''Pachydactylus vansoni'', commonly known as Van Son's gecko or Van Son's thick-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 endemic to Southern Africa.

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 ...

, ''vansoni'', is in honor of Russian-born Dutch

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

Georges Van Son (1898-1967), who worked at the Transvaal Museum (1925-1967).Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Pachydactylus vansoni'', pp. 272-273).

Geographic range

''P. vansoni'' is distributed in

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

, Mozambique, South Africa,

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

, and Zimbabwe. The geographic range of this species is estimated to be larger than 100,000 km² (38,610 sq mi).

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of ''P. vansoni'' are grassland and savanna, at altitudes from sea level to .

Reproduction

''P. vansoni'' 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 ...

References

* Barts M, Colacicco F (2015). "''Die Dickfingergeckos des südlichen Afrikas. Tiel XVII: ''Pachydactylus vansoni'' FITZSIMONS, 1933'' ". ''Sauria'' 37 (1): 41–48. (in German). * Branch, Bill (2004). ''Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa''. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. . (''Pachydactylus vansoni'', pp. 262–263 + Plate 83). * FitzSimons VFM (1933). "Descriptions of Five New Lizards from the Transvaal and Southern Rhodesia". ''Annals of the Transvaal Museum'' 15 (2): 273–280. (''Pachydactylus capensis vansoni'', new subspecies). * Girard F (2013). "''Pachydactylus vansoni'' FitzSimons, 1933, Van Son's Thick-toed Gecko. Captive Breeding". ''African Herp News'' (60): 19–20. * Rösler H (1993). "Contributions to the knowledge of African geckos (Reptilia: Sauria: Gekkonidae). 1. Records of a five year period of maintenance and reproduction of ''Pachydactylus vansoni'' FitzSimons 1933". ''Journal of the Herpetological Association of Africa'' 42 (1): 13–19. *Rösler H (2000). "''Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)''". ''Gekkota'' 2: 28–153. (''Pachydactylus vansoni'', p. 99). (in German).

External links