Southern Marbled Gecko
S4, dorsal
Southern Marbled Gecko
S6, dorsal, Pupil open
| Southern Marbled Gecko S4, dorsal | | Southern Marbled Gecko S6, dorsal, Pupil open | | ||
 | Class: | Animals (Animalia) - Chordates (Chordata) - Reptiles (Reptilia) | |||
| Order: | Scaled Reptiles (Squamata) | ||||
| Family: | Gecko (Gekkota: Gekkonidae) iNaturalist Observation | ||||
| Species: | Southern Marbled Gecko (Christinus marmoratus) | ||||
| This Photo: | S5, dorsal, on glass | ||||
Thank you Yingyod Lapwong for confirming the id of this species for us General Species Information: Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Adelaide Hills and elsewhere Of the 4 we measured, they ranged in size from ~22mm to 50mm SVL (Snout to Vent Length). Feet are important diagnostics with geckos. So if you find one and photograph it, try to get a shot of it's toes. Even better try and get it on glass/clear plastic so you can get the underneath of toes & feet. Be very careful if you handle them though, a high proportion are infected with Salmonella. Plus they drop their tails very easily, which is an important energy store for lean times. Many specimens of this species have a row of diamond marks running down their tails; we suspect these disipate with age but haven't found any documentation related to them. We have found a gravid female with the marks so it's not just a juvenile trait. If you google these there is plenty of discussion about how they store calcium, visibule lumps, near their throat for egg production. They often have blue hues to their skin tone. With skinks, it's important to count the number of toes they have on both their front & back legs. Both sides too, as sometimes they loose toes, which is not obvious. However, all geckos have 5 toes & 'fingers'. But they have very different shaped toes, these have suction pads allowing them to climb slipery surfaces such as wet rocks & pebbles. As such, they can be found climbing glass. Louise Merigot researched their life span. Advice varies, but between 5 & 12 years in captivity. That's a long time. Generally in the wild you'd expect that to be shorter, perhaps at the 5 years end. Still quite a surprise. | |||||
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