The Vietnamese leopard gecko or Chinese tiger gecko (''Goniurosaurus araneus'') 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 ...
s in the family
Eublepharidae
The Eublepharidae are a family of geckos (Gekkota) consisting of 43 described species in six genera. They occur in Asia, Africa and North America. Eublepharid geckos lack adhesive toepads and, unlike other geckos, have movable eyelids, thus commo ...
. It 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 elsew ...
to the
Cao Bằng Province Cao or CAO may refer to:
Mythology
*Cao (bull), a legendary bull in Meitei mythology
Companies or organizations
*Air China Cargo, ICAO airline designator CAO
*CA Oradea, Romanian football club
*CA Osasuna, Spanish football club
*Canadian Associ ...
of
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
. The scientific species name, is from the Latin, ''aranea'', which means "
spider
Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...
", due to the spindly, spider-like form of this species.
Description
The Vietnamese tiger gecko is dark gray in color and has many black spots and four wide orange bands across the back. Its eyes are dark reddish brown. ''Goniurosaurus araneus'' is distinguished from other species of the same genus by its elongated dorsal
scales
Scale or scales may refer to:
Mathematics
* Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points
* Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original
* Scale factor, a number w ...
. This gecko has a maximum length (including tail) of 190 mm.
[Goniurosaurus araneus GRISMER, VIETS & BOYLE, 1999](_blank)
(Viewed on February 15, 2010)
Habitat
The habitat of the Vietnamese tiger gecko is primarily rocky. It is found in humid and shady areas and in mountainous terrain or near caves.
["Natural History, care and breeding of the two new Goniurosaurus species: Goniurosaurus lui and Goniurosaurus araneus", Lee Andern and Peter Blake, ''Reptilian'' 6:7.]
References
Further reading
*Bobrov V.V., Semenov D.V. (2008). ''Lizards of Vietnam''
n Russian Moscow, 236 pp.
*Dickhoff, A. 2004. ''Ein Tiger im Terrarium - Haltung und Nachzucht von Goniurosaurus araneus'' (GRISMER, VIETS & BOYLE 1999). Draco 5 (18): 76-81
*Grismer, et al. (1999) ''Journal of Herpetology'' 33 (3):382-393.
*Grismer, L. Lee, Brian E. Viets and Lawrence J. Boyle. 1999. Two new continental species of Goniurosaurus (Squamata: Eublepharidae) with a phylogeny and evolutionary classification of the genus. ''Journal of Herpetology'' 33 (3): 382-393.
*Grismer, L. Lee, Shi Haitao, Nicolai L. Orlov and Natalia B. Ananjeva 2002. A new species of Goniurosaurus (Squamata: Eublepharidae) from Hainan Island, China. ''Journal of Herpetology'' 36 (2): 217-224.
*Jonniaux P, Kumazawa Y. (2008). Molecular phylogenetic and dating analyses using mitochondrial DNA sequences of eyelid geckos (Squamata: Eublepharidae). ''Gene''. 15 January 2008;407(1-2):105-115.
*Rösler, H. 2000. Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha). ''Gekkota'' 2: 28-153.
*Seufer, H.; Y. Kaverkin & A. Kirschner (eds.) 2005. ''Die Lidgeckos''. Kirschner und Seufer Verlag, 238 pp.
*Ziegler, T.; Truong, N.Q.; Schmitz, A.; Stenke, R. & Rösler, H. 2008. A new species of Goniurosaurus from Cat Ba Island, Hai Phong, northern Vietnam (Squamata: Eublepharidae). ''Zootaxa'' 1771: 16–30.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3060878
Reptiles described in 1999
Reptiles of Vietnam
Endemic fauna of Vietnam
Cao Bằng province
Goniurosaurus