''Stenodactylus sthenodactylus'', also known as the Lichtenstein's short-fingered gecko or elegant gecko, 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 Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 ...

. The species is found in the Middle East (Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia), throughout North Africa, marginally in West Africa (Mali), and in northern East Africa (Sudan, South Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, and Ethiopia). It is widespread and common but not abundant and is associated with semi-arid to hyperarid areas.

Taxonomy

It was first described by

Hinrich Lichtenstein Martin H nrich Carl Lichtenstein (10 January 1780 – 2 September 1857) was a German physician, List of explorers, explorer, botanist and zoologist. He explored parts of southern Africa and collected natural history specimens extensively and ...

in 1823, with its original name being ''Ascalabotes sthenodactylus.'' This naming was established by Lichtenstein in the catalogue of duplicate specimens from the collections of the Zoological Museum of Berlin (now

Museum für Naturkunde The Natural History Museum () is a natural history museum located in Berlin, Germany. It exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history and in such domain it is one of three major museums in Germany alongside Naturm ...

) based on specimens collected by Friedrich Wilhelm Hemprich and

Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (19 April 1795 – 27 June 1876) was a German Natural history, naturalist, zoologist, Botany, botanist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopy, microscopist. He is considered to be one of the most famous an ...

in Egypt and Nubia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1153855 Stenodactylus Geckos of Africa Geckos of Western Asia Reptiles of North Africa Reptiles of West Africa Reptiles of Ethiopia Reptiles of Kenya Reptiles of South Sudan Reptiles of Sudan Reptiles of Syria Reptiles of the Middle East Reptiles of the Arabian Peninsula Reptiles described in 1823 Taxa named by Hinrich Lichtenstein