The Andaman giant gecko (''Gekko verreauxi)'', also known commonly as the Andamanese giant gecko, is a species of

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

in the family Gekkonidae. The species is indigenous to the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''verreauxi'', is in honor of French naturalist

Jules Verreaux Jules Pierre Verreaux (24 August 1807 – 7 September 1873) was a French botanist and ornithologist and a professional collector of and trader in natural history specimens. He was the brother of Édouard Verreaux and nephew of Pierre Antoine Dela ...

.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Gekko verreauxi'', p. 274).

Geographic range

''G. verreauxi'' is endemic to the Andaman Islands of India.

Description

Reaching a total length (including tail) of more than one foot (30 cm), the Andaman giant gecko is one of the world's largest geckos.

Habitat

''G. verreauxi'' is commonly found on trees, tree logs, and in crop fields.

Behaviour

''G. verreauxi'' hides by day in cavities or under bark plates of trees (typically '' Manilkara litoralis''), and comes out after sunset to prey on insects. It is shy and well camouflaged.

Reproduction

''G. verreauxi'' is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...