The Peking gecko (''Gekko swinhonis'') 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 endemic to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

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 ...

, ''swinhonis'', is in honor of English naturalist

Robert Swinhoe Robert Swinhoe FRS (1 September 1836 – 28 October 1877) was an English diplomat and naturalist who worked as a Consul in Formosa. He catalogued many Southeast Asian birds, and several, such as Swinhoe's pheasant, are named after him. Bio ...

.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Gekko swinhonis'', p. 258).

Geographic range

''G. swinhonis'' occurs in northern China, north of the Yangtze River.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of ''G. swinhonis'' are arid and moist grasslands and plains.

Reproduction

''G. swinhonis'' 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 ...

Taxonomy

The species ''G. swinhonis'' was first described by British herpetologist Albert Günther in 1864.

Conservation status

''G. swinhonis'' has been assessed as "Vulnerable" due to an inferred 30% population decline over the last three generations due to harvest levels. This species has a relatively wide distribution but it is exploited for traditional medicine and is impacted by habitat loss and degradation.

References

* 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. (''Gecko swinhonis'', p. 189). * Günther ACLG (1864). ''The Reptiles of British India.'' London: The Ray Society. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xxvii + 452 pp. + Plates I-XXVI. (''Gecko swinhonis'', new species, p. 104 + PlateXII, figure A). * Li H-M, Zeng D-L, Guan Q-X, Qin P-S, Qin X-M (2013). "Complete mitochondrial genome of ''Gekko swinhonis'' (Squamata, Gekkonidae)". ''Mitochondrial DNA'' 24 (2): 86–88. * Rösler H (2000). "''Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)''". ''Gekkota'' 2: 28–153. (''Gekko swinhonis'', p. 82). (in German). swinhonis Reptiles of China Endemic fauna of China Reptiles described in 1864 Taxa named by Albert Günther {{Gekko-stub