Barnard's Namib day gecko

Barnard's Namib day gecko
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Gekkota
Family:	Gekkonidae
Genus:	Rhoptropus
Species:	R. barnardi
Binomial name
	Rhoptropus barnardi; Hewitt, 1926

Barnard's Namib day gecko (Rhoptropus barnardi), also known commonly as Barnard's slender gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is native to southern Africa.

Etymology

The specific name, barnardi, is in honor of South African zoologist Keppel Harcourt Barnard.^[2]

Distribution and habitat

R. barnardi is found in Angola and Namibia.^[1]^[3]^[4]

The preferred natural habitats of R. barnardi are savanna and rocky areas, at altitudes of 200–1,900 m (660–6,230 ft).^[1]

Description

R. barnardi is the smallest species in its genus. Adults usually have a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 3.0–4.5 cm (1.2–1.8 in). The maximum recorded SVL is 4.9 cm (1.9 in).^[4]

Biology

R. barnardi is oviparous.^[3] Clutch size is two eggs. Each egg measures on average 11.5 mm × 9.5 mm (0.45 in × 0.37 in). Communal nesting sites may contain as many as 200 eggs.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Baptista N, Bauer AM, Becker F, Ceríaco LMP, Conradie W (2020). "Rhoptropus barnardi ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T120686379A120906483.en. Downloaded on 03 June 2021.
^ Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Rhoptropus barnardi, p. 17).
^ ^a ^b Rhoptropus barnardi at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 27 July 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Rhoptropus barnardi, p. 267 + Plate 92).

Gates BC (2010). "Day Geckos of Damaraland: Rhoptropus barnardi Hewitt, 1926, Rhoptropus boultoni Schmidt, 1933, and Rhoptropus diporus Haacke, 1965". Gekko 6 (1): 56–60.
Goldberg SR (2009). "Rhoptropus barnardi. Reproduction". African Herp News (48): 15–16.
Hewitt J (1926). "Descriptions of New and Little-known Lizards and Batrachians from South Africa". Annals of the South African Museum 20 (6): 413–431 + Plates XXXV–XXXVII. (Rhoptropus barnardi, new species, pp. 413–415 + Plate XXXV, figures 1–3).
Rösler H (2000). "Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)". Gekkota 2: 28–153. (Rhoptropus barnardi, p. 109). (in German).