{"id":3075,"date":"2020-01-17T20:08:40","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T20:08:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moroccoherps.com\/?page_id=3075"},"modified":"2020-03-26T11:28:33","modified_gmt":"2020-03-26T11:28:33","slug":"acanthodactylus_aureus","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.moroccoherps.com\/en\/ficha\/acanthodactylus_aureus\/","title":{"rendered":"Species page of Acanthodactylus aureus"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Golden Fringe-fingered Lizard
\nAcanthodactylus aureus<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0G\u00fcnther, 1903<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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By\u00a0Mario Schweiger<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Updated:\u00a013\/10\/2012<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Taxonomy:\u00a0Sauria\u00a0|\u00a0Lacertidae\u00a0|\u00a0Acanthodactylus\u00a0|\u00a0Acanthodactylus aureus<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Acanthodactylus
Female Acanthodactylus aureus. Gourizim. Photo: \u00a9 Mario Schweiger.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Range<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0\u00a0Acanthodactylus aureus<\/span><\/p>\n

Distribution map of
\nAcanthodactylus aureus<\/span>
\nin Morocco.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gallery: 13 photos.\u00a0[ENTER]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Phylogenetic frame<\/h2>\n

Acanthodactylus scutellatus aureus<\/span>\u00a0G\u00fcnther, 1903 (not\u00a0A. inornatus aureus<\/span>\u00a0G\u00fcnther, 1903 fide Crochet\u00a0et al.<\/em>, 2003; B\u00f6hme, 1978; Schleich\u00a0et al.<\/em>, 1996).
\nAcanthodactylus inornatus aureus<\/span>\u00a0Bons & Girot, 1964.
\nAcanthodactylus aureus<\/span>\u00a0Salvador, 1982<\/p>\n

The scientific name\u00a0aureus<\/span>\u00a0probably doesn\u00b4t point to the “golden” colour of the lizard, but is named of the locality of its first observation, the “Rio de Oro” (gold river) peninsula west of the gulf with the same name (Western Sahara). G\u00fcnther had only preserved specimens, collected by Mr. Riggenbach, which, as I suppose, didn\u2019t show the \u201cgolden\u201d breeding colours. Crochet\u00a0et al.<\/em>\u00a0(2003) restricted the Terra typica to Dakhla on this peninsula, although the types came from this area.<\/p>\n

Description<\/h2>\n

Acanthodactylus aureus<\/span>\u00a0is a member of the\u00a0scutellatus<\/span>\u00a0group. No other member of this group (A. dumerilii<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0A. longipes<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0A. senegalensis<\/span>,\u00a0A. taghitensis<\/span>) shares the same distribution (with exception of\u00a0A. dumerilii<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in the Semara area), therefore a missidentification with another species is probably not possible. The only other two\u00a0Acanthodactylus<\/span>\u00a0species, living close by at least are\u00a0A. boskianus<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0A. \u201cbusacki\u201d<\/span>.<\/p>\n

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\"Acanthodactylus
Female of Acanthodactylus aureus. Gourizim. Photo: \u00a9 Mario Schweiger.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

In\u00a0Acanthodactylus boskianus<\/span><\/a>\u00a0the dorsal scales get visible larger from the neck to the tail, therefore easy to determine.\u00a0Acanthodactylus \u201cbusacki\u201d<\/span>\u00a0has distinct large blotches, with or without longitudinal stripes. The snout of\u00a0A. aureus<\/span>\u00a0is much more pointed in contrast to\u00a0A. \u201cbusacki\u201d<\/span>. Blotches and stripes have a much more faint appearance in\u00a0A. aureus<\/span>.<\/p>\n

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\"Acanthodactylus
Juvenile of Acanthodactylus aureus. Tarfaya. Photo: \u00a9 Gabri Mtnez.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Why\u00a0Acanthodactylus \u201cbusacki\u201d<\/span>\u00a0is written here within quotes, see taxonomical account of that species!<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Acanthodactylus aureus<\/span>, in very most cases, only 2 Supralabials have contact with the Subocular, a result of melted 3rd and 4th, seldom 4th and 5th Supralabials.<\/p>\n

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\"Acanthodactylus
Hind limb showing the scales on fingers. Tantan. Photo: \u00a9 Gabri Mtnez.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Ecology and habits<\/h2>\n

A day active lizard, which may be active also during cool, overcast weather (Schleich\u00a0et al.<\/em>, 1996). Runs very quick from one bush to the next, when encountered.\u00a0Acanthodactylus aureus<\/span>\u00a0is hiding inside bushes or in holes in the dunes (digged by ?) (Boettger, C.R.; own observ.). We never could find them below the rare stones in the dunes.<\/p>\n

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\"Acanthodactylus
Female of Acanthodactylus aureus. Gourizim. Photo: \u00a9 Mario Schweiger.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

During sunshine the lizard is basking for a long time on the hot sand. To avoid burnings on feet and belly, it changes the basking position from belly on ground with feet up in the air to belly up the ground as high as possible, regulary.<\/p>\n

Distribution, habitat and abundance<\/h2>\n

Limited to a narrow stripe along the Atlantic littoral from Agadir, Morocco in the north to Mboro in the Senegal (B\u00f6hme, 1978; Brito\u00a0et al.<\/em>, 2008). Most inland location is Semara (Smara) in Western Sahara (Crochet\u00a0et al.<\/em>, 2003, Geniez\u00a0et al.<\/em>, 2004).<\/p>\n

Restricted to sandy habitats with warm to hot winter climate (Geniez\u00a0et al.<\/em>, 2006).<\/p>\n

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\"Habitat
Habitat of Acanthodactylus aureus. Gourizim. Photo: \u00a9 Mario Schweiger.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Own observations:
\nWe observed\u00a0Acanthodactylus aureus<\/span>\u00a0in the coastal dunes south of Agadir between Tifnite (west of Sidi-Bibi) in the north and Sidi Ifni in the south. We only saw them in the open dunes close to the coastal line with no to very sparse vegetation. More land inside, where the dunes have been covered with dense vegetation,\u00a0A. aureus<\/span>\u00a0was replaced by\u00a0Acanthodactylus \u201cbusacki\u201d<\/span>. We never could observe both species syntop, although they are living close by, sometimes only separated by a few metres.<\/p>\n

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\"Habitat
Habitat of Acanthodactylus aureus. Tifnite. Photo: \u00a9 Mario Schweiger.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

At Gourizim the abundance seemed to be very high during our visit in contrast to other localities (artefact of daytime?). Distance between specimens has been 5 to 10 metres.<\/p>\n

G\u00fcnther (1903) and Boettger (1921) also report a very high abundance on the Ed Dajla es Sahria (Rio de Oro) peninsula.<\/p>\n

Whole range of species: Lower risk-least concern (LR-Lc).<\/p>\n

References<\/h3>\n