''Pachydactylus acuminatus'' 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), ...

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

in the 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 ...

, a family also known as the typical geckos. The species ''P. acuminatus'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. It was once believed to be a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of Weber's thick-toed gecko ('' Pachydactylus weberi)'' but was lifted to species status in 2006.

Discovery and taxonomy

''Pachydactylus acuminatus'' was originally described by Vivian Frederick Maynard FitzSimons in 1941 as ''Pachydactylus weberi acuminatus,'' from eight specimens housed in the

Transvaal Museum The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, formerly the Transvaal Museum, is a natural history museum situated in Pretoria, South Africa. It is located on Paul Kruger Street, between Visagie and Minnaar Streets, opposite the Pretoria City ...

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

—seven immature individuals and one adult. The position of ''Pachydactylus weberi acuminatus'' was later reassessed by A. M. Bauer, who lifted it to species status in 2006.Bauer, A. M., Lamb, T., and Branch, W. R. 2006. A Revision of the ''Pachydactylus serval'' and ''P. weberi'' Groups (Reptilia: Gekkota: Gekkonidae) of Southern Africa, with the Description of Eight New Species. ''

Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, that is among the largest List of natural history museums, museums of natural history in the world, housing over ...

'' 57(23): 595–709. doi:10.1080/21564574.2017.1398186. Retrieved February 23, 2020.

Distribution

''P. acuminatus'' is known only from Namibia, in the

Lüderitz Lüderitz is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It lies on one of the least hospitable coasts in Africa. It is a port developed around Robert Harbour and Shark Island. Lüderitz had a population of 16,125 people in 2023. Th ...

, Bethanie,

Keetmanshoop Keetmanshoop is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It is named after , a German Empire, German industrialist and benefactor of the city. Keetmanshoop had a population of 27,862 people in 2023. History Before the colonial era, ...

Maltahöhe Maltahöhe is a village in southern central Namibia close to the Swartrand escarpment, about 110 km west of Mariental in the Hardap Region. It owns about 17,000 hectares of land and had 3,464 inhabitants in 2023. Maltahöhe is the administr ...

, and

Swakopmund Swakopmund ("Mouth of the Swakop River, Swakop") is a city on the coast of western Namibia, west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 road (Namibia), B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo Region, Erongo administrative district. It ...

districts.

References

acuminatus Geckos of Africa Reptiles of Namibia Endemic fauna of Namibia Reptiles described in 1941 Taxa named by Vivian Frederick Maynard FitzSimons {{gecko-stub