''Bavayia caillou'' is a species of

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 ...

s endemic to

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

. This species is believed to have a range restricted to approximately 400 sq km, reduced by clearance of land by burning for use in agriculture and forestry, and the range is threatened with further reduction by wildfires. Its habitat is at risk of degradation by deer and pigs that have been introduced, and the introduced electric ant ('' Wasmannia auropunctata'') may both directly exclude the lizard from its habitat and affect the invertebrate fauna which it predates. The

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

refers to "''le Grand Caillou''", a colloquial name for New Caledonia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q116173420 Bavayia Reptiles described in 2022 Taxa named by Aaron M. Bauer Taxa named by Ross Allen Sadlier Taxa named by Todd R. Jackman Geckos of New Caledonia