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Lygodactylus

Lygodactylus is a genus of diurnal geckos with 82 species. They are commonly referred to as dwarf geckos. They are mainly found in Africa and Madagascar although two species are found in South America. Lygodactylus picturatus, the best known species, is found in Kenya and commonly known as the white-headed dwarf gecko. Recently, illegal importation from Tanzania of brightly colored (and critically-endangered), Lygodactylus williamsi, known as electric blue geckos, has been gaining attention for Lygodactylus geckos in the reptile trade.

Since all trade in wild-caught Lygodactylus williamsi is illegal, shipments of these geckos are often intentionally mislabelled as Lygodactylus spp. or as Lygodactylus capensis. As some customs officials have difficulty identifying members of this genus, a Lygodactylus spp. identification guide has been published online by CITES.

Species

Species in alphabetical order by specific name:

‡ L. blancae (feminine, genitive, singular) is named for (Ms) , a French geneticist; but L. blanci (masculine, genitive, singular) is named for (Mr.) , a French herpetologist.

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was original described in a genus other than Lygodactylus.

References

Further reading

  • Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume I. Geckonidæ .... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 436 pp. + Plates I–XXXII. (Genus Lygodactylus, pp. 158–159).
  • 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. . (Genus Lygodactylus, p. 245).
  • Gray JE (1864). "Notes on some Lizards from South-Eastern Africa, with the Descriptions of several New Species". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1864: 58–62. (Lygodactylus, new genus, p. 59).
  • , , , Glaw F, , (2016). "Molecular phylogeny, biogeography and chromosome evolution of Malagasy dwarf geckos of the genus Lygodactylus (Squamata, Gekkonidae)". Zoologica Scripta 46 (1): 42–54.
  • , Glaw F, , Vences M (2009). "Review of the systematics, morphology and distribution of Malagasy dwarf geckos, genera Lygodactylus and Microscalabotes (Squamata: Gekkonidae)". Zootaxa 2103: 1–76.
  • Röll, Beate; Pröhl, Heike; Hoffmann, Klaus-Peter (2010). "Multigene phylogenetic analysis of Lygodactylus dwarf geckos (Squamata: Gekkonidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 56 (1): 327–335.