The Mauritius lowland forest day gecko (''Phelsuma guimbeaui)'', also known commonly as Guimbeau's day gecko and the orange-spotted day gecko, is a diurnal

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals 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 throughout the world. They range from . Geckos ar ...

, a

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia al ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Gekkonidae Gekkonidae (the common geckos) is the largest family of geckos, containing over 950 described species in 64 genera. Members of the Gekkonidae comprise many of the most widespread gecko species, including house geckos ('' Hemidactylus''), tokay ...

. The species is native to the western coast of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

and typically inhabits large trees. The Mauritius lowland forest day gecko feeds on insects and nectar.

Etymology

The specific name, ''guimbeaui'', is in honor of the collector of the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

, "Mr. B rnardGuimbeau".

Description

''P. guimbeaui'' belongs to the mid-sized genus ''Phelsuma''. Males can reach a total length (including tail) of about . Females are only . The Mauritius lowland forest day gecko has a short, compact body form. The

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal co ...

body colour is a brilliant green with a diffuse blue area on the neck region. There are irregular shaped orange-red bars and spots on the back and tail, the tip of which may be blue. The ventral side is whitish-yellow. One or two brown v-shaped bars are present on the chin. Juveniles are greyish-brown with little white spots, and start changing colour after six months. After 12–15 months, they have the adult appearance.

Geographic range

''P. guimbeaui'' inhabits the western side of

. It occurs at low and mid elevation. Populations can be found at the villages of Chamarel, Yemen, Tamarin and Grande Rivière Noire. ''P. guimbeaui'' is also established on the Hawaiian island of

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

Habitat

The Mauritius lowland forest day gecko prefers large trees such as palms and

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus n ...

species. ''P. guimbeaui'' is only rarely seen near human dwellings. It lives in the drier and warmer part of Mauritius. Much of the lowland forest of Mauritius, which is the original habitat of ''P. guimbeaui'', has been cleared to make way for sugar cane plantations. ''P. guimbeaui'' sometimes shares its habitat with '' P. cepediana'' and '' P. ornata''.

Diet

The Mauritius lowland forest day gecko feeds on various insects and other invertebrates. It also likes to lick soft, sweet fruit, pollen and nectar.

Behaviour

The Mauritius lowland forest day gecko is rather shy because it is heavily predated by different bird species.

Reproduction

In ''P. guimbeaui'' the pairing season is between March and the first weeks of September. During this period, the females lay up to 6 pairs of eggs. The young will hatch after approximately 60–90 days. The juveniles measure . The Mauritius lowland forest day gecko is an egg gluer and often a colony nester. It often lays its eggs in tree holes. Juveniles reach pubescence after 18–20 months.

Threats

''P. guimbeaui'' has been evaluated by the IUCN as "

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

". Its habitat is small and fragmented. Moreover, 12 of 19 endemic reptile species from mainland Mauritius are extinct. It is traded commercially as a terrarium pet and this may be a threat; little is known about trade in ''

Phelsuma ''Phelsuma'' is a large genus of geckos in the family Gekkonidae. Species in the genus ''Phelsuma'' are commonly referred to as day geckos. Some day geckos are seriously endangered and some are common, but all ''Phelsuma'' species are CITES Appe ...

'' species. ''Phelsuma'' are all

CITES Appendix II CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

listed.

Care and maintenance in captivity

''P. guimbeaui'' should be housed in pairs in a large, well planted terrarium. The daytime temperature should be between 29 and 32 °C (84 and 90 °F). During the night, the temperature should drop to approximately 20 °C (68 °F). The humidity should be maintained between 60 and 70%. In captivity, ''P. guimbeaui'' can be fed with crickets, commercial fructivorous gecko diets, wax moths, fruits flies, mealworms, and houseflies.

Sources

* Henkel, Friedrich-Wilhelm; Schmidt, Wolfgang (1995). ''Amphibien und Reptilien Madagaskars, der Maskarenen, Seychellen und Komoren''. Stuttgart: Ulmer. 311 pp. . (in German). * McKeown, Sean (1993). ''The General Care and Maintenance of Day Geckos''. Lakeside, California: Advanced Vivarium Systems.