Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What is the best way to tell these 2 species apart? In all the pictures I have ever seen there is very little difference. The traits of the species are so similar that it makes me wonder if they are actually 2 different species. Any thoughts or advice?
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FB
(Watch this space for the raining viv)
0.1.1 Water Dragon (Jade, Kaltrex)
0.1.0 Hypomelanistic Corn (Willow)
0.1.1 Leopard Gecko (Barghesta [Patternless], unnamed)
1.0.0 Satanic Leaftail Gecko (Melkor)
0.1.0 Cat (Cleo)
0.1.0 Wife (Tammy)
(hmmm, not much testosterone in here...)

The taxonomic importance of these two species has been in debate for over 100 years. (You¡¦re not the first one to raise this question¡K ƒº) During this time they have been relatively well studied and published. The original text is available to those who are willing to do the research (and translate from language to language).

There is still much to be learned about the congeneric relationships of the genus as a whole. Currently, there are scientists working on microsatellite (species specific genetic markers) distinction between Uroplatus spp. With the advancement molecular genetic techniques to what they are today, it¡¦s only a matter of time before determining divergent characteristics and species differentiation through comparative morphology is outdated.
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Ben

well said, ben.

aside from that, the easiest way for you to tell the difference is the tails. ebenaui have very short tails (hence the name spearpoint), and phantasticus have the full tail thats about 1.5 inches in adults, plus or minus.

now if you had members of both species that dropped their tails, since they dont regenerate it would be difficult. but i think ive noticed some differences in patterning between the two species, of course id still have to see many more animals to really tell.
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-Mike Martin
North Carolina

Haha... I guess didn't really address the question specifically... Sorry...
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Ben

well for one the major difference is the scalation above the eyes, ebanaui have a diminished or dwarfed version of the "eye horn" that satanics have. Also, ebanaui are more leaf and bark colored than satanics, particularly ebanaui females have the pattern of a leaf no matter what the random spotting them may have.

As for the long tailed ebanuai, that would be where the real question should be because they have characteristics of both species, but they behave more like ebanaui. I have been commnicating witha gentleman in madagascar about the conditions in which all three can be found in and surprisingly they actually encompass areas ranging from drier yet slightly warm scrub forest to cool cloud forests. Its a surprise to see the differences in that respect because even certain locales of satanics can be found in the dry climate forests. Remember ebanaui/phantasticus species can be found all over the island, its just a difference in locale/subspecies if such a subspeciation is in existence. They could be similar to the sikorae sikorae vs sikorae sameiti hybridization. I personally believe ebanaui and phantasticus can hybridize because of their overlapping ranges and where they inhabit within those ranges (same type of forest/ spots in the forests), however ebanaui are dramatically more aggressive/assertive than phantasticus. I'm going to attempt to hybridize them and see what occurs. It has been done successfully with henkeli vs. fimbriatus, sikorae vs. fimbriatus and sikorae vs henkeli with a few successful generations produced. might be a good phd thesis for me.

jason

so you think your spearpoints can take on my satanics? bring it on! no, but seriously though....ive seen a few of my males being pretty aggressive at times, a couple nasty bites in there too.
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-Mike Martin
North Carolina

too aggressive and dominant as in I had a hatchling male ebanaui that pushed two satanics hatchlings around long enough that they stopped getting enough food and died while housed with the ebanaui. Happened over a period of 2 months. Not a pleasant way to discover how territorial they can be.

Jason