Southeastern Lowland Leaf-tailed Gecko

About the Southeastern Lowland Leaf-tailed Gecko

Uroplatus sameiti is a species of leaf-tailed gecko. Like all members of the genus Uroplatus, U. sameiti is endemic to Madagascar, and is found in primary and secondary forests on the island. It has the ability to change its skin colour to match its surroundings and possesses dermal flaps which break up its outline when at rest.

It is a CITES II protected animal due to habitat loss and over-collection for the pet trade. The generic name, Uroplatus, is a Latinisation of two Greek words: οὐρά (ourá, meaning "tail") and πλατύς (platys, meaning "flat"). The specific name is a Latinisation of the name Joachim Sameit.

The genus Uroplatus contains 14 species endemic to Madagascar. U. sameiti was originally described as a subspecies of U. sikorae, to which it is closely related, based on the light colouration of its oral mucosa. Subsequent analysis has shown that this is not a diagnostic feature for distinguishing between these two highly similar species however, and more research will be needed to produce reliable morphological characters with which these two species may be distinguished.

Phylogenically, U. sameiti has been placed within a monophyletic complex... Wikipedia →