Dactylocnemis

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Dactylocnemis
Pacific gecko Hoplodactylus pacificus.jpg
Close up of head and upper body
CITES Appendix III (CITES) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Diplodactylidae
Genus: Dactylocnemis
Steindachner, 1867
Species:
D. pacificus
Binomial name
Dactylocnemis pacificus
(Gray, 1842)
Synonyms

Hoplodactylus pacificus

Dactylocnemis pacificus, the Pacific gecko or Pacific sticky-toed gecko, is a species in the family Gekkonidae, endemic to the North Island and offshore islands of New Zealand. [2] D. pacificus is the only described species in the genus Dactylocnemis, but five offshore island forms may represent new species, [3] one of which is the Mokohinau gecko.

Contents

Taxonomy

The Pacific gecko was first described by John Edward Gray in 1842 as Naultinus pacificus. [4] By 1851 the species had been recombined as Platydactylus pacificus, Dactylocnemis pacificus in 1867, and Hoplodactylus pacificus in 1995. [5] In 2011 after phylogenetic analysis, the species was placed back into the genus Dactylocnemis. [6]

The genus Dactylocnemis was described by Franz Steindachner in 1867, who named the Pacific gecko the type species. [7] The genus was later synonymised with Hoplodactylus, but brought out of synonymy in 2011. [6]

While currently only Dactylocnemis pacificus has been formally described, there are currently five undescribed populations of Dactylocnemis lizards which may either be species or subspecies of Dactylocnemis pacificus. These include the Matapia Island geckos, North Cape geckos, the Mokohinau gecko on the Mokohinau Islands, the Poor Knights Islands geckos, and the Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands geckos. [8]

Description

The species can grow up to 80 mm (3.1 in) in length. It has a variable body colour, typically a mottled pattern of brown, greyish brown or olive green. The underside of the Pacific gecko is pale grey in colour, and occasionally speckled with black. [9] The species can be differentiated from the Raukawa gecko and the gold-striped gecko due to the Pacific gecko's rostral scale being in contact with nostrils. [9]

Behaviour

The species is nocturnal, hiding beneath loose bark or within trees in the daytime, or on occasion sun-basking. The species forages on trees and within foliage at night time, [9] and has an omnivorous diet, feeling on fruits, nectar and invertebrates. [9]

Pacific geckos mate between Match and May, and give birth to one or two young between February and March. Young geckos take between three and four years to become sexually mature. [9]

Distribution and habitat

The species is found on the North Island, from Whanganui north to the Bay of Islands. [9] The species is found in a range of coastal and lowland habitats, including beaches, scrubland and forest. [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Hoplodactylus</i> Genus of lizards

Hoplodactylus is a genus of geckos in the family Diplodactylidae. The genus is endemic to New Zealand, one of the seven genera of geckos found only in New Zealand. Hoplodactylus comprises two species of large to gigantic brownish lizards.

<i>Oligosoma</i> Genus of lizards

Oligosoma is a genus of small to medium-sized skinks found only in New Zealand, Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island. Oligosoma had previously been found to belong to the Eugongylus group of genera in the subfamily Lygosominae; the Australian genus Bassiana appears to be fairly closely related.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northland green gecko</span> Species of lizard

The Northland green gecko, also known commonly as Gray's tree gecko is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is found only in the Northland region of New Zealand, north of Whangaroa, and is one of the rarest and most highly sought after lizards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duvaucel's gecko</span> Species of reptile

Duvaucel's gecko is a species of lizard in the family Diplodactylidae. The species is endemic to New Zealand and regarded as 'at risk' by the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) due to distribution limitations.

<i>Gigarcanum</i> Extinct species of lizard

Gigarcanum delcourti, formerly Hoplodactylus delcourti, is an extinct species of gecko in the family Diplodactylidae. It is the largest known of all geckos, with a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 37 cm (14.6 in) and an overall length of at least 60 cm (23.6 in). It is only known from a single taxidermied specimen collected in the 19th century that was rediscovered unlabelled in a museum in France. The origin of the specimen was undocumented. While originally suggested to have been from New Zealand and the kawekaweau of Māori oral tradition, DNA evidence from the specimen suggests that it originates from New Caledonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-eyed gecko</span> Species of lizard

The black-eyed gecko, also known commonly as Whitaker's sticky-toed gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Diplodactylidae. An alpine gecko species, discovered in 1970, it inhabits high-altitude mountains in three areas of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the highest-altitude lizard species in New Zealand, living up to 2,200 m (7,200 ft) above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harlequin gecko</span> Species of lizard

The harlequin gecko, formerly Hoplodactylus rakiurae, is a species of gecko, a lizard in the family Diplodactylidae. The species is endemic to Stewart Island / Rakiura in the far south of New Zealand, where it was discovered in 1969. In terms of distribution it is one of the southernmost gecko species in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen's Island gecko</span> Species of reptile

The Stephen's Island gecko, also known commonly as the Cook Strait striped gecko, Stephen's sticky-toed gecko, and the striped gecko, is a species of gecko in the genus Toropuku in the family Diplodactylidae. The species is endemic to New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest gecko</span> Species of lizard

The forest gecko is a species of gecko that is endemic to New Zealand. Its Māori name is moko pirirākau. It is found in all parts of the country except the Far North and Canterbury. It is a protected species under the Wildlife Act 1953.

