Peringuey's leaf-toed gecko
| Peringuey's leaf-toed gecko | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Sauria |
| Infraorder: | Gekkota |
| Family: | Gekkonidae |
| Genus: | Cryptactites Bauer et al., 1997 |
| Species: | C. peringueyi |
| Binomial name | |
| Cryptactites peringueyi (Boulenger, 1910) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Peringuey's leaf-toed gecko, Cryptactites peringueyi, is a South African species of gecko named after French entomologist Louis Péringuey.[2]
It is particularly tiny, not growing more than about 5 centimetres (2.0 in) in total length (including tail), making it the smallest lizard in the region, along with the striped dwarf leaf-toed gecko of the Western Cape.
It has a red-brown body sometimes with thin, pale dark stripes.
This leaf-toed gecko is nocturnal and lives in matted marsh vegetation where it lays two minute eggs in summer.
It is endemic to South Africa, being restricted to a few salt marshes in the Eastern Cape.
It was believed to be extinct for a long time, but a tiny population was rediscovered in 1992 by the estuary of the Kromme river.
References
Further reading
- Boulenger GA (1910). "A Revised List of the South African Reptiles and Batrachians, with Synoptic Tables, special reference to the specimens in the South African Museum, and Descriptions of New Species". Ann. South African Mus. 5: 455-538. (Phyllodactylus peringueyi, new species, pp. 493–494).
- 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. (Cryptactites peringueyi, p. 239 + Plate 108).
External links
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1996). "Cryptactites peringueyi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2.3 (2.3). International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved July 28, 2007.