General Information

COMMON NAMES: Stump-toed Gecko TRADITIONAL NAMES: Ngōpili (PK NS) GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE ?se.Asia; EXOTIC EXOTIC in ancient times westward to Madagascar, and eastward to e.Polynesia; Hawai‘i COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Polynesian, Naturalised; Land, lowlands; around dwellings and in forests KEY FEATURES: A stout gecko, to 11cmTL. Uniformly pale; or uniformly grey-brown with scattered pale spots and pale bands on tail. TOE-PADS wide oval with claw arising centrally. Tail thick with a conspicuous basal constriction. Escapes by sloughing off chucks of its skin!

Cook Islands Distribution

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Southern Group: Present    Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+	P	P	+	P

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
	P		++

Gehyra mutilata (Wiegmann, 1835)
SYNONYMS: Hemidactylus mutilatus Wiegmann, 1835

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); TETRAPODA; REPTILIA; Squamata; Lacertilia; GEKKONIDAE

IDENTIFICATION: A thick-set gecko to 11cmTL, 5cmSVL. Uniformly dark grey-brown peppered with a pale spots and narrow pale bands over the tail; to uniformly pale on a pale surface. When handled it can slough off large sections of skin - later regenerated. Median toe-pads wide-oval with claw arising near centre, and 8-10 lamellae almost all divided centrally. Tail thick with a distinct constriction at the base, and a single mid-ventral row of conspicuously large scales. VOICE none. EGGS 10x8mm, non-adherent, in crevices and under bark.

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: specimen+photo, Motu Uta, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Gehyra mutilata to AuckMus LH2691-6, ID-confirmed B.Gill.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM03b, zD05a

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