Hemidactylus brookii, also known
commonly as Brooke's house gecko and the spotted house gecko, is a widespread
species of
lizard in the
familyGekkonidae.
Snout somewhat longer than the distance between the eye and the ear-opening, nearly twice the diameter of the orbit; forehead concave; ear-opening small, oval, vertical, about one third the diameter of the eye; on the occiput very small round tubercles. Rostral quadrangular, with a median cleft; nostril bordered by the rostral, the first upper labial and three nasals, the upper not in contact with its fellow. Eight to ten upper and seven to nine lower labials; mental large, triangular; two or three pair of chin-shields, median forming - a suture. Scales of the throat granular. Body covered with small granules, intermixed with large keeled trihedral tubercles, arranged in 16-20 longitudinal series, the keels of the outer ones indistinct; the diameter of the largest tubercles on the flanks exceeds the diameter of the ear-opening. Ventral scales larger
than those on the throat, cycloid, imbricate. Male with 7-20 femoral pores on each side. Tail depressed, annulate, with rows of 8 or 6 spine-like tubercles, below with a series of transversely dilated plates. Limbs granular, the upper part of the hind limb with large keeled tubercles; digits free, dilated, the free distal joint long, 3-6 lamellae under the inner, 6-8 under the median toes.
Yellowish-brown above with irregular dark spots; one or two dark lines on the side of the head, passing through the eye; lips with dark bars. Lower parts white; all the scales finely dotted with dark brown. Young specimens have cross lines of white tubercles on the back; those on the tail all white.[3]
Length of head and body 58 millimetres (2.3 in), tail 60 millimetres (2.4 in).
^Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp.
ISBN978-1-4214-0135-5. (Hemidactylus brookii, p. 39).
^Rooij, Nelly de (1915). The Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. I. Lacertilia, Chelonia, Emydosauria. Leiden: E.J. Brill. xiv + 384 pp. ("Hemidactylus brooki [sic]", pp. 32-33 + Figure 20).
Further reading
Annandale N (1905). "Notes on some Oriental geckos in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, with Descriptions of new Forms". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Seventh Series15: 26-32.
Bauer AM,
Günther R (1991). "An annotated type catalogue of the geckos (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) in the Zoological Museum, Berlin". Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin67: 279-310.
Das I (2006). A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Borneo. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp.
ISBN0-88359-061-1. (Hemidactylus brookii, p. 101).
Gleadow F (1887). "Description of a new lizard from the Dangs". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society2: 49-51.
Gray JE (1845). Catalogue of the Specimens of Lizards in the Collection of the British Museum. London: Trustees of the British Museum. (Edward Newman, printer). xxviii + 289 pp. (Hemidactylus brookii, new species, p. 153).
Mitchell JC,
Zug GR (1988). "Ecological observations on the gecko Hemidactylus brookii in Nepal". Amphibia-Reptilia9: 405-413.
Powell R,
Maxey SA (1990). "Hemidactylus brookii ". Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles. No. 493.