Fan-footed Gecko

Fascinating facts about the Fan-footed Gecko

• The species carries the legacy of Swedish naturalist Fredrik Hasselquist in its name, a reminder that centuries-old explorations still echo in modern taxonomy.
• Its home stretches across 13 countries, from the deserts of Algeria to the far-flung Farasan Islands of Saudi Arabia, proving a single small lizard can thrive in a surprisingly wide slice of the Old World.
• Each female lays exactly two eggs per clutch, a tiny but steady investment that lets populations persist even in harsh, arid habitats.
• Scientists split the group into two subspecies, the original hasselquistii and the newly described krameri, highlighting subtle regional twists in morphology that keep the lineage adaptable.

About the Fan-footed Gecko

The fan-footed gecko, Ptyodactylus hasselquistii, reaches a snout-to-vent length of about 96 mm (3.8 in). It is oviparous and lays two eggs per clutch. It is found in Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Eritrea, eastern Ethiopia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia (including the Farasan Islands), northern Somalia, Sudan, and Syria.

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