The narrow leaf-toed gecko (''Phyllodactylus angustidigitus'') is a medium-sized

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 ...

with a maximum snout-vent length of 57 mm. This species is endemic from the

Ica Region Ica (; qu, Ika) is a department and region of Peru. It borders the Pacific Ocean on the west; the Lima Region on the north; the Huancavelica and Ayacucho regions on the east; and the Arequipa Region on the south. Its capital is the city of Ic ...

in southern

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, and its known geographical distribution is restricted to the

Paracas National Reservation Paracas National Reserve is a protected area located in the region of Ica, Peru and protects desert and marine ecosystems for their conservation and sustainable use. There are also archaeological remains of the Paracas culture inside the reserve. ...

, including two islands (La Vieja in the Bahia Independencia and Sangayan west of the Paracas Peninsula). This gecko most closely resembles '' Phyllodactylus gerrhopygus'' (a species that also occurs in southern Peru), from which it can be distinguished by smaller and more numerous terminal

lamellae Lamella (plural lamellae) means a small plate or flake in Latin, and in English may refer to: Biology * Lamella (mycology), a papery rib beneath a mushroom cap * Lamella (botany) * Lamella (surface anatomy), a plate-like structure in an animal * ...

on the fourth toe. ''Phyllodactylus angustidigitus'' inhabits sand dunes, rocky outcrops, and small hills throughout the desert in Paracas, though it is usually more abundant near shore. These geckos abound along shelly and gravel beaches, and seem to avoid sandy beaches. This gecko feeds on small

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s, including

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 ...

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

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 ...

s. Females appear to lay only one

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

References and external links

*Original description was done by Dixon, J.R. & R.B. Huey in 1970 in "Systematics of the lizards of the gekkonid genus ''Phyllodactylus'' of mainland South America". ''Contributions in science, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History'' 192: 1-78.
Lizards of the Paracas National Reserve

Profile of the Paracas National Reserve by Parkswatch
Specific {{Taxonbar, from=Q3019621 Phyllodactylus Reptiles of Peru Reptiles described in 1970