Pachydactylus austeni

Pachydactylus austeni, also known commonly as Austen's thick-toed gecko or Austen's gecko, is a species of small thick-toed gecko, a lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is indigenous to the western coast of South Africa.^[3]

Pachydactylus austeni
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Gekkota
Family:	Gekkonidae
Genus:	Pachydactylus
Species:	P. austeni
Binomial name
Pachydactylus austeni Hewitt, 1923[2]

Etymology

The specific name, austeni, is in honour of English topographer Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen.^[4]

Habitat, behaviour and diet

The natural habitat of P. austeni is coastal dunes and alluvial sands, at elevations up to 600 m (2,000 ft).^[1] It lives in a tiny burrow that it digs in the sand, and it leaves its burrow at night to forage for small insects among the dune vegetation.^[3]

Description

P. austeni has a smooth, colourful body with large eyes and conspicuous yellow or white eyelids.^[3]

Reproduction

P. austeni is oviparous.^[2]