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Lizards of Zihuatanejo

SUBORDER​ SAURIA

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Chordates (Phylum Chordata)

-Vertebrates (Subphylum Vertebrata)

-Reptiles (Class Reptilia)

-​Snakes and Lizards (Order Squamata)

-Lizards (Suborder​ Sauria)

-​Geckos (Infraorder Gekkota)

-Phyllodactylid Geckos (Family Phyllodactylidae)

-​Leaf-toed Geckos (Genus Phyllodactylus)

-Yellowbelly Gecko (Phyllodactylus tuberculosus)


Mexico and parts of Central America, known for its adaptability and subtle coloration. As a member of the leaf-toed geckos, it possesses slightly expanded toe pads that help it cling to rough vertical surfaces, allowing it to move efficiently across cliffs, tree trunks, and walls. Active at night, it emerges from daytime hiding spots such as crevices, loose bark, or buildings to hunt small invertebrates including ants, beetles, moths, and spiders

Yellow-bellied Gecko

Phyllodactylus tuberculosus

Diet

  • Primarily insectivorous, feeding on ants, termites, moths, beetles, crickets, cockroaches, spiders, and other small arthropods.

  • Hunts at night by stalking prey on rocks, tree trunks, walls, and other surfaces.

  • Uses excellent night vision to detect and capture moving prey.

Range

  • Endemic to western Mexico, occurring along the Pacific slope from southern Sinaloa through Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán, Guerrero, and into western Oaxaca.

  • Common in suitable habitat throughout the Zihuatanejo region.

  • Found from sea level to about 1,600 m (5,250 ft).

Habitat

  • Inhabits tropical dry forests, thorn scrub, rocky hillsides, coastal scrub, secondary forest, and woodland edges.

  • Frequently found on rock faces, cliffs, boulders, tree trunks, and buildings, where it shelters beneath loose bark, rocks, or in crevices during the day.

  • Strictly nocturnal, emerging after sunset to forage.

Size

  • Total length: 8–12 cm (3.1–4.7 in)

  • Snout-to-vent length (SVL): 4–6 cm (1.6–2.4 in)

  • Weight: 4–8 g

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