Mount Sinai gecko
| Mount Sinai gecko | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Gekkota |
| Family: | Gekkonidae |
| Genus: | Hemidactylus |
| Species: | H. mindiae
|
| Binomial name | |
| Hemidactylus mindiae S. Baha El Din, 2005[2]
| |
The Mount Sinai gecko (Hemidactylus mindiae) is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is endemic to Egypt.
Habitat
The natural habitats of Hemidactylus mindiae are rocky areas and caves, at elevations of 600–2,000 m (2,000–6,600 ft), but it is also found in disturbed habitats such as rural gardens, and urban areas.[1]
Reproduction
Hemidactylus mindiae is oviparous.[1][3]
Conservation status
The Mount Sinai gecko is threatened by habitat loss due to quarrying and overgrazing of livestock.[1]
Etymology
The specific epithet, mindiae, commemorates the late Mindy Baha El Din, an environmentalist and herpetologist from Egypt. She was the wife of Sherif Baha El Din, also a herpetologist, who described this lizard as a new species.[4]
References
- ^ a b c d El Din, S.B. (2006). "Hemidactylus mindiae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2006 e.T61508A12495072. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2006.RLTS.T61508A12495072.en. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
- ^ "Hemidactylus mindiae ". ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.
- ^ Species Hemidactylus mindiae at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
- ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011).The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Hemidactylus mindiae, p. 178).
Further reading
- Baha El Din, Sherif M. (2005). "An overview of Egyptian species of Hemidactylus (Gekkonidae), with the description of a new species from the high mountains of South Sinai". Zoology in the Middle East 34: 11–26. (Hemidactylus mindiae, new species). (in English, plus abstract in German).
- Sindaco, R.; Jeremčenko, V.K. (2008). The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic. 1. Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Turtles, Crocodiles, Amphisbaenians and Lizards of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia. (Monographs of the Societas Herpetologica Italica). Latina, Italy: Edizioni Belvedere. ISBN 978-88-89504-14-7. 580 pp.