Hi,
> According to McKeown's description the male and female on page 65 are both
> lowland forms, and the P. cepediana on page 66 is an upland form. McKeown
> took the pictures of the P. cepediana in that section. So, I would assume
> that he was actually in the lowland and upland areas to take
> these pictures.
Well, to me the photos don�t really suggest that they have been taken in the
wild ... ;-) But if he went there (which I don�t know) he might have truly
taken the locations into account. In general I am still not convinced that
these animals are so much different - if you compare the variation in
markings,
stripes, colors and so on whith other Phelsuma species (like ornata, where
there are rather blueish-grey and quite green animals, but still they
"inter"-
breed and are the same) then the cepediana-variations in discussion are IMHO
in range of the normal diversity and don�t earn subspecies status.
> I have animals of both sexes that have green underbellies.
> I have animals of both sexes that have white underbellies.
That is really interesting - on my stay on Maurice I couldn�t find a single
male with a white belly ... or a female with a green, for that matter.
> Red is news to me. Of the photos you attached, I would venture a guess
that
> the one shown in profile is a upland female.That is, if my belief is
> correct. The other one shot head on I cannot even guess.
They were - as written - taken on the coast. and both pictures are supposed
to
show the same animal ... ;-)
> Last year in Daytona Jamie Corell and I examined a large group of
cepediana
> we decided were WC upland animals. It seems that most dealers simply take
WC
> and call them CB. I went back and looked at every single animal. And
typical
> of Strictly Reptiles, the woman there had no knowledge of their origin, or
> even what they were. They only knew the price.
Nothing unusual there :-(
> To be honest, I know of no one who has geographic information on their
> cepediana.
I agree with that, but even if you had this information it is not worth much
as you�ll take into account only few specimens. To be sure about this theory
you will have to go there and take LOTS of pictures ... but my wife was not
on holiday just for geckos, so ... ;-)
> And anyone who can reach out to Mr Siepp or to Olaf Pronk, perhaps they
can
> clarify further for us. Or confound us further- Red underbellies??????
I will try to get pictures or at least some kind of confirmation for the red
underbellies ... but don�t expect anything on that topic too soon ... .
> I never found any red or brown bellied P.cepediana on Mauritius either,
> actually it is the first time I hear about it. But there certainly is a
> morphological difference in animals from several locations. The animals
> in northern Mauritius tend to have a whiter ventral coloration then the
> animals in the southern part, where you find a greener ventral colour.
Now if I take you right this is rather a question of region than altitude?
This would explain why I could not find any white-bellied males ... we did
not see many cepediana close-up in northern Mauritius, but found quite a
lot in the south ... .
> Along the coasts in the southern region though you will find many white
> or whitish ventral coloured geckos too.
Doesn�t this somehow contradict with what you�ve said before ... I am a bit
confused ... or is there just no real pattern, with animals of the different
underbellies spread everywhere - even though unevenly, requiring thourough
research on the numbers to make any valid definition?
> Once you go higher (altitudes from around 350-400 m) you will find "green
> bellied" P.cepediana only. It is exactly on these altitudes where you also
> find the first P.guimbeaui rosagularis!
... I was unlucky and found only the g. guimbeaui in the west ...
> A good location to see this transition is "Domaine du Chasseur" where you
> will find the first 100% green bellied animals above 350m and also going
> up from the Black River valley to Maccabee forest. More obvious then the
> green ventral colour and a more important key to determine upland and
> lowland P. cepediana is the ability of the upland animals to change to a
> very dark overall coloration to thermo-regulate! As these higher regions
> are "colder" than the coastal ones, the upland animals have evolved in
such
> a way that they are able to become almost entirely black when basking.
This
> has an effect on the colours of the animals when "in normal" coloration.
> The green, red and even blue tends to be darker in upland animals. We also
> see this in P.guimbeaui rosagularis. I am also under the impression that
> the animals from higher altitudes are slightly bigger and that the sexual
> dimorphism is more consistent than in the lowland Phelsuma cepediana.
Wow, this explanation is logical - and makes things even more complicated
... maybe someday this will be sorted out genetically, but until then I�ll
be happy that my animals breed and leave it to others to determine their
upland or lowland status ... ;-)
One last note on the "not interbreeding" ... I have found that Phelsuma in
general can be quite choosy about their partners, even if they are for 100%
of the same species (even from the same brood). I think the reason for this
kind of thing might be found in the smell (Pheromones or such) rather than
in the looks - so I would not be surprised if the different cepediana would
suddenly interbreed if teamed up with the right partner ... have you tried
to rotate them already?
Regards - Hartmut
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