Gekko browni (Brown's Fringe Gecko)
The common name of this Gecko Lizard in English is commonly called Brown’s Gecko, Brown's Fringe Gecko, Brown's (Wolf) Gecko and Thai name called ตุ๊กแกเรียวมลายู (Tukgae Rieow Malayu).
Source: iNaturalist.org; Gekko browni (Russell, 1979) observed in Thailand. Photo by ian_dugdale. (CC BY)
ตุ๊กแกเรียวมลายู : Gekko browni (Russell, 1979)
Gekko browni is a species of the Tokay Gecko Genus (Gekko) within the Gecko Lizard Family (Gekkonidae), Superfamily Gekkota, in the Lizard and Snake Order (Squamata), in the Reptile Class (Reptilia), in the Chordate Phylum (Chordata) in the Animal Kingdom (Animalia).
Published in Russell A P. A new species of Luperosaurus (Gekkonidae) with comments on the genus. Herpetologica 35 (3): 282-288. (1979).
Formerly treated under genus Luperosaurus now placed under Gekko.
The specific epithet "browni" is honors WaIter Creighton Brown (1913-2002), a herpetologist who specialized in the herpetofauna of the South Pacific and the Philippines. He received his doctorate from Stanford (1955) and went to Silliman University, Philippines, as a Fulbright Professor of Sciences.
Geographic Range
This species is present in northern and central Borneo (Das 2004), Pulau Tekong off the coast of Singapore (Baker and Lim 2008) and Ulu Gombak, Selangor (Russell 1979) and Tapah, Pahang in Peninsular Malaysia (Grismer 2011).
It has also been recorded from Suaq Balimbing, Sumatra, taken at an elevations between 19 to 66 m asl (D. Iskandar pers. comm. 2017).
In Borneo it is known from Lambir Hills National Park in Sarawak (Ota et al. 1996), and from a specimen originally misidentified as Ptychozoon rhacophorus from Maruwai in Central Kalimantan (Iskandar 2004, I. Das pers. comm. 2017).
Habitat and Ecology
Little is known about this species' natural history. It appears to be rare, cryptic, secretive, nocturnal, and arboreal, spending much of its time in the upper levels of vegetation.
Russell (1979) reports a specimen from the trunk of a small tree, two metres above the ground. E. Quah and L. Grismer (pers. comm. 2017) collected a specimen on a tree trunk two metres above the ground at Kuala Nerang, Kedah.
Specimens have also been observed when they have been dislodged from the canopy and fallen to the ground during windy or stormy weather (E. Quah and L. Grismer pers. comm. 2017). It has recorded from swamp forest, in Suaq Balimbing (Sumatra) (D. Iskandar pers. comm. 2017).
The species inhabits both primary and secondary forest, but is not tolerant of anthropogenic disturbance (E. Quah pers. comm. 2017). This species has occasionally been found in the pet trade (E. Quah and L. Grismer pers. comm. 2017).
Type locality: Malaysia, Sarawak (Borneo), Lambir National Park, Ulu Gombak forest reserve, 35 km north of Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, West Malaysia.
Synonym
- Luperosaurus browni Russell, 1979
- Luperosaurus serraticaudus Ota, Sengoku & Hikida, 1996
- Gekko (Sundagekko) browni Wood et al. 2019