Geckonia

Geckonia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Sauria or Lacertilia
Infraorder:	Gekkota
Family:	Gekkonidae
Subfamily:	Gekkoninae
Genus:	Geckonia
Species:	G. chazaliae
Binomial name
Geckonia chazaliae Mocquard, 1895
Synonyms
Geckonia chazaliae Mocquard, 1895 Tarentola chazaliae — Carranza et al., 2002 Geckonia chazaliae — Sindaco & Jeremčenko, 2008[1]

Geckonia is a monotypic gecko genus endemic to Africa. The sole species, Geckonia chazaliae, commonly knowns as the helmethead gecko, is endemic to Morocco. The small size of G. chazaliae and its tolerance of captive conditions, have made it a more popular terrarium subject.

Etymology

The specific name, chazaliae, is in honor of the yacht Chazalie, which belonged to French naturalist Raymond Comte de Dalmas (1862–1930), who collected the holotype.^[2] The common name, helmethead gecko, derives from the shape of the head caused by some of the scales at the back of it.

References

1. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
2. 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. (Geckonia chazaliae, p. 52).

Further reading

• Carranza S, Arnold EN, Mateo JA, Geniez P. 2002. Relationships and evolution of the North African geckos, Geckonia and Tarentola (Reptilia:Gekkonidae), based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 23 (2): 244-256. (Tarentola chazaliae, new combination).
• Mocquard F. 1895. "Note sur quelques Reptiles du cap Blanc ". Bulletin du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 1: 310-312. (Geckonia, new genus, p. 311; "Geckonia Chazaliæ", new species, pp. 311–312). (in French).
• Sindaco R, Jeremčenko VK. 2008. The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic: 1. Annotated checklist and distributional atlas of the turtles, crocodiles, amphisbaenians and lizards of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia. Latina, Italy: Edizioni Belvedere. 579 pp. ISBN 978-8889504147.