''Thecadactylus'' is a

gekko ''Gekko'' is a genus of Southeast Asian geckos, commonly known as true geckos or calling geckos, in the family Gekkonidae. Although species such as ''Gekko gecko'' (tokay gecko) are very widespread and common, some species in the same genus hav ...

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 ...

from the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. They are known as the turnip-tailed geckos.Köhler, G. and M. Vesely. (2011)
A new species of ''Thecadactylus'' from Sint Maarten, Lesser Antilles (Reptilia, Squamata, Gekkonidae).
''ZooKeys'' 118: 97–107. The genus belongs to the gecko

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 ...

Phyllodactylidae. Until 2007, it was believed to be

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

, with ''T. rapicauda'' the sole species. Then however, the population from upstream southern Amazon basin was discovered to be very distinct and was named a new

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 ...

, ''T. solimoensis''. A third species was described in 2011. * '' Thecadactylus oskrobapreinorum'' Köhler & Vesely, 2011 * '' Thecadactylus rapicauda'' Houttuyn, 1782 – turniptail gecko * '' Thecadactylus solimoensis'' Bergmann & Russell, 2007

References

*Georg August Goldfuss, Goldfuss, G.A. 1820. Reptilia. pp. 121–181 ''In:'' ''Handbuch der Naturgeschichte zum Gebrauch bei Vorlesungen. Vol. 3. Handbuch der Zoologie''. J.L. Schrag: Nürnberg. T Lizard genera Lizards of Central America Lizards of South America Lizards of the Caribbean Taxa named by Lorenz Oken {{gecko-stub