<i>Woodworthia maculata</i> Species of lizard

Woodworthia maculata, also known as the New Zealand common gecko or Raukawa gecko, is a species in the family Diplodactylidae. The species is endemic to New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tākitimu gecko</span> Species of lizard

The Tākitimu gecko is an endemic species of gecko in the family Diplodactylidae found in the Southland region of New Zealand. Tākitimu gecko were first described by Jewell and Leschen in 2004 as Hoplodactylus cryptozoicus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mokohinau skink</span> Species of lizard

The Mokohinau skink, also known commonly as Towns' skink and the Hauraki skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diplodactylidae</span> Family of lizards

The Diplodactylidae are a family in the suborder Gekkota (geckos), with over 150 species in 25 genera. These geckos occur in Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia. Diplodactylids are the most ecologically diverse and widespread family of geckos in both Australia and New Caledonia, and are the only family of geckos found in New Zealand. Three diplodactylid genera have recently been split into multiple new genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canterbury spotted skink</span> Species of lizard

Oligosoma lineoocellatum, commonly known as the Canterbury spotted skink, is one of a species complex of several related spotted skink species from New Zealand.

<i>Mokopirirakau</i> Cryptic Alpine Gecko Genus in New Zealand

The Mokopirirakau genus comprises alpine geckos found only in New Zealand. The name is Māori, and comes from “Moko”, referring to lizards, and “pirirakau”, which refers to forests. This is a newly recognized genus as it was previously included in the Hoplodactylus genus. Many of the species within this genus are still at candidatus status because of this, but also because of the difficulty that comes with researching these species and this genus in particular. Much of the current research about geckos in New Zealand is built off assumptions, indicating that better surveying methods are needed to come to any real conclusions about their behaviour and ecology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canterbury gecko</span> Species of lizard

The Canterbury gecko is a gecko found in the South Island of New Zealand. It is also known by the Māori names Waitaha gecko and Moko-pāpā, and as the brown gecko. It had previously been placed in a different genus and called Hoplodactylus brunneus, but further study split the genus Hoplodactylus into six genera, with some groups close to the former Hoplodactylus maculatus "Canterbury" being assigned to the new genus Woodworthia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pygopodoidea</span> Superfamily of lizards

Pygopodoidea is a gecko superfamily and the only taxon in the gekkotan subclade Pygopodomorpha. The clade includes three Australasian families: Diplodactylidae, Carphodactylidae, and Pygopodidae. Traditional gekkotan systematics had considered Diplodactylidae and Carphodactylidae as subfamilies of the family Gekkonidae, but recent molecular work have placed Pygopodidae within Gekkonidae making it paraphyletic. These analyses have shown support of Pygopodidae and Carphodactylidae being sister taxa, with Diplodactylidae occupying a basal position in Pygopodoidea.

<i>Hoplodactylus tohu</i> Species of lizard

Hoplodactylus tohu, the Tohu gecko, is a species of lizard of the family Diplodactylidae. The lizard is found in the Marlborough Sounds / Cook Strait area of New Zealand.

The Mokohinau gecko is an undescribed species of gecko found in the Mokohinau Islands, 100 km (62 mi) north of Auckland in the Auckland Region of New Zealand.

References

  1. ↑ Listed by New Zealand
  2. ↑ Nielsen SV, Bauer AM, Jackman TR, Hitchmough RA, Daugherty CH (2010). "New Zealand geckos (Diplodactylidae): Cryptic diversity in a post-Gondwanan lineage with trans-Tasman affinities". Mol Phylogenet Evol. 59 (1): 1–22. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.12.007. PMID   21184833.
  3. ↑ Chapple, David G. (2016), Chapple, David G. (ed.), "Synthesising Our Current Knowledge of New Zealand Lizards", New Zealand Lizards, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–11, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-41674-8_1, ISBN   978-3-319-41674-8 , retrieved 2021-05-24
  4. ↑ Gray, J. E. (1842). "Description of some new species of reptiles, chiefly from the British Museum collection". The zoological miscellany. Part 2 . London: Treuttel, Würtz & Co. p. 57–59.
  5. ↑ "Dactylocnemis pacificus (GRAY, 1842)". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  6. 1 2 Nielsen, Stuart V.; Bauer, Aaron M.; Jackman, Todd R.; Hitchmough, Rod A.; Daugherty, Charles H. (22 December 2010). "New Zealand geckos (Diplodactylidae): Cryptic diversity in a post-Gondwanan lineage with trans-Tasman affinities". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 59 (1): 1–22. doi:10.1016/J.YMPEV.2010.12.007. ISSN   1055-7903. PMID   21184833. Wikidata   Q33780218.
  7. ↑ Steindachner, Dr. Franz (1867). "Reptilien.". Reise der österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859 unter den Befehlen des Commodore B. von Wüllerstorf-Urbair (in German).
  8. ↑ "Dactylocnemis". New Zealand Organism Register. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 van Winkel, Dylan; Baling, Marleen; Hitchmough, Rod (2018). Reptiles and Amphibians of New Zealand (1st ed.). Auckland: Auckland University Press. pp. 106–107. ISBN   978-1-86940-937-1. OL   40449345M. Wikidata   Q76013985.
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