Haemodracon

Haemodracon
Haemodracon riebeckii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Gekkonidae
Subfamily: Gekkoninae
Genus: Haemodracon
Bauer, Good & Branch, 1997

Haemodracon is a small genus of rare geckos from Socotra archipelago.

It contains the following species:[1]

The genus name is related to Dracaena cinnabari — the most famous tree of Socotra. It gives a red resin known as dragon's blood. The word Haemodracon consist of Ancient Greek: αἷμα (haema) — "blood" and dracon.[1]

H. riebeckii lives on Socotra Island and nearby Samhah Island. It is bigger, more widespread and more commonly seen. H. trachyrhinus lives only on Socotra Island.[2] Both species are regarded as Least concern by IUCN.[3][4] They are active at night and live mainly in rocky habitats.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 Bauer A. M., Good D. A., Branch W. R. (1997). "The taxonomy of the southern African leaf-toed geckos (Squamata: Gekkonidae), with a review of Old World "Phyllodactylus" and the description of five new genera". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 4th ser 49 (14): 447–497. ISSN 0068-547X.
  2. 1 2 Razzetti E., Sindaco R., Grieco C.; et al. (2011). "Annotated checklist and distribution of the Socotran Archipelago Herpetofauna (Reptilia)" (PDF). Zootaxa 2826: 1–44. ISSN 1175-5334.
  3. ↑ "Haemodracon riebeckii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "Haemodracon trachyrhinus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2014.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, September 20, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.