''Matoatoa brevipes'' is a

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 ...

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from . Geckos ar ...

, a lizard 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 ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Geographic range

''M. brevipes'' is found along the southwestern coast of

Habitat

''M. brevipes'' is found in hollow tree branches within dry open spiny forest.

Behavior

''M. brevipes'' is a nocturnal species.

References

* Mocquard F (1900). "''Diagnoses d'espèces nouvelles de Reptiles de Madagascar'' ". ''Bulletin du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris'' 6: 345–348. (''Phyllodactylus brevipes'', new species, p. 346). (in French). * Nussbaum RA, Raxworthy CJ, Pronk O (1998). "The Ghost Geckos of Madagascar: A Further Revision of the Malagasy Leaf-toed Geckos (Reptilia, Squamata, Gekkonidae)". ''Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan'' (186): 1–26. (''Matoatoa brevipes'', new combination, p. 2). Matoatoa Reptiles of Madagascar Endemic fauna of Madagascar Taxa named by François Mocquard Reptiles described in 1900 {{Gecko-stub

Geographic range

Habitat

Behavior

References

Further reading