Pachydactylus vansoni explained

Pachydactylus vansoni, commonly known as Van Son's gecko or Van Son's thick-toed gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is endemic to Southern Africa.

Etymology

The specific name, vansoni, is in honor of Russian-born Dutch entomologist Georges Van Son (1898-1967), who worked at the Transvaal Museum (1925-1967).^[1]

Geographic range

P. vansoni is distributed in Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Eswatini, and Zimbabwe. The geographic range of this species is estimated to be larger than 100,000 km² (38,610 sq mi).

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of P. vansoni are grassland and savanna, at altitudes from sea level to 2300m (7,500feet).

Reproduction

P. vansoni is oviparous.

Further reading

• Barts M, Colacicco F (2015). "Die Dickfingergeckos des südlichen Afrikas. Tiel XVII: Pachydactylus vansoni FITZSIMONS, 1933 ". Sauria 37 (1): 41–48. (in German).
• 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. . (Pachydactylus vansoni, pp. 262–263 + Plate 83).
• FitzSimons VFM (1933). "Descriptions of Five New Lizards from the Transvaal and Southern Rhodesia". Annals of the Transvaal Museum 15 (2): 273–280. (Pachydactylus capensis vansoni, new subspecies).
• Girard F (2013). "Pachydactylus vansoni FitzSimons, 1933, Van Son's Thick-toed Gecko. Captive Breeding". African Herp News (60): 19–20.
• Rösler H (1993). "Contributions to the knowledge of African geckos (Reptilia: Sauria: Gekkonidae). 1. Records of a five year period of maintenance and reproduction of Pachydactylus vansoni FitzSimons 1933". Journal of the Herpetological Association of Africa 42 (1): 13–19.
• Rösler H (2000). "Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)". Gekkota 2: 28–153. (Pachydactylus vansoni, p. 99). (in German).

External links

• Photographs at Biodiversityexplorer.org

Notes and References

1. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Pachydactylus vansoni, pp. 272-273).