The Auckland green gecko (''Naultinus elegans''), also known as the elegant gecko, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates. They range from . Geckos are unique among lizards ...

found only in the northern half of the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, except north of

Whangaroa Whangaroa, also known as Whangaroa Village to distinguish it from the larger area of the former Whangaroa County, is a settlement on Whangaroa Harbour in the Far North District of New Zealand. It is 8 km north-west of Kaeo and 35 km ...

Taxonomy

The species was described by

John Edward Gray John Edward Gray (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used for a z ...

in 1842. In 1872, Frederick Hutton described the Nelson green gecko as a subspecies, ''Naultinus elegans stellatus'', which was elevated to species status in 1982. In 1980, the Wellington green gecko was synonymised as a subspecies of ''Naultinus elegans'', with the Auckland green gecko being referred to as ''Naultinus elegans elegans'' and the Wellington green gecko as ''Naultinus elegans punctatus''. In 2014 the species name was standardised as ''Naultinus punctatus''. The Wellington green gecko is found in the southern half of the North Island, and can hybridise with the Auckland green gecko in places where their

ranges In the Hebrew Bible and in the Old Testament, the word ranges has two very different meanings. Leviticus In Leviticus 11:35, ranges (כירים) probably means a cooking furnace for two or more pots, as the Hebrew word here is in the dual numbe ...

overlap.

Description

Gray's original text (the

type description A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

) reads as follows: The species can grow up to in length, and is recognisable by its bright green colouration. Apart from range, the Auckland green gecko differs from the Wellington green gecko in that it is marginally smaller and more slender in build and also the undersurfaces of the feet and toes in elegans are coloured grey green, while they are yellow in colouration in the latter species.

Distribution and habitat

The species is found in the upper half of the

, except north of

, as well as four of the islands of the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,

Conservation status

In 2012 the Department of Conservation (New Zealand), Department of Conservation classified the Auckland green gecko as At Risk under the

New Zealand Threat Classification System The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand. The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had s ...

. It was judged as meeting the criteria for At Risk threat status as a result of it having a low to high ongoing or predicted decline.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2706999, from2=Q4819577 Naultinus Endemic reptiles of New Zealand Reptiles described in 1842 Taxa named by John Edward Gray

Taxonomy

Description

Distribution and habitat

Conservation status

See also

References