Elasmodactylus tetensis

Elasmodactylus tetensis, commonly known as the Tete thick-toed gecko or Zambezi thick-toed gecko, is a species of gecko endemic to East Africa.[1][2]

Elasmodactylus tetensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Gekkonidae
Genus: Elasmodactylus
Species:
E. tetensis
Binomial name
Elasmodactylus tetensis
Loveridge, 1953
Synonyms
  • Pachydactylus tetensis Loveridge, 1953

Description

E. tetensis, unlike any other species in the genus Elasmodactylus, is very large, and males have 8-14 preanal pores.[3]

Geographic range & habitat

E. tetensis is found in Mopane bushveld in the Zambezi river valley from Lake Kariba to Tete. There is a disjunct population in southern Tanzania.[1][2]

Behaviour

E. tetensis is a highly gregarious species and often roosts side by side with numerous other individuals during the day in rock cracks or hollow tree trunks like hollow baobab trees.[1]

They are nocturnal insectivores but may forage within a short distance of their roost during daylight. Once it is dark, they extend the territory they patrol in search of arthropods.

Reproduction

Sexually mature females lay two eggs at a time but can produce several clutches a season depending on food supply.

Subspecies

There is an isolated population in southern Tanzania in similar habitat that is very likely a subspecies or another species forming a complex with tetensis.

References
  1. Menegon, M. & Spawls, S. (2010). "Elasmodactylus tetensis". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2010: e.T178629A7584355. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T178629A7584355.en. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  2. Elasmodactylus tetensis at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 27 October 2014.
  3. Branch, 2004.

Further reading
  • Branch, Bill. 2004. Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Pachydactylus tetensis, p. 261).
  • Loveridge A. 1953. "Zoological Results of a Fifth Expedition to East Africa. III. Reptiles from Nyasaland and Tete". Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 110 (3): 142–322. (Pachydactylus tetensis, new species, pp. 175–176 + Plate 5, figure 3).
  • Spawls, Stephen; Howell, Kim; Drewes, Robert C. 2006. Reptiles and Amphibians of East Africa. Princeton Pocket Guides. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 240 pp. ISBN 978-0691128849.
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