Weber's thick-toed gecko (''Pachydactylus weberi'') 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 ...

of lizard in the

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

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 g ...

. The species is native to southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Etymology

The specific name, ''weberi'', is in honor of German-Dutch zoologist Max Wilhelm Carl Weber van Bosse. Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Pachydactylus weberi'', p. 280).

Geographic range

''P. weberi'' is found in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

Habitat

The preferred natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s of ''P. weberi'' are desert and shrubland, at altitudes from sea level to .

Description

''P. weberi'' is small for its

genus 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 nom ...

, flattened, and slender-bodied. Adults have a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of . The maximum recorded SVL is . 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 weberi'', p. 263 + Plate 86).

Behavior

''P. weberi'' is nocturnal. During the day it shelters in rock crevices.

Diet

''P. weberi'' predominantly

preys Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

upon

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

s and

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

Reproduction

''P. weberi'' is oviparous. The adult female lays a clutch of two hard-shelled eggs. Each egg measures on average 9.5 mm x 6.5 mm (0.37 in x 0.26 in).

References

* Bauer AM, Lamb T, Branch WR (2006). "A revision of the ''Pachydactylus serval'' and ''P. weberi'' groups (Reptilia: Gekkota: Gekkonidae) of Southern Africa, with the description of eight new species". ''Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Fourth Series'' 57 (23): 595–709. (''Pachydactylus weberi'', pp. 606–610 + Figures 1, 3, 13–20). * Rösler H (2000). "''Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)''". ''Gekkota'' 2: 28–153. (''Pachydactylus weberi'', p. 99). (in German). * Roux J (1907). "''Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Fauna von Süd-Afrika. Ergebnisse einer Reise von Prof. Max Weber im Jahre 1894. VII. Lacertilia (Eidechsen)''". ''Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Tiere'' 25: 403–444. (''Pachydactylus weberi'', new species, pp. 408–410 + Plate 14, figures 4–5). (in German). Pachydactylus Reptiles of South Africa Reptiles of Namibia Reptiles described in 1907 {{gecko-stub