Lygodactylus tolampyae (Grandidier, 1872)

Vences, Miguel, Herrmann, Cecilia, Multzsch, Malte, Gippner, Sven, Razafimanafo, Delina, Rahagalala, Ny Ando, Rakotomanga, Sandratra, Rakotoarison, Andolalao, Glaw, Frank & Miralles, Aurélien, 2025, Revision of the Lygodactylus tolampyae complex, with descriptions of three additional new dwarf gecko species from Madagascar’s North West, Zootaxa 5665 (3), pp. 301-328 : 323

Identity of Lygodactylus tolampyae

After clarifying herein the status of the three previously identified candidate species and formally naming them as L. andavambato , L. anjajavy and L. arnei , the main remaining taxonomic uncertainty in the L. tolampyae complex surrounds L. tolampyae sensu stricto. As summarized by Vences et al. (2024a), the holotype of this species is likely lost from the MNHN collection in Paris (see Brygoo 1990), and due to historical collection data for the type specimen ( Grandidier 1872, 1893), an origin from the wider area around Morondava is most likely. Also from this area (i.e., from the Menabe region) comes the lectotype of L. tuberifer which is considered a junior synonym of L. tolampyae ( Mertens 1922, 1965). As no L. tolampyae specimen reliably collected from Morondava is currently known, Vences et al. (2024a) assigned the southernmost lineage of the complex from the Tsingy de Bemaraha to this species. Recent fieldwork around Morondava carried out by us in 2024 yielded no L. tolampyae specimens in this area, and no reliable records of this species complex from sites south of the Tsingy de Bemaraha are available from iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org/; consulted on 30 November 2024). Especially, it seems unlikely, at present, that the species occurs in the well-surveyed Kirindy forest north of Morondava, or in adjacent areas. However, Puente et al. (2009) list a specimen of L. tolampyae from Belo-sur-Tsiribihina, a large village between the Tsingy de Bemaraha and Morondava on the northern bank of the Tsiribihina river (MNHN-RA-1990.1868, collected by C.A. Domergue), at about 80 km linear distance from Morondava and 70 km from the Tsingy de Bemaraha, and still located in the Menabe region. It is therefore possible that the Tsiribihina is the southern limit of the L. tolampyae complex, in which case the Belo-sur-Tsiribihina population would be a suitable candidate for designating a neotype for L. tolampyae . Future fieldwork in the now almost completely deforested area as well a molecular study of MNHN-RA-1990.1868 using archival DNA approaches will be necessary to clarify the identity of this population.