About Calodactylodes aureus (Beddome, 1870)
This species has digits that are slender at the base and free, with squarish scales on their underside. Each digit has large trapezoidal penultimate and distal expansions; the lower surface of each expansion is covered by two large plates separated by a longitudinal groove. All digits bear a claw, and the claw is retractable between the distal plates. The penultimate expansion is absent on the inner digit. The upper surface of the body is covered in small granular scales mixed with larger tubercles, and abdominal scales are positioned next to one another without overlapping. Pupils are vertical. No preanal or femoral pores are present. The head is large, oviform, and very distinct from the neck. A strong, rounded supraorbital and canthal ridge is present. There are five deep concavities: one frontal, two postnasal, and two loreal. The snout is longer than the distance between the eye and ear opening, measuring 1.3 times the diameter of the orbit. The ear opening is vertical and measures half the diameter of the eye. The body is not strongly depressed. Limbs are long and slender. The width of the digital expansion is about half the diameter of the eye. The head is covered in very small granules, which are largest on the canthal ridges. The rostral scale is four-sided, twice as broad as high, and has a concave posterior border. Nostrils are located between the rostral, the first labial scale, and three nasal scales. The anterior nasal is large and contacts the opposite anterior nasal. There are 12 or 13 upper labials, and the same number of lower labials. The mental scale is the same size as the adjacent labials, or smaller. There are no regular chin-shields; small, polygonal scales gradually transition into the granules that cover the gular region. The upper body surface is covered in minute granules. The back has scattered, barely prominent, smooth, round larger tubercles that are not as large as the ventral scales. Ventral scales are flat, smooth, squarish, juxtaposed, and arranged like bricks in a wall. The tail is long, cylindrical, remarkably slender, and covered in squarish scales that are much larger on its underside. In preserved specimens, the upper surface color is brownish-white; it is golden during life, and dotted or vermiculated with brown. Lower surfaces are whitish. The species measures 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) from snout to vent, and the tail is 3.2 inches (8.1 cm) long. This species is found only in India, where it is restricted to rocky areas of the Eastern Ghats. It occurs among rocks in dark, shady ravines in the Tirupati Hills, according to M.A. Smith 1935. Mature females deposit more than 300 eggs into a shared community nest located near water or moist areas.
