Mexican clawed gecko
| Mexican clawed gecko | ||||||||||||
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Mexican clawed gecko ( Coleonyx elegans ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Coleonyx elegans | ||||||||||||
| Gray , 1845 |
The Mexican clawed gecko ( Coleonyx elegans ) also known as the banded Yucatan gecko , belongs to the Lidgecko family (Eublepharidae) from the gecko-like (Gekkota) group.
features
The basic color can vary from a dark red to gray to pale yellow. The visual appearance is complemented by light horizontal stripes, which are bordered on both edges by dark bands, which has led to the common name Banded Yucatan Gecko.
Male Mexican clawed geckos reach a total length of 17 to 19 centimeters, females usually stay around 2 centimeters smaller. The head-trunk length is 8 to 9 centimeters. The first describer John Edward Gray gave a head-torso length of 9.7 centimeters for the specimen at hand.
When fully grown, males can be easily distinguished from females by a wider head and neck area as well as clearly visible hemipenic pockets and a small spur on both sides of the tail root.
distribution and habitat
The Mexican-clawed gecko is common in Mexico in most of the states, including the Yucatán , Campeche , Jalisco , San Luis Potosí , Puebla , Nayarit, and Michoacán . In Central America , it occurs in Guatemala , Belize , El Salvador and, according to reports, also in Honduras . He inhabits forests and forest edge areas.
Way of life
The Mexican clawed gecko is active at night and at dawn and hides most of the day on the ground under stones and leaves or in rotting trees. At night the Mexican clawed gecko roams its territory in search of food, not only moving on the ground, but also climbing.
nutrition
The Mexican clawed gecko eats almost all insects that it can devour in terrariums, from crickets to grasshoppers to spiders .
Danger
Although the species has a large range, it is highly fragmented. Wild catches are also repeatedly made for the pet trade in Europe and Japan, although the animals can be bred in the terrarium . The IUCN classifies the Mexican clawed gecko as not endangered (“least concern”).
Systematics and taxonomy
Two subspecies of the Mexican clawed frog are given:
- Coleonyx elegans elegans (Gray, 1845)
- Coleonyx elegans nemorals Klauber, 1945
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thomas Hofmann and Michael Kreuzer: The Mexican and Central American clawed gecko. Natur und Tier - Verlag, 2017, p. 8, ISBN 978-3-86659-229-2 .
- ^ Hermann Seufer, Andreas Kirschner, Yuri Kaverkin: The Lidgeckos . Kirschner & Seufer Verlag, 2005.
- ^ John Edward Gray: Description of a new genus of night lizards from Belize. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History; Zoology, Botany, and Geology, 16, pp. 162-163, 1845.
- ↑ Coleonyx elegans in The Reptile Database , accessed May 18, 2020.
- ↑ a b Michael Rasmussen: Mexican clawed geckos . MR reptiles, accessed May 18, 2020.
- ↑ Coleonyx elegans in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Listed by: Sunyer, J., Ariano-Sánchez, D. & Lee, J., 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
- ↑ Laurence M. Klauber: The geckos of the genus Coleonyx with descriptions of new subspecies. Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 10 (11), pp. 133-216, 1945.
literature
- John Edward Gray : Description of a new genus of night lizards from Belize. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History; Zoology, Botany, and Geology, 16, pp. 162-163, 1845. (first description).
- Thomas Hofmann and Michael Kreuzer: The Mexican and Central American clawed gecko. Natur und Tier - Verlag, 2017, ISBN 978-3-86659-229-2 .
Web links
- Coleonyx elegans in The Reptile Database
- Coleonyx elegans inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: Sunyer, J., Ariano-Sánchez, D. & Lee, J., 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2020.