Uroplatus morphs?

[slygecko]

Is there any summary of Uroplatus morphs? I see a lot of variation in pictures of different species (henkeli and phantasticus come to mind) and was just wondering if there was any resources or compilation of morphs or localities in these guys.

Cheers,
Nick

[umop_apisdn]

well, for several species there is a lot of variation, although the term "morph" being used to describe any variation in pattern is somewhat debated. the only "morphs" of anything ive seen or heard of in the leaftail realm is clouded or striped. you'll get those on fimbriatus, henkeli, or sikorae. i dont think any one "morph" really holds up through breeding, although you are more likely to get patterned offspring after breeding patterned adults. as far as phantasticus go, there are no morphs i know of. you've basically got a whole boatload of variation. locale info is difficult to come by as well. there are also rarer specimens that come in...yet i admit to knowing very little about. there are the "white eyed fimbriatus" which i hear have eyes resembling henkeli, but are a lil larger than your average fimbriatus. there is also the "giant" phantasticus, but once again i know little about these. finally, there are the "long tailed" ebenaui, which pretty much look like an intergrade between ebenaui and phantasticus (as far as tail length goes).

i've heard people say my henkeli are mainland henkeli, that some of those found on satellite islands to madagascar tend to have differently sized, more unusually patterned individuals. but i would guess that most of the info about "locales" is speculation. most of us are hobbyists, few have the opportunity to work on them in the field. i have asked importers ive bought from before if they could get any locale info, but it never seems to come up. i have wondered if locale specifics play a role in the compatibility of certain individuals when it comes to breeding, but i never hear a word of info about where exactly my animals come from.

but i do not believe that particular colors/patterns are specific to certain locales. the rarer sizes/morphs i mentioned above...maybe.

[EriksReptiles]

Ya, I really like the different Henkeli Morphs......

Here is a picture of a black and white (at night ) female that I got in with a group from a friend of mine for me to breed!
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/FemaleHenkelipandanew.jpg


Thanks ERik

[EriksReptiles]

but i do not believe that particular colors/patterns are specific to certain locales. the rarer sizes/morphs i mentioned above...maybe.

Agreed!!

Thanks Erik

[Shane]

There is the "long tail" ebenaui, they have been documented many times not to cross.
The "giant" phantasticus are really much larger and do not cross with normals.
The Uroplatus malama could easily and once was in the ebenai group, looks like a giant phantasticus.
There is a giant Fimbriatus, the largest Uroplatus found.
There are mainland and island for henkeli, with considerable differences in size and structure...I have witnessed these and crossed them.

There is most likely many more I am sure of and many most likely deserve species status.

[nycherper]

Other patterns that acn be seen not listed are Striped sikorae, i have seen henkeli with one solid black stripe running down the entire length of the back. I've seen spotted henkeli. Im sure there are other unqiue patterns/colorations out there.

[BadAssHerps]

My importer showed me a Fim that was solid white with pine tree red spotches. I about died!
-Eli

[nycherper]

I haven't seen too much variation in the fimb. department. Do you still have the pic?

[BadAssHerps]

I do somewhere give me a few days and see if I cant find it.
-Eli

[danscantle]

i've heard people say my henkeli are mainland henkeli, that some of those found on satellite islands to madagascar tend to have differently sized, more unusually patterned individuals. but i would guess that most of the info about "locales" is speculation. most of us are hobbyists, few have the opportunity to work on them in the field.

About mainland U. henkeli - Olaf Pronk once told me mainland individuals were different in many regards, and may warrant at least subspecific status. I once kept what I thought was clearly a mainland male, based on Olaf's words and the pictures he had posted on www.uroplatus.com. This male was quite different from another male I had, which I assumed came from Nosy Be.

Madagascar has a complex biogeographic history and there is a considerable body of evidence that show the rainforests have a history of repeated fragmentation and growing back. The ancient fragments served as refugia during dry times and led to speciation in some groups (shown in Brookesia chameleons but easily possible in every other animal on Madagascar) or at least areas of endemism (Brookesia again, awaiting confirmation from other taxa). Although we can no longer see these ancient refugia their effects are far from gone, and I suspect there are several genetically distinct lineages within Uroplatus tracing their heritage back to one refuge and thus mandate responsible bloodline management.

[Shane]

My experience with Mainland Henkeli and Island forms, one had the indentations in the arm-pit and one did not, but both had similar eye pattern unlike the fimbriatus. The mainlands had more pattern and most of the time a much greater size. Can not remember exact information, this is why you keep records!