Andaman giant gecko
| Andaman giant gecko | |
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| A closer look at the eye | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Gekkonidae |
| Genus: | Gekko |
| Species: | G. verreauxi
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| Binomial name | |
| Gekko verreauxi | |
The Andaman giant gecko (Gekko verreauxi), also known commonly as the Andamanese giant gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is indigenous to the Andaman Islands
Etymology
[edit]The specific name, verreauxi, is in honor of French naturalist Jules Verreaux.[1][2]
Geographic range
[edit]G. verreauxi is endemic to the Andaman Islands of India.[3]
Description
[edit]Reaching a total length (including tail) of more than one foot (30 cm),[4] the Andaman giant gecko is one of the world's largest geckos.
Habitat
[edit]G. verreauxi is commonly found on trees,[4] tree logs,[citation needed] and in crop fields.[citation needed]
Behaviour
[edit]G. verreauxi hides by day in cavities or under bark plates of trees (typically Manilkara litoralis), and comes out after sunset to prey on insects. It is shy and well camouflaged.[4]
Reproduction
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Tytler RC (1865). "Observations on a few Species of Geckos alive in the possession of the author". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 33 [1864]: 535-548. (Gekko verreauxi, new species, p. 546).
- ^ 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. (Gekko verreauxi, p. 274).
- ^ a b Gekko verreauxi at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 22 August 2016.
- ^ a b c Veselý M (1999). "A note on the morphology and natural history of Gekko verreauxi Tytler 1864 (Reptilia, Sauria, Gekkonidae)". Senckenbergiana Biologica. 79 (1): 95–99.
Further reading
[edit]- Ota H, Hikida T, Matsui M (1991). "Re-evaluation of the Status of Gekko verreauxi Tytler, 1864, from the Andaman Islands, India". Journal of Herpetology 25 (2): 147–151.
- Rösler H (2000). "Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)". Gekkota 2: 28–153. (Gekko verreauxi, p. 82). (in German).