''Goniurosaurus'' is a
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 n ...
of
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 ...
s, containing 25
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), 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 ...
. Members are known by various names including ground geckos, tiger geckos, leopard geckos, and cave geckos Members of this genus are found in
China,
Japan, and
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
. For this reason they are known commonly as
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...
n geckos. They belong to 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 ...
Eublepharidae
The Eublepharidae are a family of geckos (Gekkota) consisting of 43 described species in six genera. They occur in Asia, Africa and North America. Eublepharid geckos lack adhesive toepads and, unlike other geckos, have movable eyelids, thus comm ...
.
Diet
Geckos of the genus ''Goniurosaurus'' mainly feed on small insects.
Species
The following 26 species are recognized as being valid.
They can be divided into 4 species groups.
''luii'' group:
*''
Goniurosaurus araneus'' (Vietnamese leopard gecko)
*''
Goniurosaurus bawanglingensis''
*''
Goniurosaurus catbaensis'' (Cat Ba leopard gecko)
*''
Goniurosaurus chengzheng'' (Chengzheng cave gecko)
*''
Goniurosaurus gezhi''
*''
Goniurosaurus huuliensis''
*''
Goniurosaurus luii''
*''
Goniurosaurus liboensis''
*''
Goniurosaurus kadoorieorum'' (Kadoories's cave gecko)
*''
Goniurosaurus kwangsiensis'' (Guangxi cave gecko)
''lichtenfelderi'' group:
*''
Goniurosaurus hainanensis
''Goniurosaurus hainanensis'', also known as the “Chinese Cave Gecko” is a nocturnal species of gecko endemic to the Hainan Island of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the ...
''
*''
Goniurosaurus kwanghua''
*''
Goniurosaurus lichtenfelderi'' (Lichtenfelder's gecko)
*''
Goniurosaurus sinensis''
*''
Goniurosaurus zhoui'' (Zhou's leopard gecko)
''kuroiwae'' group:
*''
Goniurosaurus kuroiwae'' (Kuroiwa's ground gecko)
*''
Goniurosaurus orientalis'' (Spotted ground gecko)
*''
Goniurosaurus sengokui'' (Sengoku's gecko)
*''
Goniurosaurus splendens
The banded ground gecko (''Goniurosaurus splendens'') is a gecko. It is endemic to Tokunoshima in the Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōs ...
'' (Banded ground gecko)
*''
Goniurosaurus toyamai'' (Iheyajima leopard gecko)
*''
Goniurosaurus yamashinae'' (Yamashina's ground gecko)
''yingdeensis'' group:
*''
Goniurosaurus gollum'' (
Gollum
Gollum is a fictional Tolkien's monsters, character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He was introduced in the 1937 Fantasy (genre), fantasy novel ''The Hobbit'', and became important in its sequel, ''The Lord of the Rings''. Gol ...
leopard gecko)
*''
Goniurosaurus varius''
*''
Goniurosaurus wangshu'' (Wangshu's leopard gecko)
*''
Goniurosaurus yingdeensis'' (Yingde leopard gecko)
*''
Goniurosaurus zhelongi'' (Zhe-long's leopard gecko)
References
Further reading
*
Barbour T (1908). "Some New Reptiles and Amphibians". ''Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., Harvard College'' 51 (12): 315–325. (''Goniurosaurus'', new genus, p. 316).
External links
IONNomenclator Zoologicus
Lizard genera
Taxa named by Thomas Barbour
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