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Antagonistic aria: vocalisations of the male slender feather-tailed leaf-toed gecko (Gekkonidae: Kolekanos plumicaudus)

Published in: African Journal of Herpetology
Volume 74 , issue 1 : Entrepreneurship and Africa’s Cultural Context , 2024 , pages: 166–171
DOI: 10.1080/21564574.2025.2461303
Author(s): Francois S Becker National Museum of Namibia, Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, Namibia, Pedro Vaz Pinto CIBIO-InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Portugal, Javier Lobón-Rovira CIBIO-InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Portugal,
Keywords: advertisement call, Angolan highlands, bioacoustics, Iona, intrasexual selection, species recognition,
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Abstract

Kolekanos plumicaudus is a gecko endemic to the Namib Desert in south-western Angola. It is distantly related to all other geckos in the region, except for its one congener, K. spinicaudus. There have been no scientific accounts on the social behaviours or the vocal repertoire of this species, nor of any species within the broader gekkonid clade in which it has been placed. We recorded and describe what appears to be an aggressive, territorial call for K. plumicaudus. The call consists of two distinct phases, each with a different progression in terms of rhythm and volume. We characterise the call using a taxonomic bioacoustic framework and a descriptive musical framework. The sister-species is also vocal, but recordings have not yet been obtained.
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