Mocquard's Madagascar Ground Gecko

About the Mocquard's Madagascar Ground Gecko

Mocquard's Madagascar ground gecko (Paroedura bastardi) is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. It is a moderately-sized reptile reaching just over 7 cm (2.8 in) in snout–vent length. The species is endemic to southeastern Madagascar, where it can be found on the ground or climbing tree trunks.

Although it was formerly thought to be a widespread species throughout much of west and south Madagascar, morphological and genetic analyses have found that this was due to misclassification, and that this definition of the species is actually a species complex comprising several cryptic species. Today, it is known that P. bastardi in the strict sense is actually restricted to the extreme southeast of the country.

The Mocquard's Madagascar ground gecko was first described in 1900 by François Mocquard under the scientific name Phyllodactylus bastardi. The specific name, bastardi, is in honor of French paleontologist Eugène Joseph Bastard (1865–1910). In 1974, several Malagasy species assigned to Phyllodactylus were reassigned to the genus Paroedura, including this species (renamed as Paroedura bastardi). The Ibity ground gecko was initially described as a subspecies of... Wikipedia →