Pristurus carteri
| Pristurus carteri | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Sphaerodactylidae |
| Genus: | Pristurus |
| Species: | P. carteri |
| Binomial name | |
|
Pristurus carteri (Gray, 1863) |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
|
Pristurus carteri is a species of gecko in the genus Pristurus known as rock geckos.
The generic name, Pristurus, means "saw-tailed" in Latin, and the specific name, carteri, is in honor of Dr. Henry Carter who collected the holotype.
There are two subspecies of Pristurus carteri. The first is the nominotypical subspecies, Pristurus carteri carteri (Gray, 1863), and the other is Pristurus carteri tuberculatus Parker, 1931,P. c. carteri being the more common.
The species has many common names such as ornate rock gecko, Carter's rock gecko, and scorpion-tailed gecko.
It is native to Oman where it often is found basking on rocks or in urban areas.
P. carteri are often seen swaying their curly tails back and forth to each other in a way to sort of communicate to each other. The males develop little fleshy spikes on their tails upon reaching sexual maturity. When they feel threatened they curl their tails in a scorpion like fashion and even mimic the movements a scorpion will use as a threat display; this and the tail waving are the way they get the common name scorpion-tailed geckos.
Members of the genus Pristurus are diurnal. This is unusual in geckos except in the genera Phelsuma, Lygodactylus, Naultinus, Quedenfeldtia, Rhoptropus, all Sphaerodactylids, and, of course, Pristurus.
...
Wikipedia