Home - Taxonomy - Geography - Biodiversity - Literature - Purchase RepFocus Recent updates Citation: Midtgaard, Rune. RepFocus - A Survey of the Reptiles of the World. (www.repfocus.dk). Latest update: December 31st, 2022. Taxonomy of the family Gekkonidae Bibliography of the genus Chondrodactylus Biodiversity of the family Gekkonidae Genus Chondrodactylus Giant Ground Gecko and Thick-toed Geckos Südafrikanischer Sandgecko und Dickfingergeckos Sydafrikansk Sandgekko og Tykfingergekkoer 1864 Homodactylus Gray [not Homodactylus Fitzinger 1843 (Reptilia: Gerrhosauridae)] (type species: Homodactylus turneri Gray 1864; syn. Kluge 1991) 1870 Chondrodactylus Peters (type species: Chondrodactylus angulifer Peters 1870) Contents: 6 species, none of which are endemic. Endemism: 0% 100% Remarks: Until recently regarded as a monotypic genus, containing only angulifer. Bauer & Lamb (2005) transferred the other species and subspecies from the genus Pachydactylus. The latter species are referred to as Thick-toed Geckos, as are the species belonging to Elasmodactylus and Pachydactylus. Distribution: E. and S. Africa. Reported from: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa (Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West Province, Northern Cape, Western Cape), Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Chondrodactylus angulifer Giant Ground Gecko, Sand Gecko Südafrikanischer Sandgecko Sydafrikansk Sandgekko 1870 Chondrodactylus angulifer Peters 1887 Chondrodactylus weirei Boulenger (Wermuth 1965) 1976 Chondrodactylus angulifer namibensis Haacke Other common names: angulifer: Common Giant Ground Gecko namibensis: Namib Giant Ground Gecko Distribution: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa (Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Western Cape). Chondrodactylus angulifer © Henrik Bringsøe Chondrodactylus bibronii Tubercled Thick-toed Gecko, (Bibron's Thick-toed Gecko, Bibron's Tubercled Gecko, Bibron's Sand Gecko, Bibron's Gecko, Mozambique Thick-toed Gecko, Tete Thick-toed Gecko, Cape Button-scaled Gecko, Velvety Gecko) Tuberkel-Dickfingergecko, (Bibrons Dickfingergecko) Tuberkel-Tykfingergekko, (Bibrons Tykfingergekko) 1846 Tarentola bibronii Smith Pachydactylus bibronii Smith 1849 Chondrodactylus bibronii Bauer & Lamb 2005 Remarks: Previously included laevigatus and turneri (e.g., Wermuth 1965). Now restricted to Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. Most of the former range of bibronii (e.g., Wermuth 1965) now represents the two species mentioned above. Introduced to: USA (Florida). Distribution: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa (Eastern Cape, Free State, North West Province, Northern Cape, Western Cape). Chondrodactylus fitzsimonsi Kunene Thick-toed Gecko, (FitzSimons' Thick-toed Gecko) Kunene-Dickfingergecko Kunene-tykfingergekko 1938 Pachydactylus laevigatus tessellatus Fitzsimons [not Pachydactylus tessellatus Werner 1910] 1947 Pachydactylus laevigatus fitzsimonsi Loveridge [substitute name for Pachydactylus laevigatus tessellatus Loveridge 1938] Pachydactylus fitzsimonsi Benyr 1995 Chondrodactylus fitzsimonsi Bauer & Lamb 2005 Distribution: Angola, Namibia. Chondrodactylus laevigatus Karas Thick-toed Gecko, (Button-scaled Gecko) Karas-Dickfingergecko Karas-tykfingergekko 1888 Pachydactylus laevigatus Fischer Pachydactylus turneri laevigatus Griffin 2003 Chondrodactylus turneri laevigatus Bauer & Lamb 2005 Chondrodactylus laevigatus Marques, Ceríaco, Blackburn & Bauer 2018 Remarks: Benyr (1995) revalidated laevigatus from the synonymy of bibronii, including turneri as a subspecies, however, turneri has priority over laevigatus, so the latter should have been regarded as a subspecies of the former. Subsequently, laevigatus was revalidated as a separate species (Marques, Ceríaco, Blackburn & Bauer 2018). Exact boundaries between the distributions of laevigatus and turneri have been unclear. Part of the distribution of turneri, as reported in some older literature, represents laevigatus. Distribution: Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa (Northern Cape), Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Chondrodactylus laevigatus © Henrik Bringsøe Chondrodactylus pulitzerae Pico Azevedo Thick-toed Gecko, (Pulitzer's Thick-toed Gecko) Pico-Azevedo-Dickfingergecko Pico Azevedo-tykfingergekko 1933 Pachydactylus bibronii pulitzerae Schmidt Pachydactylus laevigatus pulitzerae Benyr 1995 Pachydactylus turneri pulitzerae Kluge 2001 Chondrodactylus pulitzerae Heinz 2011 Remarks: Previously regarded as a subspecies of bibronii (e.g., Wermuth 1965) or, more recently, of turneri (e.g., Kluge 2001). Treated herein as a separate species, following Ceríaco, Bauer, Blackburn & Lavres (2014), who in turn referred to the unpublished M.S. thesis by Heinz (2011), but without including this publication in their reference list. Distribution: Angola, Namibia. Chondrodactylus turneri Zambezi Thick-toed Gecko, Zambezi Gecko, Tropical Button-scaled Gecko, (Turner's Thick-toed Gecko) Zambezi-Dickfingergecko Zambezi-tykfingergekko 1864 Homodactylus turneri Gray Pachydactylus bibronii turneri Parker 1936 Pachydactylus laevigatus turneri Benyr 1995 Pachydactylus turneri Branch 1998 Chondrodactylus turneri Bauer & Lamb 2005 1910 Pachydactylus bibronii stellatus Werner (Kluge 2001) Remarks: Formerly regarded as a synonym of bibronii. Previously included pulitzerae. Benyr (1995) revalidated laevigatus from the synonymy of bibronii, including turneri as a subspecies, however, turneri has priority over laevigatus, so the latter should have been regarded as a subspecies of the former. Subsequently, laevigatus was revalidated as a separate species. Exact boundaries between the distributions of laevigatus and turneri have been unclear. Part of the distribution of turneri, as reported in some older literature, represents laevigatus. Introduced to: New Zealand, USA (Florida). Distribution: Botswana, Eswatini, Mozambique, South Africa (Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West Province).