Durrell's night gecko

The Durrell's night gecko (Nactus durrellorum) is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is endemic to the Round Island of Mauritius.[1]

Durrell's night gecko
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Gekkonidae
Genus: Nactus
Species:
N. durrellorum
Binomial name
Nactus durrellorum
Arnold & Jones, 1994
Synonyms[1]
  • Nactus serpensinsula durrellorum Arnold & Jones, 1994
  • Nactus durrelli Arnold & Jones, 1994
  • Nactus serpensinsula durrelli Arnold & Jones, 1994

Etymology

The specific name, durrellorum, is in honor of English zookeeper Gerald Durrell and his second wife, American-born zookeeper Lee McGeorge Durrell.[2]

Taxonomy

The Durrell's night gecko was described as a subspecies of the Serpent Island gecko,[3] and further erected as a new species in 2000.[4]

When naming it as a new subspecies in 1994, Arnold and Jones used durrelli, which is genitive singular, as the subspecific name. In 2004 Michels and Bauer pointed out that because the subspecies is named in honor of two people, the subspecific name should be in the genitive plural. Accordingly, they changed durrelli to durrellorum.

References
  1. Cole, N.; Jones, C. (2018). "Nactus durrellorum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T17424288A17424347. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T17424288A17424347.en. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  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. (Nactus serpensinsula durrellorum, p. 78).
  3. Nactus serpensinsula at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 25 March 2015.
  4. Arnold, E.N. 2000. Using fossils and phylogenies to understand evolution of reptile communities on islands. In: G. Rheinwold (ed.), Isolated Vertebrate Communities in the Tropics, Vol. 46, pp. 309–323. Bonner Zoologische Monographien.

Further reading
  • Arnold EN, Jones CG (1994). "The night geckos of the genus Nactus in the Mascarene Islands with a description of the population on Round Island". Dodo 30: 119–131. (Nactus serpensinsula durrelli [sic], new subspecies).
  • Loveridge A (1951). "A New Gecko of the Genus Gymnodactylus from Serpent Island". Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 64: 91–92. (Gymnodactylus serpensinsula, new species).
  • Michels JP, Bauer AM (2004). "Some corrections to the scientific names of amphibians and reptiles". Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 52: 83–94. (Nactus serpensinsula durrellorum [sic], corrected name).
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