The American wall gecko (Tarentola americana) is a species of lizard in the family Phyllodactylidae, endemic to Cuba and the Bahamas.[2] There are two recognized subspecies.

American wall gecko
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Phyllodactylidae
Genus: Tarentola
Species:
T. americana
Binomial name
Tarentola americana
(Gray, 1831)
Synonyms[2]
  • Platydactylus americanus
    Gray, 1831
  • Platydactylus (Tarentola) americanus var. cubanus
    Gundlach & W. Peters, 1864
  • Tarentola americana
    Boulenger, 1885
  • Tarentola cubana
    — Boulenger, 1885
  • Tarentola (Neotarentola) americana
    Joger, 1984

Subspecies

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Including the nominotypical subspecies, two subspecies are recognized as valid.[2]

Gray's trinomial authority in parentheses indicates he originally described T. a. americana in a different genus.

Etymology

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The subspecific name, warreni, is in honor of C. Rhea Warren, who collected the holotype.[3]

Geographic range

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T. a. americana lives on the island of Cuba and associated islets. T. a. warreni lives on some of the northern islands of the Bahamas.[2]

Reproduction

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T. americana is oviparous.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Powell R, Buckner S, Reynolds RG, Fong A (2017). "Tarentola americana". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T178190A77338253. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T178190A77338253.en. Downloaded on 07 February 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e Tarentola americana at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
  3. ^ Schwartz (1968).

Further reading

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  • Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume I. Geckonidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 436 pp. + Plates I–XXXII. (Tarentola americana and T. cubana, p. 195).
  • Gray JE (1831). "A Synopsis of the Species of the Class Reptilia". Supplement, 110 pp. In: Griffith E (1831). The Animal Kingdom Arranged in Conformity with its Organization, by the Baron Cuvier, Member of the Institute of France, &c. &c. &c. with Additional Descriptions of All the Species hitherto Named, and of Many not before Noticed, Volume the Ninth. London: Whitaker, Treacher, and Co. 480 pp. (Platydactylus americanus, new species, p. 48).
  • Schwartz A (1968). "Geographic variation in the new world gekkonid lizard Tarentola americana Gray". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 81: 123–142. (Tarentola americana warreni, new subspecies, pp. 134–139, Figure 2).
  • Schwartz A, Henderson RW (1991). Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies: Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History. Gainesville: University of Florida Press. 720 pp. ISBN 978-0813010496. (Tarentola americana, p. 549).
  • Schwartz A, Thomas R (1975). A Check-list of West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication No. 1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 216 pp. (Tarentola americana, pp. 165).
  • Stejneger L (1917). "Cuban amphibians and reptiles collected for the United States National Museum from 1899 to 1902". Proceedings of the United States National Museum 53: 259–291. (Tarentola cubana, p. 266, Figures 27–29).