Haacke's rock gecko (''Afroedura haackei)'', also known
commonly as Haacke's flat gecko, is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
lizard
Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Gekkonidae
Gekkonidae (the common geckos) is the largest family of geckos, containing over 950 described species in 62 genera. The Gekkonidae contain many of the most widespread gecko species, including house geckos (''Hemidactylus''), the tokay gecko (''Ge ...
. The species is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...
to
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
.
[ www.reptile-database.org.]
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 ...
, ''haackei'', is in honor of South African herpetologist
Wulf Dietrich Haacke.
[
]
Geographic range
''A. haackei'' is found in Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...
province, South Africa.
Habitat
The preferred natural habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, 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 manifestation of its ...
of ''A. haackei'' is rocky areas of savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
, at altitudes of , but it has also been found on walls of buildings.
Behavior
''A. haackei'' is terrestrial
Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial.
Terrestrial may also refer to:
* Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on o ...
and rupicolous (rock-dwelling).
Reproduction
''A. haackei'' is oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...
.[
]
References
Further reading
* Jacobsen NHG (1992). "Flat geckos (genus ''Afroedura'') in the Transvaal". ''Journal of the Herpetological Association of Africa'' 40 (1): 22–25. (''Afroedura multiporis haackei'', new combination).
*Jacobsen NHG, Kuhn AL, Jackman TR, Bauer AM (2014). "A phylogenetic analysis of the southern African gecko genus ''Afroedura'' Loveridge (Squamata: Gekkonidae), with the description of nine new species from Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa". ''Zootaxa'' 3846 (4): 451–501. (''Afroedura haackei'', new taxonomic status).
* Onderstall D (1984). "Descriptions of two new subspecies of ''Afroedura pondolia'' ( Hewitt) and a discussion of species groups within the genus (Reptilia: Gekkonidae)". ''Annals of the Transvaal Museum'' 33: 497–509. (''Afroedura pondolia haackei'', new subspecies).
* Rösler H (2000). "''Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)''". ''Gekkota'' 2: 28–153. (''Afroedura multiporus haackei'', p. 58). (in German).
Afroedura
Endemic reptiles of South Africa
Reptiles described in 1984
{{Gekkonidae-stub