The Chitral gecko (''Mediodactylus walli''), also known commonly as the Chitral bow-foot gecko, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of lizard in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Gekkonidae Gekkonidae (the common geckos) is the largest family of geckos, containing over 950 described species in 64 genera. Members of the Gekkonidae comprise many of the most widespread gecko species, including house geckos ('' Hemidactylus''), tokay g ...

. The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

Etymology

The specific name, ''walli'', is in honor of British herpetologist Frank Wall.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Cyrtopodion walli'', p. 279).

Geographic range

''M. walli'' is found in northwestern Pakistan. The type locality is "Chitral, Northwest Frontier Province, Pakistan".

Habitat

The preferred natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s of ''M. walli'' are shrubland and rocky areas, at altitudes of .

Reproduction

''M. walli'' is oviparous.

References

* Auffenberg K, Krysko KL, Rehman H (2010). "Studies on Pakistan Lizards: ''Cyrtopodion baturense'' (Khan and Baig 1992) and ''Cyrtopodion walli'' (Ingoldby 1922) (Sauria: Gekkonidae)". ''Zootaxa'' 2636: 1–20. * Bauer AM, Masroor R, Titus-McQuillan J, Heinicke MP, Daza JD, Jackman TR (2013). "A preliminary phylogeny of the Palearctic naked-toed geckos (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae) with taxonomic implications". ''Zootaxa'' 3599 (4): 301–324. (''Mediodactylus walli'', new combination). * Das I (1994). "The reptiles of South Asia: checklist and distributional summary". ''Hamadryad'' 19: 15–40. * Ingoldby CM (1922). "A new stone gecko from the Himalaya". ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 28: 1051. (''Gymnodactylus walli'', new species). * Khan MS (1992). "Validity of the mountain gecko, ''Gymnodactylus walli'' INGOLDBY 1922". ''Herpetological Journal'' 2 (4): 106–10. * Sindaco R Jeremčenko VK (2008). ''The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic. 1. Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Turtles, Crocodiles, Amphisbaenians and Lizards of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia''. (Monographs of the ''Societas Herpetologica Italica''). Latina, Italy: Edizioni Belvedere. 580 pp. . (''Altiphylax walli)''. Mediodactylus Reptiles of Pakistan Reptiles described in 1922 {{Gekkonidae-stub

Etymology

Geographic range

Habitat

Reproduction

References

Further reading