The black-eyed gecko (''Mokopirirakau kahutarae''), also known commonly as Whitaker's sticky-toed gecko, 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 ...

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 ...

Diplodactylidae. An alpine

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 ...

species, discovered in 1970, it inhabits high-altitude mountains in three areas of the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is the highest-altitude lizard species in New Zealand, living up to above sea level.

Description

The black-eyed gecko is a medium-sized lizard, olive or grey above and white below, with 6–7 lighter bands across the

dorsal surface Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...

of its body, and speckled sides. It has very small body scales and narrow tapering toes, which more closely resemble those of an arboreal than a terrestrial gecko. It is most notable for its prominent eyebrows and unusually jet-black irises – all other related geckos have a light iris with a filigree pattern. When handled it makes chirruping calls or squeals.

Behaviour

''M. kahutarae'' is nocturnal and can be active at temperatures as low as 7℃. It sun-basks on boulders at the entrance to its retreat, but is very wary and flees rapidly if disturbed.

Taxonomy

Initially classified in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Hoplodactylus ''Hoplodactylus'' is a genus of geckos in the family Diplodactylidae. The genus is endemic to New Zealand, one of the seven genera of geckos found only in New Zealand. ''Hoplodactylus'' comprises three species of large to gigantic brownish liza ...

'', the black-eyed gecko is now placed in the genus ''

Mokopirirakau ''Mokopirirakau'' is a genus of geckos in the family Diplodactylidae. ''Mokopirirakau'' is endemic to New Zealand. ''Mokopirirakau'', meaning "forest gecko", is derived from the Maori language. Species The entire genus was previously placed in ...

'' along with other narrow-toed alpine and forest geckos. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

specimen is in the collection of the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

Geographic range

The first specimen of ''M. kahutarae'' collected was found in March 1970 in a colony of

Hutton's shearwater Hutton's shearwater (''Puffinus huttoni'') or the kaikōura tītī, is a medium-sized ocean-going seabird in the family Procellariidae. Its range is Australian and New Zealand waters, but it breeds only in mainland New Zealand. Its conservatio ...

s on Mt Tarahaka in the

Seaward Kaikoura Range Seaward may refer to: People: *Carolyn Seaward (born 1960), former beauty queen who appeared in the 1983 Bond film ''Octopussy'' *John Seaward (1786–1858), British civil engineer and mechanical engineer *Kevin Seaward (born 1983), Northern Irish ...

. It was immediately recognised as an undescribed species, but repeated searches from 1970 to 1981 in the Seaward Kaikouras failed to find any further individuals, until in 1983 four were collected in the Kahutara Saddle area, away from where it was first found. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

, ''kahutarae,'' is taken from the place where the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

was found. The black-eyed gecko has since been found in the mountains of Nelson and in the Lewis Pass area, living on alpine bluffs and rocky outcrops between . It is able to survive in the sub-nival zone, where vegetation is patchy and snow-covered in winter. It is possible that this species is not especially adapted to an alpine habit; rocks and bluffs may be its last retreat from the rats and mice common at lower altitudes.

Conservation status

In 2012 the Department of Conservation (DOC) classified ''M. kahutarae'' as Nationally Vulnerable under the

New Zealand Threat Classification System The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand. The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had some ...

. This was based on it existing in just a few subpopulations, the largest of less than 500 individuals, predicted to decline. It was noted as being data-poor, and sparsely distributed with a restricted range.

References

External links

* Alpine geckos discussed on Radio NZ ''Critter of the Week'
15 July 2016
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black-eyed gecko Reptiles of New Zealand Mokopirirakau Reptiles described in 1985 Taxa named by Anthony Whitaker Taxonomy articles created by Polbot