Independent Transitions between Monsoonal and Arid Biomes Revealed by Systematic Revison of a Complex of Australian Geckos (Diplodactylus; Diplodactylidae)
Fig 5
Variation in dorsal scalation.
Arrangement of scales on neck and back of head—(A) scales small, only slightly larger those on side of neck (D. conspicillatus SAMA R42569); B) D. laevis (SAMA R56481) scales on nape and back of head large and plate-like and continuous with enlarged dorsal scales on trunk. Condition A applies to all members of the D. conspicillatus group except D. laevis. (C) Plate-like vertebral scales (1), appreciably larger than those of dorsolateral area (2) (D. conspicillatus SAMA R42569); (D) Dorsal scales granular, those of vertebral area (1) not appreciably larger than those of the dorsolateral area (2) (D. hillii NTM R27363). Condition D only occurs in D. hillii and D. barraganae sp. nov. (Images: A–C, Jeff Wright QM; D, Peter Waddington QM).