Philippine lizards of the family Gekkonidae comprise 49 species (Taylor, 1915, 1922; Brown and Alcala, 1978) in 10 genera: Gehyra (1), Gekko (13), Hemidactylus (5), Hemiphyllodactylus (2), Lepidodactylus (6), Luperosaurus (8), Ptychozoon (1), Pseudogekko (4), and Cyrtodactylus (9), (Brown et al., 2007, 2010a, 2011; Welton et al., 2009, 2010a, 2010b; Zug, 2011). An amazing percentage of these species are endemic to the Philippines archipelago (roughly 85%; Brown et al., 2011). Several of the recently described gekkonids in the Philippines were discovered only recently as part of ongoing surveys around the archipelago. Recent phylogenetic studies focused on Philippine gekkonids (Siler et al., 2010; Welton et al., 2010a,b) have resulted in the observation of high levels of genetic diversity among populations of widespread species, an indication that the country's gecko diversity may still be greatly underestimated.
Two species of this rarely seen gekkonid lizard occur in the Philippines (Hemiphyllodactylus typus and Hemiphyllodactylus insularis). Zug (2010) provided an excellent review of the genus and summarized much of what is known to date. Unfortunately, no other studies have been able to take a comprehensive approach to understanding more about this unique radiation of geckos.
This species is broadly distributed, and is recognized to occur in Hawaii, French Polynesia, the Pacific Rim islands, through New Guinea, Sunda, and Indochina to Sri Lanka as well as the Mascarene Islands (Zug, 2010). In the Philippines this species has been reported from the islands of Palawan and Mindanao (Zug, 2010: Figure 14).
Palawan and Mindanao Pleistocene Aggregate Island Complexes (PAIC; Brown and Diesmos, 2002).
Snout-vent length 14.3 to 16.1 mm for six exmaples [Eggs and Hatchlings]. Eggs have been found in rotting logs on forest floor and the leaf axils of aerial ferns. (Text taken from Brown and Alcala, 1978)
26.4-46.1 mm SVL (Zug, 2010)
"Agam" (Sumatra); holotype in the British Museum; BMNH 1946.8.30.83
Hemiphyllodactylus typus, also known as the Indopacific tree gecko, Indopacific slender gecko, or common dwarf gecko, is a species of gecko found in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia, and some islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.[1]
India (Shevaroy Hills, Anaimalai, Nilgiri Hills), Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka, Indochina, Vietnam, Chapa/Tongking, Thailand, W Malaysia, Singapore, Oceania, Burma, Philippines (Panay), Indonesia (Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Bali, Sumbawa, Komodo), China, Taiwan, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Tonga, Marquesas Islands, Society Islands, Pitcairn Islands, Solomon Islands, Fiji Islands (Vanua Levu, Viti Levu), Mauritius, Reunion, Rodrigues (fide F. Glaw, pers. comm.) Introduced to Ryukyu Islands (Japan), Introduced to Iriomotejima Island, Introduced into the USA (Hawaii)
Type locality: "Agam" [West-Sumatra] [Kluge 1968] and "Goenong Parong (Java)" [= Gunung Parang, West-Java] (Wermuth 1965)
Hemiphyllodactylus typus, also known as the Indopacific tree gecko, Indopacific slender gecko, or common dwarf gecko, is a species of gecko found in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia, and some islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
