Dutch leaf-toed gecko
| Dutch leaf-toed gecko | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Gekkota |
| Family: | Phyllodactylidae |
| Genus: | Phyllodactylus |
| Species: | P. martini
|
| Binomial name | |
| Phyllodactylus martini Lidth de Jeude, 1887
| |
The Dutch leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus martini) is a species of lizard in the family Phyllodactylidae. The species is endemic to the Dutch Caribbean islands of Curaçao, Bonaire and Klein Bonaire.
Taxonomy and etymology
The first description of the species was published by Theodorus Willem van Lidth de Jeude in 1887.</ref> [2][1] The holotype was collected by Karl Martin in 1885, with the type locality being Curaçao.[3] The specific name, martini, is in honor of German geologist Johann Karl Ludwig Martin.<ref>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. (Phyllodactylus martini, p. 170).
Description and behaviour
The snout–vent length of the gecko varies between 21–54 mm (0.83–2.13 in). It has two postmental scales and 12–18 interorbital scales. Its back is greyish brown to fawn, with 5–7 bands across alternating between light and dark brown. The head is the same colour as the back, with a dark brown stripe going from shoulder to shoulder via the nostrils and eyes. The belly is white to grey and covered in many black dots.[3]
The gecko is oviparous and nocturnal.[2][1]
Distribution and habitat
Phyllodactylus martini is endemic to the islands of Curaçao, Bonaire and Klein Bonaire, all three part of the Dutch Caribbean and the lattermost being an uninhabited satellite island of Bonaire.[1]
The natural habitats of Phyllodactylus martini are forest and shrubland, but they are often seen on buildings, although not as frequently as in the past, as the Dutch leaf-toed gecko is subjected to competitive exclusion by the introduced Hemidactylus mabouia.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e Van Buurt G (2016). "Phyllodactylus martini " (errata version published in 2017). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T48443813A115401573. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T48443813A48443822.en. Downloaded on 02 February 2019.
- ^ a b Phyllodactylus martini at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
- ^ a b Dixon, James R. (15 December 1962). "The Leaf-Toed Geckos, Genus Phyllodactylus, of Northeastern South America". The Southwestern Naturalist. 7 (3/4): 214–215. doi:10.2307/3668844. JSTOR 3668844.
Further reading
- van Buurt, G. (2004). Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Edition Chimaira. ISBN 978-3930612666. 160 pp.
- Hughes, Daniel F.; Meshaka, Walter E.; van Buurt, Gerard (2015). "The Superior Colonizing Gecko Hemidactylus mabouia on Curaçao: Conservation Implications for the Native Gecko Phyllodactylus martini ". Journal of Herpetology. 49 (1): 60–63.
- Lidth de Jeude TW (1887). "On a collection of Reptiles and Fishes from the West-Indies". Notes from the Leyden Museum 9: 129–139. (Phyllodactylus martini, new species, pp. 130–131 + Plate II, figures 2 & 3).
- Rösler, H. (2000). "Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)". Gekkota. 2: 28–153. (Phyllodactylus martini, p. 104). (in German).