Biology:Hoplodactylus delcourti

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Short description: Extinct species of lizard

Hoplodactylus delcourti
Gecko de Delcourt Hoplodactylus delcourti GLAM MHNL 2016 6976.jpg

Extinct  (1870) (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Diplodactylidae
Genus: Hoplodactylus
Species:
†H. delcourti
Binomial name
†Hoplodactylus delcourti
Bauer & Russell, 1986[1]

Hoplodactylus delcourti, also commonly known as kawekaweau,[2] Delcourt's sticky-toed gecko[3] and Delcourt's giant gecko, is an extinct species of lizard in the family Diplodactylidae. The species was the largest known of all geckos, with a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 370 mm (14.6 in) and an overall length (including tail) of at least 600 mm (23.6 in).[4] Scientifically it is known from just one taxidermied specimen that was rediscovered unlabelled in a museum in France. The origin of the specimen is unknown;[5] New Zealand and New Caledonia have been suggested.[lower-alpha 1] The idea that Hoplodactylus delcourti is the kawekaweau of Maori tradition has been contested.[8][9][10]

History

According to his own report, in 1870, a Māori chief killed a kawekaweau he found under the bark of a dead rata tree in the Waimana Valley[2] in Te Urewera. This is the only documented report of anyone ever seeing one of these animals alive.[2] He described it as being "brownish with reddish stripes and as thick as a man's wrist". Whether his story was true or not is unknown.

A single stuffed specimen was "discovered" in the basement of the Natural History Museum of Marseille in 1986;[7] the origins and date of collection of the specimen remain a mystery, as it was unlabelled when it was found.[2] Scientists examining it have suggested that it was from New Zealand and was in fact the lost kawekaweau, a giant and mysterious forest lizard of Maori oral tradition. Attempts to extract DNA from the sole specimen in 1994 were unsuccessful[11] though ancient DNA technology has significantly advanced since then. Trevor Worthy suggests that the specimen originated on an island of New Caledonia rather than New Zealand, due to a lack of fossil evidence for the lizard in New Zealand caves, despite abundant remains of all other known species of New Zealand gecko.[10] It was omitted from the Conservation Status of New Zealand Reptiles, 2021 on the basis that it was likely to be from New Caledonia.[12]

Etymology

This animal's specific epithet delcourti is taken from the surname of French museum worker Alain Delcourt, who discovered the forgotten specimen in the Marseille museum.[3][7]

Taxonomy

There are two lineages of New Zealand geckos: the nocturnal "brown" geckos (formerly all in genus Hoplodactylus, but now in several genera) and the diurnal "green" geckos (genus Naultinus). The kawekaweau belongs to the nocturnal "brown" gecko lineage. Both lineages belong to a group that is found only in Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia.[13]

Notes

  1. ↑ The largest extant species of gecko is Leach's giant gecko (Rhacodactylus leachianus) of New Caledonia, at 360 mm (14.2 in) long;[6] the Duvaucel's gecko (Hoplodactylus duvaucelii) is the largest surviving species of gecko in New Zealand, also one of the largest in the world.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Species Hoplodactylus delcourti at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Bauer AM, Russell AP (1986). "Hoplodactylus delcourti n. sp. (Reptilia: Gekkonidae), the largest known gecko" , New Zealand Journal of Zoology 13: 141–148. doi:10.1080/03014223.1986.10422655
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN:978-1-4214-0135-5. (Hoplodactylus delcourti, p. 69).
  4. ↑ Wilson, Kerry-Jayne (2004). Flight of the Huia: Ecology and Conservation of New Zealand's Frogs, Reptiles, Birds and Mammals. Canterbury University Press. ISBN 0-908812-52-3. OCLC 937349394. https://books.google.com/books?id=BXbwAAAAMAAJ. 
  5. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named iucn status 19 November 2021
  6. ↑ Ballance, Allison; Morris, Rod (2003). Island Magic; Wildlife of the South Seas. David Bateman Publishing.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Gill, Brian; Whitaker, Tony (1996). New Zealand Frogs and Reptiles. David Bateman Publishing. ISBN:978-1869532642.
  8. ↑ Worthy, T.H. (March 1997). "Quaternary fossil fauna of South Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 27 (1): 67–162. doi:10.1080/03014223.1997.9517528. 
  9. ↑ Tennyson, Alan J.D. (2010). "The origin and history of New Zealand's terrestrial vertebrates". New Zealand Ecological Society 34 (1): 6–27. http://newzealandecology.org/nzje/2914.pdf. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Worthy, Trevor H. (2016), "A Review of the Fossil Record of New Zealand Lizards", New Zealand Lizards (Springer International Publishing): pp. 65–86, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-41674-8_3, ISBN 978-3-319-41672-4 
  11. ↑ Cooper, Alan (1994), Herrmann, Bernd; Hummel, Susanne, eds., "DNA from Museum Specimens" (in en), Ancient DNA: Recovery and Analysis of Genetic Material from Paleontological, Archaeological, Museum, Medical, and Forensic Specimens (Springer): pp. 149–165, doi:10.1007/978-1-4612-4318-2_10, ISBN 978-1-4612-4318-2 
  12. ↑ Hitchmough, Rod; Barr, Ben; Knox, Carey; Lettink, Marieke; Monks, Joanne M.; Patterson, Geoff B.; Reardon, James T.; van Winkel, Dylan et al. (2021). Conservation Status of New Zealand Reptiles, 2021. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. 35. Department of Conservation. pp. 3–6. https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/science-and-technical/nztcs35entire.pdf. Retrieved 13 January 2022. 
  13. ↑ Bauer, Aaron M.; Russell, Anthony P. (1987). "Hoplodactylus delcourti (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) and the kawekaweau of Maori Folklore". Journal of Ethnobiology 7 (1): 83–91.


Wikidata ☰ Q1737353 entry




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