Andaman giant gecko
A closer look at the eye
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Gekkonidae
Genus: Gekko
Species:
G. verreauxi
Binomial name
Gekko verreauxi
Tytler, 1865[1]

The Andaman giant gecko (Gekko verreauxi), also known commonly as the Andamanese giant gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is indigenous to the Andaman Islands

Etymology

The specific name, verreauxi, is in honor of French naturalist Jules Verreaux.[1][2]

Geographic range

G. verreauxi is endemic to the Andaman Islands of India.[3]

Description

Reaching a total length (including tail) of more than one foot (30 cm),[4] the Andaman giant gecko is one of the world's largest geckos.

Habitat

G. verreauxi is commonly found on trees,[4] tree logs, and in crop fields.

Behaviour

G. verreauxi hides by day in cavities or under bark plates of trees (typically Manilkara litoralis), and comes out after sunset to prey on insects. It is shy and well camouflaged.[4]

Reproduction

G. verreauxi is oviparous.[3]

A Gekko verreauxi guards a clutch of eggs

References

  1. 1 2 Tytler RC (1865). "Observations on a few Species of Geckos alive in the possession of the author". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 33 [1864]: 535-548. (Gekko verreauxi, new species, p. 546).
  2. ↑ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Gekko verreauxi, p. 274).
  3. 1 2 Gekko verreauxi at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 22 August 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 Veselý M (1999). "A note on the morphology and natural history of Gekko verreauxi Tytler 1864 (Reptilia, Sauria, Gekkonidae)". Senckenbergiana Biologica. 79 (1): 95–99.

Further reading

  • Ota H, Hikida T, Matsui M (1991). "Re-evaluation of the Status of Gekko verreauxi Tytler, 1864, from the Andaman Islands, India". Journal of Herpetology 25 (2): 147–151.
  • Rösler H (2000). "Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)". Gekkota 2: 28–153. (Gekko verreauxi, p. 82). (in German).


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