Pachydactylus geitje

Pachydactylus geitje, also known commonly as the ocellated gecko, the ocellated thick-toed gecko and the Cradock thick-toed gecko, is a tiny species of thick-toed gecko, a lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is indigenous to the Western Cape of South Africa.

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

Description

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

Habitat

P. 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]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pachydactylus geitje.

References
  1. Bates, M.F.; Bauer, A.M. [in French] (2018). "Pachydactylus geitje". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T196935A115663262. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T196935A115663262.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. Species Pachydactylus geitje at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  3. "Pachydactylus.com - P. Geitje". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
  4. "Pachydactylus geitje (Occelated gecko)". www.biodiversityexplorer.org. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18.

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". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College 98 (1): 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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