Turquoise dwarf gecko Lygodactylus williamsi

Lives in an area of 8 square kilometres.

A turquoise dwarf gecko

The turquoise dwarf gecko owes its scientific name to Ernest Edward Williams, who researched reptiles and amphibians.

The Turquoise dwarf gecko in a nutshell

eats
small insects such as crickets, cockroaches and fruit flies
inhabits
the Kimboza and Ruvu reserves in Tanzania
excels at
climbing up surfaces

Its very own tree

The turquoise dwarf gecko is found only on screw palm trees. Because the males are very territorial, there is never more than one male per tree. However, the tree may be home to a number of females and possibly their young.

A turquoise dwarf gecko on a tree trunk.

The status of this species on the IUCN Red List is critically Endangered.

  • least Concern
  • near threatened
  • vulnerable
  • endangered
  • critically Endangered
  • extinct in the Wild

Blue-green-brown-yellow

Male dwarf geckos are azure in colour, with a yellow-orange belly. By contrast, females are coppery or brown and the young are green or blue. Despite these differences, it is still difficult to tell the sexes apart, as less dominant males often resemble females. The only obvious difference is a minor thickening at the base of the tail in males.

A turquoise dwarf gecko young.

‘Suckers’

Geckos can climb steep surfaces thanks to the microscopic hairs, or ‘setae’ on the underside of their bulbous toes. Each of these hairs splits further into hundreds of even smaller brush hairs called ‘spatulae’. This enables the geckos to move about over steep, smooth surfaces, which is essential for creatures that spend their entire lives in trees.

A turquoise dwarf gecko

Critically endangered

The turquoise dwarf gecko is critically endangered because its habitat is restricted to just 20 square kilometres, 8 square kilometres of which are actually inhabited by the species. These geckos are also captured for trading.

Turquoise dwarf gecko in ARTIS.