REPTILIA: SQUAMATA: GEKKONIDAE: Nactus

Nactus cheverti (Macleay, 1878)

No common name

Photos & text by Dr. Robert Sprackland. Specimens photographed on Fitzroy Island, Queensland.

At right: juvenile gecko (September, 2000).

Range: NE Queensland, Australia.

Diagnosis:

Description: This is a small (7 cm/ 3.3 inch) ground dweller found in old logs and under rocks in forested habitats. The body has tiny tubercles, and the digits are slender with tiny claws; there are no adhesive toe pads.

Juveniles (photo at top of section) are dark with tiny pale spots. Adults develop a pale yellow head and nape (above, taken October, 1999).

Natural History: A poorly-known species that was named in 1878, but was largely ignored until 1997.

Reproduction:

Taxonomy & Relationships:

Variation:

Additional Comments:

Type Specimen:

Literature:

Cogger, Harold. 1999. Reptiles and amphibians of Australia. 6th edition. Ralph Curtis Books. ISBN: 0-88359-048-4.

Macleay, W. 1878. The lizards of the "Chevert" expedition (Part 2). Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 2:97-104. 

Zug, George. 1997. Australian populations of the Nactus pelagicus complex (Reptilia: Gekkonidae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 42(2):613-626.