Boettger's wall gecko

Boettger's wall gecko
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Gekkota
Family:	Phyllodactylidae
Genus:	Tarentola
Species:	T. boettgeri
Binomial name
Tarentola boettgeri Steindachner, 1891

Boettger's wall gecko (Tarentola boettgeri), also commonly known as the Gran Canaria gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Phyllodactylidae. The species is native to the Canary Islands and the Savage Islands. There are three recognized subspecies.

Etymology

The specific name, boettgeri, is in honor of German herpetologist Oskar Boettger. The subspecific name, bischoffi, is in honor of German herpetologist Wolfgang Bischoff. ^[2]

Geographic range

T. boettgeri is native to the islands of Gran Canaria (T. b. boettgeri) and El Hierro (T. b. hierrensis) in the Canary Islands. An introduced population exists in Galicia, Spain. The subspecies T. b. bischoffi is indigenous to the Savage Islands. ^[1]

Habitat

The preferred habitats of T. boettgeri are shrubby vegetation, rocky areas, rocky shores, and rural gardens. ^[1]

Reproduction

T. boettgeri is oviparous. ^[3]

Subspecies

The following three subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies. ^[3]

• Tarentola boettgeri bischoffi Joger, 1984
• Tarentola boettgeri boettgeri Steindachner, 1891
• Tarentola boettgeri hierrensis Joger & Bischoff, 1983

References

1. Paulo Sá-Sousa, Jose Antonio Mateo Miras, Valentin Pérez-Mellado, Iñigo Martínez-Solano (2009). "Tarentola boettgeri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2009 e.T61574A12494311. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009.RLTS.T61574A12494311.en . Retrieved 15 November 2021.
2. 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. (Tarentola boettgeri, p. 29; T. bischoffi, p. 26).
3. Species Tarentola boettgeri at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading

• Steindachner F (1891). "Ueber die Reptilien und Batrachier der westlichen und östlichen Gruppe der canarischen Inseln ". Annalen des K. K. Naturhistorischens Hofmuseums, Wien6: 287–306. (Tarentola delalandii var. boettgeri, new variety, p. 301). (in German).
• Rösler H (2000). "Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha) ". Gekkota2: 28–153. (in German).
• Nogales M, López M, Jiménez-Asensio J, Larruga JM, Hernandez M, Gonzalez P (1998). "Evolution and biogeography of the genus Tarentola (Sauria: Gekkonidae) in the Canary Islands, inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences". Journal of Evolutionary Biology11: 481–494.
• Krefft G(1949). "Beobachtungen an kanarischen Inseleidechsen. 4. Tarentola delalandei boettgeri". Wochenschr. Aquar. Terr.5 (43): 114–116. (in German).
• Joger U (1984). "Die Radiation der Gattung Tarentola in Makaronesien ". Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg71: 91–111. (in German).
• Joger U, Bischoff W (1983). "Zwei neue Taxa der Gattung Tarentola (Reptilia: Sauria: Gekkonidae) von den Kanarischen Inseln ". Bonner Zoologische Beiträge34 (1-3): 459–468. (in German).
• Brown RP (1996). "Thermal biology of the gecko Tarentola boettgeri: comparisons among populations from different elevations within Gran Canaria". Herpetologica1996 396-405.
• Carranza S, Arnold EN, Mateo JA, López-Jurado LF (2000). "Long-distance colonization and radiation in gekkonid lizards, Tarentola (Reptilia: Gekkonidae), revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequences". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B, 267: 637–649.
• Bonetti M (2002). 100 Sauri. Milan: Mondadori. 192 pp. ISBN   88-43582-96-8. (in Italian).
• Bischoff W (1985). "Die Herpetofauna der Kanarischen Inseln. II. Die Geckos der Gattung Tarentola". Herpetofauna7 (35): 27–34. (in German).
• Aulio R, Gérard P, Daoues K, Hussard N (2005). Atlas de la terrariophilie, Vol.3 : Les lézards. France: Animalia Éditions. 189 pp. ISBN   978-2915740080. (in French).