Added 13 November 2003. Last updated February 2008: added and amended details for N. amyae and N. sheai.

A look at the

Subfamily DIPLODACTYLINAE - Diplodactyline Geckos

Family GEKKONIDAE


Genus NEPHRURUS - Knob-Tailed Geckos

A genus of six species. They are easily distinguished by their short bodies, large heads, small legs and short, carrot-shaped tails that often end in a small knob.

Scientific name Common name Place of origin Size (max) Notes
Nephrurus
N. amyae Spiny Knob-Tailed Gecko Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, W Australia) 13½cm SVL Similar to N. asper but differs in having more spinose turbercles on rump and hindlimbs and in greater size. No other data available, but click here for an excellent picture and brief summary.
N. asper Spiny Knob-Tailed Gecko Australia (New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, S & W) ? Greyish gecko. Click here for a picture.
N. deleani Knob-Tailed Gecko South Australia ? Chocolate brown gecko with lighter whorls on the back. Click here for a picture.
N. levis (Smooth) Knob-Tailed Gecko Australia (New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, S & W) ? Brown gecko with a white belly and thin white dorsal markings. The tail ends in a knob.
N. laevissimus Pale/Smooth Knob-Tailed Gecko Australia (N, S & W) ? Photos of this Nephurus species show tubercles reduced on the dorsum and lacking laterally. There are black bands around the neck and on the head.
N. mili Knob-Tailed Gecko S Australia (inc. C Queensland, New South Wales, N Victoria, S Australia and semi-arid areas of W Australia) ? An attractive but often-reclassified gecko, last considered a member of the Underwoodisaurus genus: see EMBL database entry. No other data available. Click here for photographs.
N. sheai Knob-Tailed Gecko Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland and W Australia) ? Similar to N. asper but distinguished from latter by strongly banded digits and less spinose rump and hindlimbs.
N. sphyrurus Knob-Tailed Gecko Australia (New South Wales and S Queensland) ? An often-reclassified gecko, last considered a member of the Underwoodisaurus genus: see EMBL database entry. No other data available.
N. stellatus Southern/ Starred Knob-Tailed Gecko Southern Australia (S & W) ? Pinkish species in which the tubercles appear to have been reduced to white spots. Click here for photograph and brief summary.
N. vertebralis Knob-Tailed Gecko Australia (S & W) ? No data available. Click here for a photograph.
N. wheeleri Knob-Tailed Gecko W Australia (Murchison and Fortescue River districts) ? There are two subspecies of this gecko: the nominate form, which lives in the Murchison River district, and N. w. cinctus, which lives in the Fortescue.

Bibliography

Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Harold Cogger, 6th edition - absolutely indispensable for overview of Australian lizards.

Lizards of the World, Mattison

Breeding and Keeping Geckos, Coborn, TFH 1995 - a particularly valuable book for lesser known geckos, especially the Diplodactylines, although some of the taxonomic data now appears to be out of date.

Keeping and Breeding Lizards, Mattison

Geckos: Keeping and Breeding Them in Captivity, Walls and Walls, TFH 1999.

Reptiles of the Townsville Region has some good pictures of various of the above geckos.

See also Index of Gecko-related articles for more sources on geckos.

Coming soon.... the other gecko genera.

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