TAXONOMIC REVIEW OF THE GECKOS ALLIED TO GEKKO-CHINENSIS GRAY 1842 (GEKKONIDAE REPTILIA) FROM CHINA AND VIETNAM

A reassessment was made for the status of the poorly known Vietnamese gecko, Gekko palmatus Boulenger 1907, by comparing the holotype and ad ditional specimens of the species with those of the closely resembling G. chinensis Gray 1842 from southeastern China. As a result, it was r evealed that the two species differ from each other in several charact ers such as the size of internasal in-relation to supernasal, and snou t-vent length (SVL). On the other hand, the holotype and paratype of G . similignum Smith 1923, a species described from Hainan Island but su bsequently synonymised to G. chinensis, showed several characteristics such as the greater scale row count at midbody and smaller SVL when c ompared with G. chinensis. The types also differed from G. palmatus in having internasal as large as or larger than supranasal, smaller SVL and fewer preanal pores. Therefore, the specific name G. similignum wa s resurrected as valid.