Chondrodactylus turneri

Turner’s thick-toed gecko
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Sauria
Infraorder:	Gekkota
Family:	Gekkonidae
Subfamily:	Gekkoninae
Genus:	Chondrodactylus
Species:	C. turneri
Binomial name
Chondrodactylus turneri (Gray, 1864)
Synonyms
Homodactylus turneri Gray, 1864 Pachydactylus bibroni turneri — Parker, 1936 Pachydactylus turneri — Bates & Heideman, 1997 Chondrodactylus turneri — Bauer & Lamb, 2005[1]

Chondrodactylus turneri is a species of gecko endemic to Africa.

Etymology

The specific name, turneri, is in honor of British entomologist James Aspinall Turner.^[2]

Description

C. turneri is large and robust, with a body length (snout-vent length or SVL) of 10 cm (3.9 in).^[3]

Behaviour

C. turneri is nocturnal and lives on rocks and buildings.^[3]

Diet

C. turneri is an ambush predator and feeds on invertebrates and whatever else it can catch and overpower.^[3]

C. turneri at Selati, Limpopo

References

1. "Chondrodactylus turneri ". 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. (Pachydactylus turneri, p. 269).
3. Alexander, Graham; Marais, Johan. 2007. A Guide to the Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik. 408 pp. ISBN 978-1770073869. (Chondrodactylus turneri, pp. 311-313)

Further reading

• Branch, Bill. 2004. Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Pachydactylus turneri, pp. 254–255 + Plate84).
• Gray JE. 1864. "Notes on some New Lizards from South-Eastern Africa, with the Descriptions of several New Species". Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Third Series 14: 380-384. (Homodactylus turneri, new species, pp. 381–382).