''Hemidactylus yerburii'', also known commonly as the southern leaf-toed gecko, Yerbury's gecko, and Yerburi's leaf-toed 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 native to Western Asia.

Geographic range

''H. yerburii'' is found on the southern

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...

in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Taxonomy

Populations of ''H. yerburii'' reported from Africa are based on misidentifications ('' H. macropholis''), or have been elevated from

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

to full species rank, namely '' H. montanus'' and '' H. pauciporus''.

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 ...

, ''yerburii'', is in honor of amateur entomologist Lieutenant Colonel

John William Yerbury John William Yerbury (30 March 1847 – 10 November 1927) was a British Indian army officer and a naturalist. He collected birds, insects, reptiles, and mollusc specimens which were sent to the British Museum (Natural History) during his service a ...

(1847–1927), who collected the holotype. Beolens B, Watkins M,

Grayson M Grayson may refer to: Places Canada * Grayson, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Grayson No. 184, Saskatchewan United States * Grayson, California * Grayson, Georgia ** Grayson High School * Grayson, Kentucky * Grayson, Louisiana * Gray ...

(2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("''Hemidactylus yerburyi'' ic, p. 292).

Habitat

''H. yerburii'', in the sense of including African populations no longer included in this species, occurs in a wide range of habitats from rocky desert areas to well vegetated habitats, including lowland deciduous forest and

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

, and also occurs on buildings in settlements. It is found from the sea level to

asl American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...

Reproduction

''H. yerburii'' 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 ...

Abundance

''H. yerburii'' is very rare; the species was described based on a single female.

References

* Anderson J (1895). "On a Collection of Reptiles and Batrachians made by Colonel Yerbury at Aden and in its Neighbourhood". ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London'' 1895: 635–663 + Plates XXXVI–XXXVII. (''Hemidactylus yerburii'', new species, p. 636, 640–641 + Plate XXXVI, figures 1, 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e). * Rösler H (2000). "''Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)''". ''Gekkota'' 2: 28–153. ("''Hemidactylus yerburyii'' ic, p. 88). (in German). * Sindaco R, Jeremčenko VK (2008). ''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. . *Sindaco R, Nincheri R, Lanza B (2014). "Catalogue of Arabian reptiles in the collections of the “''La Specola''” Museum, Florence". ''Scripta Herpetologica. Studies on Amphibians and Reptiles in honour of Benedetto Lanza'' 137–164. * Šmíd J, Shobrak M, Wilms T, Joger U, Carranza S (2016). "Endemic diversification in the mountains: genetic, morphological, and geographical differentiation of the ''Hemidactylus'' geckos in southwestern Arabia". ''Organisms Diversity & Evolution'' 17: 267–285. ("''Hemidactylus yerburyi'' ic). Hemidactylus Reptiles of the Arabian Peninsula Reptiles described in 1895 Taxa named by John Anderson (zoologist) {{Hemidactylus-stub