. Current herpetology. Reptiles; Herpetology. 24 Current Herpetol. 23(1) 2004 Etymology The specific epithet is derived from a trans- literation of the Thai "hang" meaning tail, "see" meaning color, and "som" meaning orange. It refers to the most obvious diagnos- tic feature of the species, its orange tail color. The transliteration follows that of Allison (1978) as used by Cox (1991). Observations in captivity One paratype of Dixonius hangseesom (ZMB 65437), captured when about 33 mm SVL, lived ten years and two months in captivity, maintained in a daily and seas
. Current herpetology. Reptiles; Herpetology. 24 Current Herpetol. 23(1) 2004 Etymology The specific epithet is derived from a trans- literation of the Thai "hang" meaning tail, "see" meaning color, and "som" meaning orange. It refers to the most obvious diagnos- tic feature of the species, its orange tail color. The transliteration follows that of Allison (1978) as used by Cox (1991). Observations in captivity One paratype of Dixonius hangseesom (ZMB 65437), captured when about 33 mm SVL, lived ten years and two months in captivity, maintained in a daily and seasonally variable temperature regime of C in the care of W. Grossmann. During this period this animal was strictly crepuscular and nocturnal in its activity cycle. It was main- tained on a diverse diet of food insects includ- ing crickets, locusts, fruit flies, wax worms, and meal worms. The orange tail of this gecko became darker with age, becoming mid-brown during the last three years of its Ufe (Figs 4-5). During the last year of its life the behavior of the specimen changed and daytime emergence from its retreat site was noted. Ultimately the gecko's movements became slowed and in the last week of life it became uncoordinated. Given the extreme longevity of this specimen— comparable to the maximum age achieved by most small-bodied gekkonids (Bowler, 1977; Rosier, 1982, 1987), we assume that this behavioral alteration and motor degradation was the result of senescence rather than a specific pathology and that D. hangseesom in the wild is unlikely to reach this advanced age. Distribution and natural history To date Dixonius hangseesom has only been found in Kanchanaburi Province in western Thailand. The CUMZ and IRSNB paratypes were collected on a limestone hill in bamboo forest (Fig. 7). The ZMB paratype was collected under stones after heavy rainfall near the edge of primary forest. The new species occurs sympatrically with D. siamensis in some localities, but i
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