Study of Morphometric and Meristic Characteristics of Keeled rock gecko (Cyrtopodion scabrum) in Golestan Province

Lizards have significant roles in lifecycle and are related to humans either directly or indirectly. Identifying the fauna of a region is the most necessary and significant biological and fundamental research on it. Golestan province has a variety of climates due to its special geographical location. In this study, 26 specimens of keeled rock gecko, Cyrtopodion scabrum were collected from different areas of Golestan province since 2017 by hand. Colorful photos were taken; then fixed in alcohol 75% and finally identified using valid keys. 14 morphometric and 13 meristic characters were studied in all specimens. Sexes of the adult specimens were determined by observing the pre-anal pores (PAN) in males and their absence in females, and finally, with a brief dissection of the specimens and observation of genital glands. Analysis of data descripted using SPSS (version 22), T-test, Kruskal Wallis Test and PCA were analyzed Slight differences between mean of characters of males and females were observed based on descriptive analysis. It was not observed significant difference in morphometric characters between two sexes based on the analysis of T-test. Meristic characters (pre-anal pores) had significant difference, indicating sexual dimorphism in this species. Also, PCA analysis revealed that there is no separation between males and females based on morphometric and meristic characters.