I recently glanced through a copy of this amazing collection of photos. I would like to praise Mr. Dalton for is high speed photography, especially of insects. I was awed by the images he present, and the crispness of the photos belittle my own photographic capabilities. However, to my disappointment Mr. Dalton misidentified the leaftail gecko he photographed. He misidentified a Uroplatus fimbriatus as Uroplatus henkeli. I just happen to live with a U. henkali breeder who is also disappointed at the miss identification. If anybody cares about good science and communication, you should be wary of such misidentifications in publications. If you wish to see Mr. Daltons mistake, take a look at pg. 150-151 of "Secret Worlds". Pay special attention to the eyes of the gecko (the striations in the eye are an over obvious give away) and let me know what you think!!! S. Dalton is a great photographer, but doesn't seem to pay attention as well as he should to the subjects he photographs. That is, the vertebrates he photographs...
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"Secret Worlds" by Stephen Dalton
Replies (3)
When was the picture published? It could have been before henkeli became an official species. Besides, the guy's a photographer, not a taxonomist, give him a break. Im sure that he misrepresented other species, it's not like he was publishing in a peer reviewed journal. The purpose of the book was to enlighten people to the world in which our eyes cannot comprehend, not the subtle differences between two species of gecko.
Well put. The book itself was published in 1999, but the photos were probably taken before that. When did U. henkeli become a different species? Even though it may have been an honest mistake, I still think that it is important to conservation concerns to accurately identify species...especially when presenting information to the general public. Scientific journal or not, it is fundamental to correctly communicate concepts like species names, even if they are ever changing. So, my comments about S. Dalton are more of a warning to others than an accusation of ignorance. If you are into photography, you should definitely check this book out. The photos are impeccable, regardless of the names he gives them. Thanks for the feedback!
Uroplatus henkeli was described in 1990 by Böhme and Ibisch. Before this, it had been recognized as Uroplatus fimbriatus...
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Ben
