the bornova website (referenced above)on any of your leos. Wanna bet you don't find any turcmenicus or angramainyu?

Chris