French
DeutschAruba leaf-toed gecko
| Aruba leaf-toed gecko | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Infraorder: | Gekkota |
| Family: | Phyllodactylidae |
| Genus: | Phyllodactylus |
| Species: | P. julieni |
| Binomial name | |
| Phyllodactylus julieni Cope, 1885 | |
The Aruba leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus julieni) is a species of lizard in the family Phyllodactylidae. The species is endemic to Aruba in the Caribbean.[2]
Taxonomy
[edit]The Aruba leaf-toed gecko was first formally described in 1885 by the American zoologist and paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope with its type locality given as Aruba.[2] Cope classified this species in the genus Phyllodactylus which was proposed in 1828 as a monospecific genus by John Edward Gray when he described Phyllodactylus pulcher from Barbados.[3] This genus is the type genus of the family Phyllodactylidae, in the infraorder Gekkota.[4]
Etymology
[edit]The Aruba leaf-toed gecko is a member of the genus Phyllodactylus, this neame being a combination of the Greek words phyllon, which means "leaf") and daktylos, meaning "finger", a reference to the leaf-shaped fingers characteristic of these geckos.[5] The specific name, julieni, is in honor of American geologist Alexis Anastay Julien.[6]
Description
[edit]The Aruba leaf-toed gecko is a fawn or pale brown gecko with 6 or 7 transverse brownish bands along the back and between 10 and 12 on the tail. The lips are typically a mottled brown and cream.[7]
Distribution and habitat
[edit]The Aruba leaf-tailed gecko is endemic to Aruba, a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea. The preferred natural habitat of P. julieni is shrubland. It may ben being competitively excluded from built up areas of Aruba by the invavsive Tropical house gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia) but these species has not penetrated more natural habitats on the island.[1]
Biology
[edit]The Aruba leaf-toed gecko is a terrestrial and nocturnal lizard. It is an oviparous breeder.[1][2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Van Buurt, G. (2017) [errata version of 2016 assessment]. "Phyllodactylus julieni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T48443729A115401463. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T48443729A48443733.en. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
- ^ a b c Phyllodactylus julieni at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
- ^ James R. Dixon (1973). "Phyllodactylus Gray Leaf-toed geckos". Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles. University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
- ^ Gamble, T.; Bauer, A.M.; Colli, G.R.; Greenbaum, E.; Jackman, T.R.; Vitt, L.J.; Simons, A.M. (February 2011). "Coming to America: Multiple Origins of New World Geckos". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 24 (2): 231–244. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02184.x. PMC 3075428. PMID 21126276.
- ^ "Floreana Leaf-toed Gecko (Phyllodactylus baurii)". Reptiles of Ecuador. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
- ^ Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Phyllodactylus julieni, p. 137).
- ^ Dixon, J. R. (1962). "The leaf-toed geckos, genus Phyllodactylus, of northeastern South America". Southwestern Naturalist. 7: 211–226.
Further reading
[edit]- Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History).Second Edition. Volume III. .... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 575 pp. + Plates I–XL. (Phyllodactylus julieni, p. 482).
- van Buurt G (2004). Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Edition Chimaira. 160 pp. ISBN 978-3930612666.
- Cope ED (1885). "Twelfth Contribution to the Herpetology of Tropical America". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 22: 167–194. (Phyllodactylus julieni, new species, pp. 180–181).
- Rösler H (2000). "Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)". Gekkota 2: 28–153. (Phyllodactylus julieni, p. 104). (in German).