Tropiocolotes Explained

Tropiocolotes is a genus of geckos, lizards in the family Gekkonidae. The genus is native to North Africa and the Middle East. Species in the genus Tropiocolotes grow to a total length (including tail) of about 2inches. They are commonly known as dwarf geckos, pygmy geckos, or sand geckos. They have an elongated body and the head is oval and of equal or lesser width than the body.

Species & subspecies

The following species and subspecies are recognized as being valid.^[1]

• Tropiocolotes algericus – Algerian sand gecko
• Tropiocolotes bisharicus – Bishari dwarf gecko
• Tropiocolotes chirioi
• Tropiocolotes confusus
• Tropiocolotes hormozganensis
• Tropiocolotes nattereri – Natterer's gecko
• Tropiocolotes naybandensis
• Tropiocolotes nubicus – Steudner's gecko
• Tropiocolotes scorteccii – Scortecci's sand gecko^[2]
• Tropiocolotes somalicus – Parker's pigmy gecko
• Tropiocolotes steudneri – Steudner's dwarf gecko
• Tropiocolotes tassiliensis
• Tropiocolotes tripolitanus – northern sand gecko, Tripoli gecko
  • Tropiocolotes tripolitanus apoklomax
  • Tropiocolotes tripolitanus occidentalis
  • Tropiocolotes tripolitanus tripolitanus
• Tropiocolotes wolfgangboehmei
• Tropiocolotes yomtovi

Nota bene

A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Tropiocolotes.

Further reading

• Baha El Din SM (2001). "A synopsis of African and south Arabian geckos of the genus Tropiocolotes (Reptilia: Gekkonidae), with a description of a new species from Egypt". Zoology in the Middle East 22: 45–56.
• Peters W (1880). "Über die von Hrn. Gerhard Rohlfs und Dr. A. Stecker auf der Reise nach der Oase Kufra gesammelten Amphibien ". Monatsberichte der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1880: 305–309. (Tropiocolotes, new genus, p. 306). (in German and Latin).

Notes and References

1. www.reptile-database.org.
2. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Tropiocolotes scortecci, p. 239).