Pachydactylus geitje

Pachydactylus geitje, also known as the ocellated gecko, ocellated thick-toed gecko or Cradock thick-toed gecko, is a tiny species of thick-toed gecko, which is indigenous to the Western Cape of South Africa.

For the South American species called ocellated gecko, see Sphaerodactylus argus

Pachydactylus geitje
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Gekkonidae
Genus: Pachydactylus
Species:
P. geitje
Binomial name
Pachydactylus geitje
(Sparrman, 1778)
Synonyms
  • Lacerta geitje Sparrman, 1778
  • Gecko ocellatus Cuvier, 1817
  • Pachydactylus ocellatus
    — Boulenger, 1885
  • Pachydactylus monticolus
    V. FitzSimons, 1943
  • Pachydactylus geitje
    — Loveridge, 1947[2]

Description

Pachydactylus geitje is a very colourful, mottled little gecko. Its smooth (almost silky) body is usually covered in dark-edged white spots.

Habitat

Pachydactylus geitje typically lives on the ground among debris and under rocks. Further inland it only lives higher in the mountains where rocky outcrops provide it with sufficient places to hide.

Reproduction

Pachydactylus geitje lays a clutch of two tiny eggs in the summer. [3][4]

References
  1. Bauer, A.M. 2017. Pachydactylus geitje. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T196935A110343303. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T196935A110343303.en. Downloaded on 18 July 2018.
  2. "Pachydactylus geitje ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  3. http://www.pachydactylus.com/pages/english/pachydactylus/p.-geitje.php
  4. http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/reptiles/squamata/gekkonidae/pachydactylus_geitje.htm

Further reading
  • Boulenger GA. 1885. Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume I. Geckonidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 436 pp. + Plates I-XXXII. (Pachydactylus ocellatus, pp. 205–206).
  • Branch, Bill. 2004. Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Pachydactylus geitje, p. 254 + Plate 82).
  • Loveridge A. 1947. "Revision of the African Lizards of the Family Gekkonidae". Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 98: 1-469. (Pachydactylus geitje, pp. 350–352).
  • Sparrman A. 1778. "Befkrifning och berättelfe om LACERTA GEITJE, en obekant och giftig ÖDLA ifrân Goda Hopps Udden ". Götheborgska Wetenskaps och Witterhets Samhallets Handlingar, Wetenskaps Afdelningen Forsta Stycket, Götheborg 1: 75-78. (Lacerta geitje, new species, p. 75). (in Swedish).
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