Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I posted this in the what kind forum as well but about half the time I see people just get redirected straight to geckos so here I am

I found this in Seminole Canyon just south of Big Bend in Texas. According to my Peterson guide the only gecko that looks anything like this in Texas is a Texas Banded Gecko but the Audubon Guide shows a picture and describes a species that is an even better match: the Tuscan Banded Gecko which just gets into Texas but is still some distance from where I found it. I do not have the Audubon guide on my now so cannot double check the latin name on the Tuscan. I tried google but can't find any info on that name other than a single photo. The gecko was just uner 5 inches long. Can any of you say for certain if this is a Texas Banded or a Tuscan Banded? Thanks.

http://www.uvm.edu/~kvbriggs/cell/banded.jpg

The gecko was just uner 5 inches long. Can any of you say for certain if this is a Texas Banded or a Tuscan Banded?

It is WAY out of range to be anything but a TX banded, Coleonyx brevis. However, 5 inches would pretty much be a record length for the species--did you measure it?

Also, the coloring is more reminiscent of a juvenile than an adult. Very interesting.
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Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

it was the juvenile coloration on such a large individual that confused me the most despite being outside of the currently known variegatus range. unfortunately we had no standard means of measuring the gecko at the time though I believe somebody else got some pictures of it next to a reference item.

Next week I'm getting a metric ruler to the millimeter tattooed on my forearm so I can never say I didn't have a ruler for anything under 20cm. This was my first trip to Texas but I do a bit of herp survey work in the northeast and it's painful how many times I find something when I'm not expecting it and don't have a ruler on hand.

I also figured out why I couldn't find any info on the Tucson -- I was spelling it "tuscan"

thanks.

unfortunately we had no standard means of measuring the gecko at the time though I believe somebody else got some pictures of it next to a reference item.

I usually just guestimate when it comes to snakes (~2 ft, ~3.5 ft, etc) and don't bother with lizards, but if it was something outlandish like your gecko pic appears to be, I would just measure it in relation to my hand (e.g. "as long as my middle finger," "SVL three times the width of my thumbnail," etc) and then measure my associated body part when I had a ruler handy.

>>Next week I'm getting a metric ruler to the millimeter tattooed on my forearm so I can never say I didn't have a ruler for anything under 20cm.

Just don't lose/gain any weight or it will give erroneous readings!

>>I also figured out why I couldn't find any info on the Tucson -- I was spelling it "tuscan"

Kind of like the FedEx commercial where the guy tries to send something to "puh-HO-nix," not knowing it's pronounced "feenix." "Tuscan" has more of a European sound to it.
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Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

haha, yeah. In regards to stretching -- already thought about it. As long as I check it every year and know the conversion factor then it's still accurate . All my data ends up in excel before being sent anywhere so it's only a slight issue.