Lepidodactylus lugubris

Mourning gecko
File:Lepidodactylus lugubris 2.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Sauria
Family:	Gekkonidae
Genus:	Lepidodactylus
Species:	L. lugubris
Binomial name
Lepidodactylus lugubris (Duméril & Bibron, 1836)

The mourning gecko or common smooth-scaled gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris) is a species of gecko. This small (10.5 cm total length), nocturnal gecko feeds on small insects and flower nectar. This species is notable because it is parthenogenic, and there are no remaining males that have been found. Females engage in pseudocopulation, stimulating both to produce viable eggs. These eggs are adhered to surfaces in protected locations. Most clutches consist of two eggs, and clutches are laid two to three weeks apart.

Distribution

This species are always found in coastal areas of the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean, including the Maldives, Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, West Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, Taiwan, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea, Fiji, Australia (islands of Cocos [Keeling] atoll, Queensland), Western Samoa, Guam, the Society Islands and the Mascarenes (Rodrigues; fide F. Glaw, pers. comm.).

It has been introduced into west Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, the Galapagos (Ecuador), Colombia, Chile, Hawaii (the U.S.A) and the Seychelles.

References

• Boissinot, Stéphane;Ineich, Ivan;Thaler, Louis;Guillaume, Claude-P. 1997 Hybrid origin and clonal diversity in the parthenogenetic gecko, Lepidodactylus lugubris in French Polynesia Journal of Herpetology 31 (2): 295-298
• Chazeau, J. and A.M. Bauer 1991 Lepidodactylus lugubris [distribution in New Caledonia]. Herpetol. Rev. 22:103
• Cuéllar, O.;Kluge, A. G. 1972 Natural parthenogenesis in the gekkonid lizard Lepidodactylus lugubris Journal of Genetics 61 (1): 14-26
• Cuellar, O. 1984 Histocompatibility in Hawaiian and Polynesian populations of the parthenogenetic gecko Lepidodactylus lugubris Evolution 38 (1): 176-185
• Hanley, Kathryn A.;Bolger, Douglas T.;Case, Ted 1994 Comparative ecology of sexual and asexual gecko species (Lepidodactylus) in French Polynesia Evolutionary Ecology 8: 435-454
• Henderson, R. W., VILLA, J., & DIXON, J. R. 1976 Lepidodactylus lugubris (Reptilia: Gekkonidae). A recent addition to the herpetofauna of Nicaragua. Herpetol. Rev. 7:173.
• Jarecki, L. & Lazell, J.D. 1987 Zur Grösse und Dichte einer Population von Lepidodactylus lugubris (Duméril & Bibron 1836) in Aiea, Hawaii (Sauria: Gekkonidae). Salamandra 23 (2/3): 176-178
• Kikukawa, Akira 1999 Geographic distribution. Lepidodactylus lugubris Herpetological Review 30 (1): 52
• Mau, K.-G. 1978 Nachweis natürlicher Parthenogenese bei Lepidodactylus lugubris durch Gefangenschaftsnachzucht (Reptilia: Sauria: Gekkonidae). Salamandra 14 (2): 90-97
• Pasteur, G.;Agnese, J.-F.;Blanc, C. P.;Pastuer, N. 1987 Polyclony and low relative heterozygosity in a widespread unisexual vertebrate, Lepidodactylus lugubris (Sauria) Genetica 75: 71-79
• Röll, B. 2002 Lepidodactylus lugubris (Duméril & Bibron). Sauria (Suppl.) 24 (3): 545-550
• Rösler, Herbert 1992 Beobachtungen an drei Männchen des parthenogenetischen Geckos Lepidodactylus lugubris (Duméril & Bibron 1836). Sauria 14 (3): 25-26
• Sengoku, Showichi 1998 Geographic Distribution. Lepidodactylus lugubris Herpetological Review 29 (2): 110
• Turner, Grant;Green, Darren 1996 Notes on the mourning gecko Lepidodactylus lugubris in the Daintree region Herpetofauna (Sydney) 26 (1): 5-7
• Villa, Jaime D. 1993 Lepidodactylus lugubris (mourning gecko). Nicaragua: Zelaya Herpetological Review 24 (3): 109
• Yamashiro, Saiko;Ota, Hidetoshi 1998 Discovery of a male phenotype of the Parthenogenetic gecko, Lepidodactylus lugubris, on Ishigakijima Island of the Yaeyama Group, Ryūkyū Archipelago Japanese Journal of Herpetology 17 (4): 152-155

External links

• Lepidodactylus lugubris at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database