''Lygodactylus williamsi'' is a critically endangered

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 ...

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

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 ge ...

. 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 elsew ...

to a small area of

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. Common names include turquoise dwarf gecko, William's dwarf gecko, and, in the pet trade, electric blue gecko. Illegal wild-caught specimens are widely sold in the pet trade, often misdescribed as captive-bred. Although ''L. williamsi'' breeds in captivity, the young require a lot of care, making large-scale breeding difficult. A

captive breeding Captive breeding, also known as captive propagation, is the process of plants or animals in controlled environments, such as wildlife reserves, zoos, botanic gardens, and other conservation facilities. It is sometimes employed to help species that ...

project and

studbook A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry and the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders ...

was initiated by

EAZA The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), is an organisation for the European zoo and aquarium community that links over 340 member organisations in 41 countries. EAZA membership is open to all zoos and aquaria across Europe that compl ...

zoos in 2013. The species ''L. williamsi'' was placed under EU Appendix B protection in December 2014, under EU Appendix A protection in January 2017, and under

CITES Appendix I CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

protection in January 2017. The gecko may not be kept or sold in the EU without documentation and permits, renewable every three years, and geckos must now be registered. Similar restrictions apply in some other jurisdictions.

Population

The survival of ''L. williamsi'' is mostly threatened by (entirely illegal) collection for the international

pet trade Wildlife trade refers to the of products that are derived from non-domesticated animals or plants usually extracted from their natural environment or raised under controlled conditions. It can involve the trade of living or dead individuals, ti ...

. It is critically endangered and the population is thought to be declining rapidly. Although trade in wild-caught turquoise day geckos is illegal, wild-caught geckos are commonly sold in pet shops. It is estimated that between December 2004 and July 2009, at least 32,310 to 42,610 geckos were taken by one collecting group, ~15% of the wild population at the time.

Geographic range

''L. williamsi'' is only found in of the Kimboza Forest, Ruvu Forest Reserve, Mbagalala and Muhalama at an altitude of .United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (November 2013).
Review of Lygodactylus williamsi.
'. Retrieved 27 October 2015. These are located at the foothills of the

Uluguru Mountains The Uluguru mountains are a mountain range in eastern Tanzania, named after the Luguru tribe. The main portion of the Uluguru mountains is a ridge running roughly north-south and rising to altitude at its highest point. On the main Uluguru rang ...

in eastern

. The subpopulation in Kimboza Forest Reserve was estimated at 150,000 adults in 2009. The size of the remaining subpopulations is unknown, but their size is not thought to contribute significantly to the total population. The two known sites outside protected areas are tiny: one consists of 14 ''

Pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with some 750 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. The greatest number of species are found in Madagascar and Malaysia. Common names ...

'' trees (the rest has been cleared for

banana plantation A banana plantation is a commercial agricultural facility found in tropical climates where bananas are grown. Geographic distribution Banana plants may grow with varying degrees of success in diverse climatic conditions, but commercial banana p ...

s) and the other is equally close to disappearing.Maisch H (2013). "Reasons to feel blue". ''Zooquaria'' 83: 24.

Habitat

In the wild, the turquoise day gecko lives exclusively on the (redlisted endemic) screwpine, '' Pandanus rabaiensis'', mostly in the leaf crown. It only lives on large trees, those with leaves more than long.CITES Proposal for inclusion
/ref> A single leaf crown will typically contain a single individual, or an adult male, an adult female, and juveniles. It eats small

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s and drinks water from leaves. It is also fond of

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

Habitat loss

Collectors commonly cut down screwpine trees to reach the geckos living in the leaf crest, destroying the gecko's habitat. Many geckos are thought to die while being shipped to market. The pet trade is likely a worse threat than habitat loss.The gecko is now restricted to the forest in Tanzania and is at risk of extinction in the wild as the forests are cleared. ''L. williamsis tropical forest habitat is also shrinking and fragmenting. Neither of the Catchment Forest Reserves where it occurs is well-protected. The forest is seriously threatened by pet collectors, clearing for farmland,

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a pro ...

