Duvaucel's gecko

Duvaucel's gecko
Conservation status
	; Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Diplodactylidae
Genus:	Hoplodactylus
Species:	H. duvaucelii
Binomial name
	Hoplodactylus duvaucelii; (A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1836)
Synonyms[2]
	Platydactylus duvaucelii ; A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1836; Hoplodactylus duvaucelii ; — Fitzinger, 1843; Pentadactylus duvaucelii ; — Gray, 1845; Hoplodactylus duvaucelii ; — Boulenger, 1885; Naultinus duvauceli ; — Chrapliwy, 1961; Woodworthia duvaucelii ; — Jewell, 2008; Hoplodactylus duvaucelii ; — Nielsen et al., 2011;

Duvaucel's gecko, Hoplodactylus duvaucelii, is a species of lizard in the family Diplodactylidae.

Geographic range

H. duvaucelii is found on predator-free offshore islands of New Zealand, including Great Barrier Island and a number of Cook Strait islands.[3] In March 2010 a Duvaucel's gecko was caught in a trap at the nature reserve Maungatautari, indicating that it is likely not extinct from mainland New Zealand.[4] Genetic analysis confirmed that this gecko represents a relic mainland population.[5]

Description

Hoplodactylus duvaucelii may attain a total length (including tail) of up to 30 cm (12 in), with a snout-to-vent length (SVL) up to 16 cm (6.3 in), weighing up to 120 grams (4.2 ounces), making it the largest living gecko in New Zealand. The oldest known wild Duvaucel's gecko was aged at least 36 years.[6]

Duvaucel's gecko is a heavy-bodied lizard with a relatively large head, and long toes with expanded pads. Its colouration is mainly grey, often with a faint olive-green hue. Usually there are 6 irregular blotches lying across the body from side to side between the back of the head and the base of the tail which is never striped.

Biology

H. duvaucelii is nocturnal but sometimes sun basks. It eats relatively large prey, such as puriri moths and wētā. Fossil evidence suggests that it was once much more widespread, but predation by introduced mammals has ensured its range is now much reduced.[7] Duvaucel's gecko both forages on the ground and is arboreal, living in scrub and forest, and along the shoreline of the islands to which it is presently confined. Females do not lay eggs but give birth to live young.

Etymology

The species H. duvaucelii was erroneously named after Alfred Duvaucel, a French naturalist who explored India. The museum specimens taken to Europe were credited to him, and only later were the animals found to have come from New Zealand.[8]

Conservation efforts

Duvaucel's gecko was reintroduced to the mainland of New Zealand at the end of 2016 when 80 animals were released in the Tāwharanui Open Sanctuary on the Tawharanui Peninsula.[9]

References

Hitchmough, R.; van Winkel, D. (2019). "Hoplodactylus duvaucelii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T10250A120158759. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
Hoplodactylus duvaucelii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
Trewick, Steve (2014). NZ wild life : introducing the weird and wonderful character of natural New Zealand. Morgan-Richards, Mary. Auckland, New Zealand. ISBN 9780143568896. OCLC 881301862.
Neems, Jeff (22 April 2010). "Rare lizard killed in trap". Waikato Times. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
Morgan-Richards, Mary; Hinlo, A. Rheyda; Smuts-Kennedy, Chris; Innes, John; Ji, Weihong; Barry, Manuela; Brunton, Dianne; Hitchmough, Rodney A (2016). "Identification of a rare gecko from North Island New Zealand, and genetic assessment of its probable origin: a novel mainland conservation priority?". Journal of Herpetology. 50 (1): 77–86. doi:10.1670/13-128. ISSN 0022-1511.
Thompson MB, Daugherty CH, Cree A, French DC, Gillingham JC, Barwick RE (1992). "Status and longevity of the tuatara, Sphenodon guntheri, and Duvaucel's gecko, Hoplodactylus duvaucelii, on North Brother Island, New Zealand". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 22 (2): 123–130. doi:10.1080/03036758.1992.10420810.
Towns DR, Daugherty C (1994). "Patterns of range contractions and extinctions in the New Zealand herpetofauna following human colonisation". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 21 (4): 325–339. doi:10.1080/03014223.1994.9518003.
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. (Hoplodactylus duvaucelii, p. 79).
Dickey, Delwyn (2 December 2016). "Giant gecko returns to the mainland after a century". Stuff. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 6 December 2016.

External links

Hoplodactylus duvaucelii at the New Zealand Herpetological Society.
Hoplodactylus duvaucelii discusses on RNZ Critter of the Week, 2 September 2016