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

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

Habitat

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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.[citation needed]

Reproduction

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

References

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  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

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  • 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).