''Saltuarius'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of larger

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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, known collectively as leaf-tailed geckos.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Saltuarius'' was created in 1993 to accommodate some former members of the genus ''

Phyllurus ''Phyllurus'', from Ancient Greek φύλλον (''phúllon''), meaning "leaf", and οὐρά (''ourá''), meaning "tail", is a small genus of Australian leaf-tailed geckos, lizards in the family Carphodactylidae. Rarely seen outside their native ...

''. These geckos appear very similar to the ''

Uroplatus ''Uroplatus'' is a genus of geckos, commonly referred to as leaf-tail geckos or flat-tailed geckos, which are endemism, endemic to Madagascar and its coastal islands, such as Nosy Be. They are nocturnal, insectivorous lizards found exclusively ...

'' geckos native to

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. However, this is a

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last comm ...

Etymology

The genus name is derived from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word ''

saltuarius ''Saltuarius'' is a genus of larger Australian geckos, known collectively as leaf-tailed geckos. Taxonomy The genus ''Saltuarius'' was created in 1993 to accommodate some former members of the genus ''Phyllurus''. These geckos appear very sim ...

'', meaning "keeper of the forest".Cape Melville leaf-tailed gecko
Australian Reptile Online Database, 2013.

Habitat and distribution

The

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), ...

in the genus ''Saltuarius'' inhabit Australia's eastern

coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

al region, a vegetation composed of

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

s and dry

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

forests. ''Saltuarius cornutus'' and ''Saltuarius swaini'' are

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

geckos, the remaining species live on rocky

outcrop An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth and other terrestrial planets. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most p ...

s. They all need a high level of relative air humidity. The species from southern regions must

hibernate Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic reduction entered by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It is most ...

for several months at temperatures varying between and .

Reproduction

These species invariably lay soft-shelled

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

s which are buried in humid substrates.

Species

The following seven species are recognized as being valid. www.reptile-database.org. *''

Saltuarius cornutus The northern leaf-tailed gecko (''Saltuarius cornutus'') is a species of the genus ''Saltuarius'', the Australian leaf-tailed geckos. Description ''Saltuarius cornutus'' is a large gecko with a triangular head, narrow neck, a body length to 14&n ...

'' ( Ogilby, 1892) – northern leaf-tailed gecko *''

Saltuarius eximius The Cape Melville leaf-tailed gecko (''Saltuarius eximius'') is a species of geckos that is endemic to the Melville Range on Cape Melville in Northern Australia. The species was described in 2013 by Australian zoologists Conrad Hoskin (of James C ...

'' Hoskin & Couper, 2013 – Cape Melville leaf-tailed gecko *''

Saltuarius kateae ''Saltuarius kateae'', also known commonly as Kate's leaf-tailed gecko or the Mount Marsh leaf-tailed gecko is a species of gecko, a lizard in the family Carphodactylidae. The species is native to New South Wales. Etymology The specific name, ...

'' Couper et al., 2008 – Kate's leaf-tailed gecko *''

Saltuarius moritzi ''Saltuarius moritzi'', also known commonly as the New England leaf-tailed gecko or Moritz's leaf-tailed gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Carphodactylidae. The species is native to Australia. Etymology The specific name, ''moritzi'', ...

'' Couper et al., 2008 – Moritz's leaf-tailed gecko *''

Saltuarius salebrosus ''Saltuarius salebrosus'', also known as the rough-throated leaf-tailed gecko or Central Queensland leaf-tailed gecko, is a gecko found in Australia. It is endemic to dry areas in mid-eastern and south-central Queensland. ''Saltuarius salebrosus ...

'' ( Covacevich, 1975) – rough-throated leaf-tailed gecko *''

Saltuarius swaini ''Saltuarius swaini'', also known as the southern leaf-tailed gecko or Border Ranges leaf-tailed gecko is endemic to Australia where it is found in coastal mountain ranges of southeastern Queensland and northern New South Wales. It inhabits rai ...

'' ( Wells &

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, 1985) – southern leaf-tailed gecko *''

Saltuarius wyberba ''Saltuarius wyberba'', also known as the granite leaf-tailed gecko, is a gecko found in Australia. It is endemic to southeastern Queensland and northern New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territor ...

'' Couper, Schneider & Covacevich, 1997 – granite leaf-tailed gecko The former ''Saltuarius occultus'' Couper, Covacevich & Moritz, 1993, the long-necked northern leaf-tailed gecko, is now '' Orraya occultus''. ''

Nota bene ( ; plural: ) is the Latin language, Latin phrase meaning ''note well''. In manuscripts, ''nota bene'' is abbreviated in upper-case as NB and N.B., and in lower-case as n.b. and nb; the editorial usages of ''nota bene'' and ''notate bene'' fi ...

'': A

binomial authority 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 ...

in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Saltuarius''.

References

Lizard genera Geckos of Australia Taxa named by Jeanette Covacevich Taxa named by Patrick J. Couper Taxa named by Craig Moritz {{gecko-stub