The Mauritius ornate day gecko (''Phelsuma ornata'') is a diurnal species in the common

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 ...

family,

Gekkonidae Gekkonidae (the common geckos) is the largest family of geckos, containing over 950 described species in 62 genera. The Gekkonidae contain many of the most widespread gecko species, including house geckos (''Hemidactylus''), the tokay gecko (''Ge ...

. It occurs on the island of

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, up to an elevation of , and most of the surrounding islands. It typically inhabits different trees and bushes. The Mauritius ornate day gecko feeds on insects and nectar from flowering plants.

Description

This gecko has a typical length of . The back of the neck and head are greyish brown and bordered by white neck stripes. The body colour is quite variable. It can be bluish green, green with a blue area on the front back, or completely blue. The flanks are brown. The snout consists of an intricate pattern of cyan, white, red and dark blue. The back is covered with red coloured dots and the head has a T-shaped pattern. The tail is turquoise with red transverse bars. The ventral side is off-white.

Distribution

This species is found on

, Round Island,

Île aux Aigrettes Ile aux Aigrettes is an islet off the south-east coast of Mauritius. It functions as a nature reserve and a scientific research station. It is also a popular visitors attraction—both for tourists and for Mauritians. Geography It has an area of ...

(

) and Coin de Mire. It is found in the coastal areas.

Habitat

''Phelsuma ornata'' typically lives in the drier areas of Mauritius at low- and mid-elevation. It can be found on trees, other pantropic vegetation or on rocks where the original vegetation has been cleared. A resident of Flic en Flac on the west coast of Mauritius reports that their garden has been colonised by these geckos. They can be seen walking all over the garden walls and the walls of the house, and some of them venture indoors, even spending the night behind wardrobes before going outside in the morning via the open windows. File:Phelsuma ornata 377064573.jpg File:Phelsuma ornata 377064557.jpg File:Gecko ornate nektar.jpg, Feeding on nectar from bottle palm flowers

Diet

These day geckos feed on various insects and other invertebrates. They also like to lick soft, sweet fruit, pollen and nectar.

Behaviour

This ''Phelsuma'' species can be quite shy in captivity. These day geckos are also surprisingly speedy. They seem not to be frightened by people - they stop on the wall, making eye contact, and look and listen to someone talking to them, but they appear not to be vocal, unlike the night geckos.

Reproduction

At a temperature of , the young will hatch after approximately 40 days. The juveniles measure around . In 2014, an experiment with five Mauritius ornate day geckos was launched to

space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

in order to test the effect of

microgravity Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight, i.e., zero apparent weight. It is also termed zero g-force, or zero-g (named after the g-force) or, incorrectly, zero gravity. Weight is a measurement of the fo ...

on gecko reproduction. The geckos died from a combination of factors due to a loss of communication with the satellite, including a life support malfunction which deactivated the heating system.

Care and maintenance in captivity

These animals should be housed in pairs in a well planted enclosure. The temperature should be between during the day and dropped to around at night. The humidity should be maintained at 50–60% during the day and 80–90% at night. In captivity, these animals can be fed with crickets, wax moth larvae, fruit flies, mealworms and houseflies.

Notes

References

*Henkel, F.-W. and W. Schmidt (1995) ''Amphibien und Reptilien Madagaskars, der Maskarenen, Seychellen und Komoren''. Ulmer Stuttgart. * McKeown, Sean (1993) ''The general care and maintenance of day geckos''. Advanced Vivarium Systems, Lakeside CA.

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q3090700 Phelsuma Reptiles of Mauritius Reptiles described in 1825 Taxa named by John Edward Gray