The Chitral gecko (''Mediodactylus walli''), also known
commonly as the Chitral bow-foot 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
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
.
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 ...
, ''walli'', is in honor of British herpetologist
Frank Wall.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Cyrtopodion walli'', p. 279).]
Geographic range
''M. walli'' is found in northwestern Pakistan. The type locality is "Chitral, Northwest Frontier Province, Pakistan".
[
]
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 ...
s of ''M. walli'' are shrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...
and rocky areas, at altitudes of .
Reproduction
''M. walli'' 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
* Auffenberg K, Krysko KL, Rehman H (2010). "Studies on Pakistan Lizards: ''Cyrtopodion baturense'' (Khan and Baig 1992) and ''Cyrtopodion walli'' (Ingoldby 1922) (Sauria: Gekkonidae)". ''Zootaxa'' 2636: 1–20.
* Bauer AM, Masroor R, Titus-McQuillan J, Heinicke MP, Daza JD, Jackman TR (2013). "A preliminary phylogeny of the Palearctic naked-toed geckos (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae) with taxonomic implications". ''Zootaxa'' 3599 (4): 301–324. (''Mediodactylus walli'', new combination).
* Das I (1994). "The reptiles of South Asia: checklist and distributional summary". ''Hamadryad'' 19: 15–40.
* Ingoldby CM (1922). "A new stone gecko from the Himalaya". ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 28: 1051. (''Gymnodactylus walli'', new species).
* Khan MS (1992). "Validity of the mountain gecko, ''Gymnodactylus walli'' INGOLDBY 1922". ''Herpetological Journal'' 2 (4): 106–10.
* Sindaco R Jeremčenko VK (2008). ''The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic. 1. Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Turtles, Crocodiles, Amphisbaenians and Lizards of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia''. (Monographs of the ''Societas Herpetologica Italica''). Latina, Italy: Edizioni Belvedere. 580 pp. . (''Altiphylax walli)''.
Mediodactylus
Reptiles of Pakistan
Reptiles described in 1922
{{Gekkonidae-stub