No matter what, people will continue to have trouble identifying which species of Uroplatus they have.  Hopefully, this guide will serve as your help in order to identify which species you have.

As of right now, there are 12 described species of Uroplatus, with only two recognized subspecies:

Uroplatus alluaudi, Alluaud's leaftail, Northern leaftail

Uroplatus ebenaui, Eban’s or Spear-point leaftail

Uroplatus fimbriatus, Giant leaftail

Uroplatus giganteus, White-eyed 'fimbriatus'

Uroplatus guentheri, Gunther’s leaftail

Uroplatus henkeli, Henkel’s or Frilled leaftail

Uroplatus lineatus, Lined leaftail

Uroplatus malahelo, Malahelo leaftail

Uroplatus malama, Smooth leaftail

Uroplatus phantasticus, Satanic, Fantastic, or Eyelash leaftail

Uroplatus pietschmanni, Spiny or Corkbark leaftail

Uroplatus sikorae sameiti, Mossy leaftail

Uroplatus sikorae sikorae, Mossy leaftail

Research suggests there are 4 groups within the genus Uroplatus based on morphology. 

The “ebenaui” group

The ebenaui group consists of U. ebenaui, U. malama, and U. phantasticus and is distinguished from all other members of the genus by a laterally compressed body shape as opposed to the dorso-ventrally flattened body shape of all other species.  Most of all, this group is characterized by small size, and there is still confusion between species.  Research suggests that the ebenaui group consists of even more species than currently described, with most of the undescribed species physically resembling U. ebenaui.  Within the hobby, U. ebenaui is generally recognized primarily by its tiny tail.  U. phantasticus is recognized by the largest tail within the group.  The rarest recognized species within the group is U. malama, which has a tail length that is intermediate between the other two species. 

To make matter more difficult, there are other “forms” which likely constitute one or more distinct undescribed species within the hobby, though they are rare.  While these “forms” (often referred to as "U. aff. ebenaui" or "U. cf. ebenaui", both terms referring to uncertainty in identification*) may superficially resemble one another by having a tail slightly longer than U. ebenaui, but shorter than U. malama.  The fact that very few specimens within the hobby have any locality information further complicates the identification of these “forms”.

*On a side-note, the question often comes up as to what the abbreviations aff. and cf. mean.  The abbreviation aff. comes from the Latin affinis, and when used to describe a species, it shows uncertainty of the exact species but shows relation or similarity to a species or group of species.  The abbreviation cf. comes from the Latin confer, so in this case there is uncertainty of the species with a lack of information to determine the proper species.

The “fimbriatus” group

The fimbriatus group consists of U. fimbriatus, U. giganteus, U. henkeli, and U. sikorae.  This group also contains the only described subspecies within the genus: U. sikorae sameiti and U. sikorae sikorae.  The largest members of the genus are contained within this group, and the largest of all described species being U. giganteus.  Within the hobby, this group seems to have the greatest amount of confusion.  Until CITES listed the members of the genus Uroplatus, these were among the most commonly imported species to the United States.  Since, the numbers of imported U. henkeli have been very low, but the numbers of U. fimbriatus and U. sikorae have still been a high proportion of the imported species.

Perhaps the most noticeable differences between these species can be found by looking at the eye.  U. fimbriatus have fairly bold striations within the the iris, concentric to the pupil.  The pupil tends to have a cream to yellow base coloration, and the striations tend to be orange to red.  U. giganteus bears striking resemblance to U. fimbriatus, except for the fact that the patterning in the eye is less distinct and the base color of the iris is white.  U. henkeli and U. sikorae tend to have less distinct patterning within the eye.  U. henkeli have fine venation radiating primarily outward from the pupil.  U. sikorae seem to have the least prominent patterning within the eyes, but often have a yellow coloration to the iris.  In my personal opinion, when differentiating subspecies, U. sikorae sikorae tend to have the yellow coloration boldest on the outermost ring of the iris, while U. sikorae sameiti tend to have a more solidly bright yellow coloration to the iris.  However, the most reliable method to distinguish subspecies is to have a look at the buccal cavity (mouth, particularly the rear roof of the mouth).  U. sikorae sikorae have a black buccal cavity with the anterior portion and bottom of the mouth being pink in coloration, while U. sikorae sameiti has a homogeneous pink coloration to the entirety of the mouth cavity.  We may see the two subspecies of Mossy leaftail geckos elevated to their own specific status in the future.

The "alluaudi" group

The alluaudi group consists of U. alluaudi, U. guentheri, U. malahelo,  and U. pietschmanni.  This group includes some of the rarest species of the genus.  Members of this group tend to be medium sized when compared with other species, similar overall to the size of U. sikorae.  U. pietschmanni have received the common name "Corkbark leaftail" for its uncanny resemblance of a common cage furnishing, its alternate common name "Spiny leaftail" also accurately sets apart this species from others in the group, for its skin is highly textured.  U. guentheri has become more common in the hobby in recent years, and is rumored to be possibly the easiest of the leaftail geckos to maintain and breed.  General appearance of U. guentheri, U. alluaudi and U. malahelo is very similar.  The small, recessed spike on the tail tip of U. guentheri sets it apart from the other species of this group, yet is similar to the tail tip of U. fimbriatus.  U. malahelo is known from very few specimens that were collected from a forest that was in the process of being destroyed by logging.  Scalation may be the only reliable method of discerning some of the members of this group.

The "lineatus" group

This group consists of a single known species, U. lineatus.  This species is easily identified by its yellowish-brown coloration with dark brown to black longitudinal stripes.  Some may have a small white stripe above the eye, however most specimens lack this characteristic.  Males have light-colored, irregularly shaped mid-dorsal blotches, while females have a pair of light-colored, broken, longitudinal stripes on either side of the darker mid-dorsal line.