Lygodactylus williamsi

Lygodactylus williamsi
	Lygodactylus willamsi - male
Systematics
Superordinate :	Scale lizards (Lepidosauria)
Order :	Scale reptiles (Squamata)
without rank:	Geckos (gekkota)
Family :	Geckos (Gekkonidae)
Genre :	Lygodactylus
Type :	Lygodactylus williamsi
Scientific name
	Lygodactylus williamsi
	Loveridge , 1952

Lygodactylus williamsi - sky blue dwarf day gecko is usedas a German name, occasionally turquoise blue dwarf day gecko or Williams dwarf gecko - is a species from the genus Lygodactylus . The small lizard is threatened with extinction , because it is caught for the purpose of keeping terrariums because of its striking, beautiful color and its range is only 20 km².

description

Lygodactylus williamsi is relatively small at six to ten centimeters. Under appropriate conditions, the males develop an intense blue with a proportion of green that varies depending on the individual. The male's belly may be colored orange instead of yellow. The female is inconspicuously brown to olive at the top. Both sexes have black, striped head markings. A reliable differentiation of the sexes can only be made on the basis of the thickening of the tail root, since no clear statement can be made about the larynx markings and coloring alone.

Occurrence

Distribution area

Lygodactylus williamsi lives in Tanzania and is endemic in the nature reserve of the Kimboza Forest at an altitude of 350 meters above sea level.

The species prefers a semi-humid to dry climate with daytime temperatures of 25–32 degrees Celsius and night temperatures of 18–22 ° C. The humidity is 50–65% during the day and 65–80% at night. Lygodactylus williamsi is particularly sun-hungry. The gecko unfolds its splendor of colors only under bright light and with a certain warmth.

The animals are palm dwellers and live exclusively on screw trees of the species Pandanus rabaiensis , which is itself included in the Red List of Endangered Species .

behavior

The animals live both on the palm trunks and on the leaves of the screw tree, where they can protect themselves between the spines. The male's courtship behavior resembles his behavior towards rivals. They form territories that are meticulously monitored by the male. During courtship, the dark throat pouch is inflated, the head jerked and the back hunched. Lygodactylus williamsi behaves peacefully towards conspecifics and offspring and seems to have a strong pair bond. Non-dominant males are suppressed and do not develop a nice color. Usually you will find a pair or a group of a male, two females and maybe a few older young animals in a territory. The animals are very active and attentive.

Reproduction

L. williamsi single egg

The eggs are laid in crevices in the tree bark. Two eggs that stick together are always deposited.

nutrition

The animals mainly hunt small insects. Terrarium animals also eat wax maggots and caterpillars, they also like to lick bananas and honey.

The knowledge about this gecko species is still poor.

protection

Lygodactylus williamsi is a critically endangered species on the IUCN Red List . Due to the threat, the EU Commission decided in December 2014 to include it in Annex B of Regulation (EC) No. 338/97 with an amending regulation to the EU Species Protection Regulation . In September 2016 at the 17th CITES Species Conservation Conference in Johannesburg (South Africa), at the request of Tanzania and the European Union, it was decided to include Lygodactylus williamsi in Appendix I of the Washington Convention on Endangered Species, which placed the species under international protection. This decision came into force in January 2017 and was transposed into applicable EU law in February 2017. Lygodactylus williamsi has been listed in Appendix A of Regulation (EC) No. 338/97 since then. The dwarf day gecko may not be kept or sold without permission!

literature

Beate Röll: dwarf geckos. Lygodactylus . Natur und Tier-Verlag, Münster 2004, ISBN 3-937285-16-4 .

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Flecks, M., Weinsheimer, F., Boehme, W., Chenga, J., Loetters, S., & Roedder, D .: Watching extinction happen: the dramatic population decline of the critically endangered Tanzanian Turquoise Dwarf Gecko , Lygodactylus williamsi. . In: SALAMANDRA, 48 (1), 12-20 . 2012.

↑ http://www.reptile-care.de/species/Gekkota/Gekkonidae/Lygodactylus-williamsi.html

↑ TRAFFIC 2011. How to identify Lygodactylus williamsi: A photographic guide to the turquoise dwarf gecko . In: Wildlife Trade Handbook. TRAFFIC East / Southern Africa and the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 11-17. Published by CITES.

↑ Pandanus rabaiensis. In: Red List of Endangered Species . International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), accessed April 21, 2017 .

↑ Lygodactylus williamsi in the Red List of Endangered Species of the IUCN 2012. Posted by: Flecks, M., Weinsheimer, F., Böhme, W., Chenga, J., Lötters, S., Rödder, D., Schepp, U. & Schneider, H., 2012. Retrieved January 17, 2014.

↑ ^a ^b Bergmann, M .: New protection status for the sky-blue dwarf day gecko (Lygodactylus williamsi) Archived from the original on January 24, 2018. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Terrarianer: The terrarium blog . 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2015. @1@ 2