Guenther's day gecko
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Guenther's day gecko ( Phelsuma guentheri ) |
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| Phelsuma guentheri | ||||||||||||
| Boulenger , 1885 |
Guenther's day gecko ( Phelsuma guentheri ) is a species of gecko belonging to the day gecko genus . It used to occur on Réunion and Mauritius , today its range is limited to the small island of Round Island near Mauritius. The type epithet honors the German zoologist Albert Günther .
features
Fully grown specimens reach total lengths of 300 mm. As a rule, however, they become smaller, with a head-to-trunk length of 133 mm in the males and 120 mm in the females. The build is compact. The basic color is gray-brown to gray-green. On each side of the head there is a dark brown longitudinal stripe that extends from the nostrils through the eye to the neck. The two longitudinal stripes flow into one another in the neck region. Some specimens show dark spots on the back and light yellow bands on the legs and toes. The belly is white or yellowish. During the day the pupil is vertically elliptical.
habitat
Guenther's day gecko used to live on bottle palms , fan palms ( Latania ) and screw trees . Due to the destruction of the vegetation by cyclones , rabbits and goats , its habitat is now limited to fissures of lava.
Way of life
Guenther's day gecko feeds on insects and other invertebrates, as well as pollen, nectar and ripe fruits. It breeds all year round. The clutches, of which there can be up to six per year, consist of two eggs. Often the females set up their clutches at communal oviposition sites on the underside of rocks. The young hatch after 58 to 104 days. They are approximately 75 mm long at birth.
status
The IUCN classifies Guenther's day gecko in the “endangered” category . The destruction of vegetation by goats, rabbits and cyclones has led to a decrease in the population to between 600 and 1500 specimens. The populations are slowly recovering thanks to a goat and rabbit eradication program and a conservation breeding program from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.
literature
- Friedrich Wilhelm Henkel, Wolfgang Schmidt: Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar, the Mascarene, the Seychelles, and the Comoro Islands. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar FL 2000, ISBN 1-57524-014-9 , p. 203.
Web links
- ARKive - Pictures and information about Guenther's day gecko
- Phelsuma guentheri in The Reptile Database
- Phelsuma guentheri inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Listed by: Madagascar Reptile & Amphibian Specialist Group, 1996. Retrieved January 31, 2014.