Thai National Parks

Species of Thailand

Garnot's house gecko

Hemidactylus garnotii, André Marie Constant Duméril & Gabriel Bibron, 1836

(In Thai: จิ้งจกบ้านหางเรียบ)

Hemidactylus garnotii, commonly known as the Indo-Pacific gecko, Garnot's house gecko or the fox gecko, is a species of gecko found in India, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, Australia, and throughout Polynesia. Adults are about 4 to 5 cm in total length (including tail). They are seen as dark gray or brown with light markings in daylight and a pale, translucent colour at night. The belly is orange or yellow. The head has a long, narrow snout, hence the name fox gecko. The flattened tail has a row of spiny scales on the lateral edges. The species is parthenogenic – all individuals are female and lay eggs that hatch without requiring male fertilisation.

In Hawaii, the species is thought to be a long-term resident. Formerly considered a house gecko, it has been displaced to natural habitats by the more recently arrived common house gecko. In Florida and Georgia it has become established as an invasive species of concern.

Etymology

The specific name, garnotii, is in honor of French naturalist Prosper Garnot.

Description

Snout obtusely pointed, longer than the distance between the eye and the ear-opening, 1.5 to 1.6 times the diameter of the orbit; forehead slightly concave; ear-opening small, rounded. Body and limbs moderate. A slight but distinct fold of the skin along the flanks, and another bordering the hind limb posteriorly. Digits free or with a very slight rudiment of web, moderately dilated, inner well developed; infradigital lamellae oblique, 6 or 7 under the inner digits, 10 to 12 under the fourth finger, and 11 to 14 under the fourth toe. Upper surfaces and throat covered with minute granular scales, a little larger on the snout; abdominal scales moderate, imbricate. Rostral subquadrangular, with median cleft above; nostril pierced between the rostral and three nasals; 12 or 13 upper and 9 to 11 lower labials; mental large, triangular, in contact posteriorly with a pair of pentagonal chin-shields, followed by a second smaller pair; the anterior pair of chin-shields in contact with the first infralabial, and with each other mesially; the posterior pair separated from each other, and also completely or nearly completely from the labials. Tail depressed, flat beneath, with sharp denticulated lateral edge; the scales on the upper surface very small, equal; those on the lower surface larger, imbricate, with a median series of large, transversely dilated plates.

Brownish grey above, uniform or with more or less distinct brown and whitish spots; lower surfaces uniform whitish.

Snout to vent length (SVL) 2.3 cm; tail 2.6 cm.

Reproduction

H. garnotii is a parthenogenetic species.

Geographic range

Sikkim, Burma, Malay Peninsula and Malay Archipelago, South Pacific Islands.

NE Bangladesh, NE India (Darjeeling, Assam, Sikkim), Nepal, Bhutan,

Thailand, Myanmar (= Burma), Malaysia,

southern China (Hong Kong, Guangdong, Hainan, southern Yunnan), Taiwan,

Philippine Islands, New Zealand (introduced),

Indonesia (Sumatra, Nias, Borneo, Java),

New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Polynesia, Fiji, Western Samoa.

Introduced into Hawaii, Florida, and the Bahamas.

Type locality: "l'Ile de Taiti French Polynesia".

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Scientific classification

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Subphylum
Vertebrata
Class
Reptilia
Order
Squamata
Suborder
Lacertilia
Family
Gekkonidae
Genus
Hemidactylus
Species
Hemidactylus garnotii

Common names

  • German:
    • Jungfern-Halbfingergecko
    • Indo-Pazifik Gecko
  • English:
    • Indo-Pacific gecko
    • Garnot’s house gecko
    • Fox gecko
    • Assam greyish brown gecko
  • Thai:
    • จิ้งจกบ้านหางเรียบ
    • จิ้งจกแม่หม้าย

Synonyms

  • Hemidactylus garnotii, Larry Lee Grismer (2011)
  • Hemidactylus garnotii, Merel J. Cox et al. (1998)
  • Hemidactylus garnotii, Ulrich Manthey & Wolfgang Grossmann (1997)
  • Hemidactylus garnotii, Roger Conant & Joseph Thomas Collins (1991)
  • Hemidactylus garnotti (sic), Scott et al. (1977)
  • Hemidactylus peruvianus, Heinz Wermuth (1965)
  • Hemidactylus garnetii (sic), Vasco M. Tanner (1952)
  • Hemidactylus guadama (sic), Edward Harrison Taylor (1934)
  • Hemidactylus garnoti, Nelly de Rooij (1915)
  • Hemidactylus garnoti sic, Nelly de Rooij (1915)

Photos

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Hemidactylus garnotii
Hemidactylus garnotii
Hemidactylus garnotii

Copyright Lukas Ackermann

Hemidactylus garnotii
Hemidactylus garnotii

Copyright Lukas Ackermann

Hemidactylus garnotii

Range Map

Distribution map of Garnot's house gecko, Hemidactylus garnotii in Thailand
  • Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Kaeng Krachan National Park
  • Kapo Waterfall Forest Park
  • Khao Sok National Park
  • Klaeng District, Rayong
  • Kui Buri National Park
  • Nam Nao National Park
  • Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary
Range map of Hemidactylus garnotii in Thailand