Pachydactylus rangeiNamib Sand Gecko, Web-footed gecko

Ge­o­graphic Range

Pachy­dacty­lus rangei is found in Africa south of the Sa­hara Desert, mainly in Namibia.

Habi­tat

As they are noc­tur­nal, these geckos live mostly nes­tled in deep bur­rows in the desert sand where there is a mod­er­ate amount of mois­ture dur­ing the day. They ven­ture out to the sur­face only when the desert's tem­per­a­ture has dropped at night.

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Namib­ian geckos have translu­cent skin, mostly a somber brown or gray color which helps them blend in with their desert en­vi­ron­ment. They have thin, spindly legs and large webbed feet, which help them dig bur­rows in the coastal Namib Desert. Their webbed feet also allow them to run across the fine sand in their na­tive habi­tat. These webs are fleshy, but they con­tain tiny car­ti­lages that sup­port a del­i­cate sys­tem of mus­cles that co­or­di­nate the fine sand-scoop­ing mo­tions of the feet. Ad­di­tion­ally, the ad­he­sive pads on their toes have rows of plates called lamel­lae, which are cov­ered with thou­sands of mi­cro­scopic hook like pro­jec­tions called vil­losi­ties. These vil­losi­ties catch any minor sur­face ir­reg­u­lar­ity in order to aid the gecko in climb­ing.

Pachy­dacty­lus rangei pos­sess large, bulb-like eyes with ver­ti­cal pupils. Their eyes are are dark brown and red, and they stand out against the pink­ish-brown color of the head and back of the species. Like most geckos, they lack eye­lids. In­stead, the eyes are cov­ered with a trans­par­ent scale, called a spec­ta­cle, which is cleaned by pe­ri­odic lick­ing.

This species does not show marked sex­ual di­mor­phism. Al­though males are gen­er­ally smaller, the dif­fer­ences be­tween males and fe­males are so small that they can only be de­ter­mined by ex­am­in­ing a large num­ber of spec­i­mens. These lizards usu­ally range in size from 10-15 cm long, and in­di­vid­u­als have a lifes­pan of 1-5 years.

Re­pro­duc­tion

The breed­ing sea­son for the Namib web-footed gecko be­gins in the spring (April/May). The male geckos bites the fe­male's neck and sub­se­quently holds her tightly while ma­neu­ver­ing his tail under hers to com­plete cop­u­la­tion. Fe­males lay eggs in pairs, al­though young fe­males who have never laid eggs be­fore may lay only one egg. The eggs are buried in a moist sub­strate around 30 de­grees Cel­sius. Eggs are cal­care­ous, around 8-11 by 7-9 mm in size, and may be ei­ther stuck to­gether or sep­a­rate. The young are hatched in about eight weeks. De­pend­ing on when the fe­male lays the eggs (usu­ally be­tween May and Au­gust), the young emerge be­tween July and Oc­to­ber.

Be­hav­ior

Males often fight with one an­other, es­pe­cially if left alone to­gether in cap­tiv­ity. This a mostly soli­tary species.

Food Habits

Palmato­gecko is a noc­tur­nal, in­sec­tiv­o­rous an­i­mal. They are known as in­ef­fi­cient hunters be­cause their prey (such as grasshop­pers, small spi­ders, and any arthro­pod small enough for them to di­gest) can eas­ily avoid them. How­ever, by hunt­ing at night, they are able to take ad­van­tage of the lack of com­pe­ti­tion from other lizards dur­ing the hours when in­sects and spi­ders are off their guard. Their large eyes and ver­ti­cal pupils help the lizards see well at night.

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Im­por­tant in the pet trade.

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Human ac­tiv­i­ties threaten the geckos' sur­vival. Peo­ple hunt them for food, and in many areas, their habi­tats have been de­stroyed. Some laws have been passed that help to pro­tect the lizards.

  • IUCN Red List [Link]
    Not Evaluated

Other Com­ments

Pachy­dacty­lus rangei has com­plex vo­cal­iza­tions, rang­ing from squeaks and clicks to croaks and barks. These forms of com­mu­ni­ca­tion are uti­lized when the lizard is dis­turbed or if it is try­ing to at­tract a mate.

Con­trib­u­tors

Melanie Cut­ler (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

Ethiopian

living in sub-Saharan Africa (south of 30 degrees north) and Madagascar.

World Map

desert or dunes

in deserts low (less than 30 cm per year) and unpredictable rainfall results in landscapes dominated by plants and animals adapted to aridity. Vegetation is typically sparse, though spectacular blooms may occur following rain. Deserts can be cold or warm and daily temperates typically fluctuate. In dune areas vegetation is also sparse and conditions are dry. This is because sand does not hold water well so little is available to plants. In dunes near seas and oceans this is compounded by the influence of salt in the air and soil. Salt limits the ability of plants to take up water through their roots.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

Ref­er­ences

Cog­ger, Harold G. 1992. Rep­tiles and Am­phib­ians. Smith­mark Pub­lish­ers, New York. pp. 131, 146-9.

Mat­ti­son, Chris. 1991. Keep­ing and Breed­ing Lizards. Bland­ford, Lon­don. pp. 88-94.

Seufer, Her­mann. 1985. Keep­ing and Breed­ing Geckos. TFH Pub­li­ca­tions, Ger­many. pp. 91-3.

World Book En­cy­clo­pe­dia. 1986. World Book In­cor­po­rated, Inc., Chicago. Vol. G: pp. 357-9.