Eurydactylodes

Eurydactylodes
Eurydactylodes vieillardi (adult male)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Lacertilia
Infraorder:	Gekkota
Family:	Gekkonidae
Subfamily:	Diplodactylinae
Genus:	Eurydactylodes Wermuth, 1965[1]

Eurydactylodes is a small genus of geckos, found on the main island of New Caledonia.^[2]

Behavior

These geckos are arboreal and predominantly shrub-dwellers which do not retire to hiding-places even at daytime.

Habitat

They inhabit moist rainforests and similar gallery forests lining the rivers.

Reproduction

The females usually lay two soft-shelled eggs which are buried in moist substrates.

Species

There are four species of Eurydactylodes:^[2]

• Eurydactylodes agricolae Henkel & Böhme, 2001 - Bauer's chameleon gecko
• Eurydactylodes occidentalis A.M. Bauer et al., 2009
• Eurydactylodes symmetricus (Andersson, 1908) - symmetrical gecko
• Eurydactylodes vieillardi (Bavay, 1869) - Vieillard's chameleon gecko,^[3] Bavay's gecko

Etymology

The specific name, agricolae, is in honor of American herpetologist Aaron Matthew Bauer. The German noun, Bauer, means "farmer" in English, which becomes agricola (genetive singular, agricolae) when translated into Latin.^[3]

The specific name, vieillardi, is in honor Eugène Vieillard, a French naturalist and medical missionary.^[3]

References

1. ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.
2. Eurydactylodes at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
3. Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M. 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Eurodactylodes agricolae, p. 19; Eurodactylodes vieillardi, p. 275).).

Further reading

• Andersson LG. 1908. "Two new Lizards (Eurydactylus and Lygosoma) from New Caledonia". Arkiv för Zoologi, Utgifvet Af K. Svenska Vetensakademien I Stockholm 4 (14): 1-5. (Eurydactylus symmetricus, new species, pp. 1–4, Figure 1).
• Bauer AM, Jackman TR, Sadlier RA, Whitaker AH. 2009. "Review and phylogeny of the New Caledonian diplodactylid gekkota genus Eurydactylodes Wermuth, 1965, with the description of a new species". Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 198: 13-36. (Eurydactylodes occidentalis, new species).
• Bavay A. 1869. "Catalogue des Reptiles de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et description d'espèces nouvelles ". Mémoires de la Société Linnéenne de Normandie 15: 1-37. (Platydactylus vieillardi, new species, p. 10).
• Henkel FW, Böhme W. 2001. "A new carphodactyline gecko of the New Caledonian genus Eurydactylodes (Sauria: Gekkonidae)". Salamandra 37 (3): 149-156. (Eurydactylodes agricolae, new species).
• Wermuth H. 1965. "Liste der rezenten Amphibien und Reptilien, Gekkonidae, Pygopodidae, Xantusiidae ". Das Tierreich 80: i-xxii + 1-246. (Genus Eurydactylodes, p. 30).