Pachydactylus austeni, also known commonly as Austen's thick-toed gecko or Austen's gecko, is a species of small thick-toed gecko, a lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is indigenous to the western coast of South Africa.[3]

Pachydactylus austeni
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Gekkonidae
Genus: Pachydactylus
Species:
P. austeni
Binomial name
Pachydactylus austeni
Hewitt, 1923[2]

Etymology

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The specific name, austeni, is in honour of English topographer Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen.[4]

Habitat, behaviour and diet

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The natural habitat of P. austeni is coastal dunes and alluvial sands, at elevations up to 600 m (2,000 ft).[1] It lives in a tiny burrow that it digs in the sand, and it leaves its burrow at night to forage for small insects among the dune vegetation.[3]

Description

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P. austeni has a smooth, colourful body with large eyes and conspicuous yellow or white eyelids.[3]

Reproduction

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P. austeni is oviparous.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b Bates, M.F.; Bauer, A.M. (2018). "Pachydactylus austeni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T196930A115662983. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T196930A115662983.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Species Pachydactylus austeni at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  3. ^ a b c "CapeNature". Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
  4. ^ Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Pachydactylus austeni, p. 13).

Further reading

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  • Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Pachydactylus austeni, pp. 250–251 + Plate 82).
  • Hewitt J (1923). "Descriptions of Two New S. African Geckos of the Genus Pachydactylus ". Annals of the Natal Museum 5: 67–71. (Pachydactylus austeni, new species, pp. 67–69 + Plate IV, figures 1 & 2).
  • Loveridge A (1947). "Revision of the African Lizards of the Family Gekkonidae". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy at Harvard College 98 (1): 1–469 + Plates 1–7. (Pachydactylus austeni, p. 349).
  • Rösler H (2000). "Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)". Gekkota 2: 28–153. (Pachydactylus austeni, p. 98). (in German).