The Persian wonder gecko (Teratoscincus keyserlingii), also known commonly as the giant frog-eyed gecko and Keyserling's wonder gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Sphaerodactylidae. The species is native to western Asia.
Etymology
The specific name, keyserlingii, is in honor of Alexander von Keyserling, who was a Baltic German geologist and biologist.
Geographic range
T. keyserlingii is found in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates.
Habitat
The preferred natural habitat of T. keyserlingii is desert, at altitudes from sea level to .
Description
The holotype of T. keyserlingii has a total length of , which includes a tail long.
Behavior
T. keyserlingii is terrestrial and nocturnal.
Reproduction
T. keyserlingii is oviparous.
References
Further reading
- ; ; Keuhl, Jennifer V.; ; Ananjeva, Natalia B.; ; Boore, Jeffrey L. (2005). "The complete mitochondrial genome of a gecko and the phylogenetic position of the Middle Eastern Teratoscincus keyserlingii ". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 36: 188âÂÂ193.
- , (2008). The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic. 1. Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Turtles, Crocodiles, Amphisbaenians and Lizards of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia. (Monographs of the Societas Herpetologica Italica). Latina, Italy: Edizioni Belvedere. 580 pp. .
- Strauch A (1863). "Characteristik zweier neuen Eidechsen aus Persien ". Bulletin de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de St-Pétersbourg 6: 477âÂÂ480. (Teratoscincus keyserlingii, new species, p. 480). (in German and Latin).
- , , , , , et al. [16 authors] (2021). "The demise of a wonder: Evolutionary history and conservation assessments of the Wonder Gecko Teratoscincus keyserlingii (Gekkota, Sphaerodactylidae) in Arabia". PLoS ONE 16 (1): e0244150.