The Rotuman forest gecko (''Lepidodactylus gardineri)'', also known
commonly as the Rotuma forest gecko, is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
lizard
Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Gekkonidae
Gekkonidae (the common geckos) is the largest family of geckos, containing over 950 described species in 62 genera. The Gekkonidae contain many of the most widespread gecko species, including house geckos (''Hemidactylus''), the tokay gecko (''Ge ...
. The species is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...
to
Rotuma Island,
Fiji
Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
.
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 ...
, ''gardineri'', is in honor of British zoologist
John Stanley Gardiner
John Stanley Gardiner (1872–1946) was a British zoologist.
Biography
Stanley, as he was known, was the younger son of John Jephson Gardiner and Sarah McTier. He was born in Jordanstown (Belfast) in 1872 – two years after his brother Arthur. ...
.
Habitat
The preferred natural
habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, 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 manifestation of its ...
of ''L. gardineri'' is
forest
A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
, at altitudes from sea level to .
Behavior
''L. gardineri'' is
arboreal
Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...
. It is found in dead tree branches, both beneath the bark and in termite galleries.
Reproduction
''L. gardineri'' is
oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...
.
[
]
References
Further reading
* Boulenger GA (1897). "On the Reptiles of Rotuma Island, Polynesia". ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Sixth Series'' 20: 306–307. (''Lepidodactylus gardineri'', new species, pp. 306–307).
* Brown WC, Parker F (1977). "Lizards of the genus ''Lepidodactylus'' (Gekkonidae) from the Indo-Australian Archipelago and the islands of the Pacific, with description of new species". ''Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences'' 41 (8): 253–265. (''Lepidodactylus gardineri'', pp. 256, 258).
* Rösler H (2000). "''Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)''". ''Gekkota'' 2: 28–153. (''Lepidodactylus gardineri'', p. 91). (in German).
* Zug GR (1991). "The lizards of Fiji: Natural history and systematics". ''Bishop Museum Bulletin in Zoology'' 2: 1–136.
Lepidodactylus
Reptiles of Fiji
Endemic fauna of Fiji
Reptiles described in 1897
Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger
{{gekkonidae-stub