Hemidactylus yerburii

Hemidactylus yerburii, also known commonly as the southern leaf-toed gecko, Yerbury's gecko, and Yerburi's leaf-toed gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is native to Western Asia.

Hemidactylus yerburii
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Gekkota
Family:	Gekkonidae
Genus:	Hemidactylus
Species:	H. yerburii
Binomial name
Hemidactylus yerburii J. Anderson, 1895
Hemidactylus yerburii distribution. The African part of the range is no longer included in this species.
Synonyms[2]
Hemidactylus yerburii J. Anderson, 1895 Hemidactylus yerburyi [sic] — J. Anderson, 1901 (unjustified emendation) Hemidactylus turcicus yerburyi — Loveridge, 1941 Hemidactylus yerburyi — Haas & Battersby, 1959 Hemidactylus yerburyii [sic] — Rösler, 2000 Hemidactylus yerburii — Sindaco et al., 2014

Geographic range

H. yerburii is found on the southern Arabian Peninsula in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.^[2]

Taxonomy

Populations of H. yerburii reported from Africa are based on misidentifications (H. macropholis), or have been elevated from subspecies to full species rank, namely H. montanus and H. pauciporus.^[2]

Etymology

The specific name, yerburii, is in honor of amateur entomologist Lieutenant Colonel John William Yerbury (1847–1927), who collected the holotype.^[2][3]

Habitat

H. yerburii, in the sense of including African populations no longer included in this species, occurs in a wide range of habitats from rocky desert areas to well vegetated habitats, including lowland deciduous forest and shrubland, and also occurs on buildings in settlements. It is found from the sea level to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) asl.^[1]

Reproduction

H. yerburii is oviparous.^[2]

Abundance

H. yerburii is very rare; the species was described based on a single female.