, increasingly frequent fires, mining of

rubies A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sap ...

tourmaline Tourmaline ( ) is a crystalline silicate mineral group in which boron is compounded with elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. Tourmaline is a gemstone and can be found in a wide variety of colors. The ...

rhodolite Rhodolite is a varietal name for rose-pink to red mineral pyrope, a species in the garnet group. It was first described from Cowee Valley, Macon County, North Carolina. The name is derived from the Greek "rhodon" for "rose-like", in common wit ...

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

and

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

and

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

from outcrops on which the screwpines grow. Invasive trees such as ''

Cedrela ''Cedrela'' is a genus of several species in the mahogany family, Meliaceae. They are evergreen or dry-season deciduous trees with pinnate leaves, native to the tropical and subtropical New World, from southern Mexico south to northern Argentina ...

'' are also a threat. There is little forest left unaffected.

Appearance

Males of ''L. williamsi'' are bright blue with heavy black throat stripes, visible preanal pores, and hemipenile bulges. Females range from brown or bronze to bright green, and have little to no black on the throat. Females can easily be confused with juvenile or socially suppressed males that are also green, sometimes with a bluish cast. The underside of both sexes is orange. Colours of individuals vary according to mood and temperature. Males may range from black or gray to brilliant electric blue. Females may range from dark brown to brilliant green with turquoise highlights. Adult snout-vent length (SVL) is . A ''Lygodactylus spp.'' identification guide has been published online by

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

,"How to Identify ''Lygodactylus williamsi'': A photographic Guide to the Turquoise Dwarf Gecko"

TRAFFIC Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

(2011). In: Wildlife Trade Handbook. TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa and the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 11–17. largely for the use of customs officers (illegal shipments of these geckos are often intentionally mislabelled).

Behavior

Like all geckos of the

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

Lygodactylus ''Lygodactylus'' is a genus of diurnal geckos with 72 species. They are commonly referred to as dwarf geckos. They are mainly found in Africa and Madagascar although two species are found in South America. ''Lygodactylus picturatus'', the best ...

'' and ''

Phelsuma ''Phelsuma'' is a large genus of geckos in the family Gekkonidae. Species in the genus ''Phelsuma'' are commonly referred to as day geckos. Some day geckos are seriously endangered and some are common, but all ''Phelsuma'' species are CITES App ...

'', ''L. williamsi'' is diurnal. It is bold, active, and social. Males are territorial, and do not generally tolerate the presence of other males. Social gestures include lateral flattening, puffing out of the throat patch, head shaking and head bobbing, and tail-wagging.

Reproduction

Males of ''L. williamsi'' court females with lateral flattening, puffing out of the

throat pouch Gular skin (throat skin), in ornithology, is an area of featherless skin on birds that joins the lower mandible of the beak (or ''bill'') to the bird's neck. Other vertebrate taxa may have a comparable anatomical structure that is referred to as ...

, and head bobbing. Two to three weeks after copulation, the female lays a

clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...

of 1 or 2 pea-sized white, hard-shelled

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

which are glued to a surface in a secure, hidden location. Eggs hatch in 60 to 90 days.

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 ...

, ''williamsi'', given to the gecko by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

Arthur Loveridge Arthur Loveridge (28 May 1891 – 16 February 1980) was a British biologist and herpetologist who wrote about animals in East Africa, particularly Tanzania, and New Guinea. He gave scientific names to several gecko species in the region. Arthur ...

, Loveridge A (1952). "A startlingly turquoise-blue gecko from Tanganyika". ''Journal of the East African Natural History Society'' 20: 446. (cited in the IUCN database as the species authority). honours

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

Ernest Edward Williams Ernest Edward Williams (January 7, 1914 – September 1, 1998) was an American herpetologist. He coined the term ''ecomorph'' based on his research on anoles. Taxa named in honor of Ernest E. Williams The following species are named in honor of ...

.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Lygodactylus williamsi'', p. 286).

References

*UNEP-WCMC Species Database

External links

*The Reptile Database entry: http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Lygodactylus&species=williamsi *Catalogue of Life taxonomic entry: http://www.catalogueoflife.org/col/details/species/id/13201544 * {{Taxonbar, from=Q137615 Lygodactylus Species endangered by the pet trade Species endangered by deforestation Species endangered by logging for timber Species endangered by logging for firewood Species endangered by agricultural development Species endangered by fires Species endangered by mining Reptiles of Tanzania Endemic fauna of Tanzania Reptiles described in 1952 Reptiles as pets