Wolterstorff's gecko (''Urocotyledon wolterstorffi'') 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
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
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Gekkonidae. The species is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found elsew ...
to
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
.
Etymology
The specific name, ''wolterstorffi'', is in honor of German herpetologist
Willy Wolterstorff
Willy Georg Wolterstorff (16 June 1864 in Calbe – 21 January 1943 in Magdeburg) was a German paleontologist and herpetologist.
As a child he lost his hearing due to disease, thus finding it necessary to lip-reading, lip-read from an early ag ...
.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Urocotyledon wolterstorffi'', p. 288).]
Geographic range
''U. wolterstorffi'' is found in the
Uluguru Mountains
The Uluguru mountains are a mountain range in eastern Tanzania, named after the Luguru tribe. The main portion of the Uluguru mountains is a ridge running roughly north-south and rising to altitude at its highest point. On the main Uluguru rang ...
and the
Usambara Mountains of Tanzania.
[
]
Reproduction
''U. wolterstorffi'' 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
Further reading
* Broadley DG, Howell KM (1991). "A Check List of the Reptiles of Tanzania, with Synoptic Keys". ''Syntarsus'' 1: 1-70. (''Urocotyledon wolterstorffi'', p. 10).
* Kluge AG (1983). "Cladistic Relationships among Gekkonid Lizards". ''Copeia'' 1983 (2): 465–475. (''Urocotyledon wolterstorffi'', new combination).
* Rösler H (2000). "''Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)''". ''Gekkota'' 2: 28–153. (''Urocotyledon wolterstorffi'', p. 119). (in German).
*Spawls, Stephen; Howell, Kim; Hinkel, Harald; Menegon, Michele (2018). ''A Field Guide to East African Reptiles, Second Edition''. London and New York: Bloomsbury. 624 pp. . (''Urocotyledon wolterstorffi'', p. 124).
* Tornier G (1900). "''Neue Liste der Crocodile, Schildkröten und Eidechsen Deutsch Ost-Afrikas'' ". ''Zoologische Jahrbücher, Abtheilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Thiere, Jena'' 13: 579–618. (''Diplodactylus wolterstorffi'', new species, pp. 584–586, Figure A). (in German).
Urocotyledon
Geckos of Africa
Reptiles of Tanzania
Endemic fauna of Tanzania
Taxa named by Gustav Tornier
Reptiles described in 1900
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