Ptenopus carpi BRAIN, 1962
Male of Ptenopus carpi.
© M. Barts.
Female of Ptenopus carpi.
© M. Barts.
Female of Ptenopus carpi. Notice the black color-elements.
© M. Barts.
Juvenile Ptenopus carpi © F. Colaciccio.
Threatening male of Ptenopus carpi.
© M. Barts.
Male of Ptenopus carpi in a terrarium.
© M. Barts.
Mating of Ptenopus carpi.
© M. Barts.
Hatch of Ptenopus carpi.
© M. Barts.
To big of Yolk-sack, which couldn't be der nicht pulled in. The animal
deid after 3 days.
© M. Barts.
Two males of Ptenopus carpi. Top is a soecimen from the area south of
Swakop-River, bottom an animal of the area north of Swakop-River.
Notice the eye-coloration.
© M. Barts.
Habitat of Ptenopus carpi.
© M. Barts.
Calling male of Ptenopus carpi. © J.Pierce
Originalbeschreibung / Original description
BRAIN, C.K. (1962): A Rewiev of the Gecko Genus Ptenopus with the Description of a new Species. — Cimbebasia, Windhoek, 1: 14 – Terra typica: 1 mile north of the Kuisib R. at Gobabeb, Central Namib Desert, S.W.A.
Named after Mr. Bernard Carp, leader and sponsor of the Carp-Transvaal Mu-seum Namib Desert Expedition (on which the type specimens were collected) and numerous earlier expeditions to the arid regions of South Western Africa.
HOLOTYPE: Adult male TM 25973, collected May 1959 on gravel plain approximately 1 mile north of the Kuisib R. at Gobabeb, Central Namib Desert, S.W.A.
ALLOTYPE: Adult female TM 25971, same locality as holotype.
PARATYPES: 26 specimens, TM 25966-70, 25972, 25974-25979, 25981-86, 25990-93, 28995, 25997-8, 26207. 10 adults, 10 subadults and 6 juveniles, all from the same locality as the holotype. All types in the Transvaal Museum, Pretoria.
DESCRIPTION: Holotype: Somewhat similar in build to P. garrulus but with more elongate limbs (see measurements below). Total length 96.5 mm (56.5 + 40.0 mm). Tail amounts o 70% snout-vent length.
Upper labials 10, lower 13; Nostrils open and surrounded by 2 nasals (Fig. 1 b). Larger nasal on each side separated above rostral by 2 granules. Pupil vertical, spectacle partly covered by well-developed extra-brillar fringes; ear opening a short oblique slit; rostral and mental entire. No distinct chin-shields present but gular scales, adjacent to mental, larger than those further back. Lepidosis generally of small granular to flattened scales, many bearing sensory pits. All digits strongly clawed, fringed laterally with spinose scales, those of toes much longer than of fingers (Plate 1 e).
Tail tapering, rather bluntly pointed, covered with regular plate-like scales; two pronounced swellings just porterior to vent containing hemipenes, A group of enlarged and pointed tubercles on either side of tailbase (3 large and several smaller per side). Peritoneal lining unpigmented and white; post-anal sacs present, femoral pores absent.
Colour in life, creamy white above, pure white below, finely speckled dorsally with orange-brown and marked with bold, brown transverse stripes, 3 on body, 7 on tail. Dorsal interorbital head surface blue-grey; poorly defined cross-banding on hind limbs and toes. Throat sulphur-yellow, iris pale buff, marked with darker irregular vertical lines (see Plate 1 b).
Allotype: Total length 105 mm. (58.5 + 45.0); ratio tail snout-vent length 70 %. Upper labials 9, lower 13 and 11, larger number being on right side. Other features as in holotype except as follows: tail-base not swollen, with lateral tubercles small and only 2 per side. Throat pure white.
Paratypes: Points of difference from holotype as follows: Total lengths 57.6 —103.5 mm. Mean proportion tail to snout-vent length 72.7 %, range 67.0—77.0 %.
Upper labials 8—11, mean 10; lower labials 9—14, mean 12. Nostril surrounded by 2 nasals, only 1 specimen showing 3. Right and left nasals separated above rostral by 1—3 granules, most frequently 2. Colouration as in holotype, but tailbars 7—9 in number.