Broad-tailed Gecko

Broad-tailed Gecko
Phyllurus platurus in a garage at Chatswood West, Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Sauria
Family: Gekkonidae
Subfamily: Diplodactylinae
Genus: Phyllurus
Species: P. platurus
Binomial name
Phyllurus platurus
Fitzinger 1843

The Broad-tailed Gecko or Southern Leaf-tailed Gecko[1] (Phyllurus platurus) is a common gecko found in the Sydney Basin. The large tail is used as a decoy, to prevent predation. The tail is also useful for fat storage. This gecko is an agile nocturnal hunter, useful as a killer of insect pests.

Contents

Description

Snout to vent length of 9.5 cm. Total length up to 15 cm. Rocky brown in colour, a flat body and tail.

Habitat

Rocky areas, particularly in the sandstone outcrops near Sydney. However, it has adapted well to human settlement, finding shelter between bricks, in sheds, woodpiles and garages.

Diet

Arthropods such as spiders, moths and beetles.

Reproduction

One or two eggs per clutch, laid in a crevice.[2] Juveniles hatch after eight to ten weeks.

Captivity

Considered an "easy to keep" species[3], a license is required to keep the Broad-tailed Gecko as a pet in Australia.

Notes

  1. ^ "Phyllurus platurus (Shaw, 1790)" The Reptile Database
  2. ^ Hoser, Raymond T. and Game, Cathryn (1989) Australian Reptiles & Frogs Pierson & Company, Mosman, New South Wales, page 78, ISBN 0-947068-08-2
  3. ^ http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/wildlifelicences/ReptileLicensingOutline.htm

Sources