Gulf Sand Gecko

Habitat:

This is a new species to Qatar that was first discovered in two islands near Doha in spring 2013. It is a small lizard with a total length smaller than 15 cm. It is characterized by the absence of dorsal tubercles. The toes are moderately fringed and lack expanded pads. It is active at night and during the day it hides under rocks. They can be found on soils with sparse vegetation and rocks. It is also present in coastal areas and salty habitats. It is present in the mainland and in Qatar islands. The species eat insects and other small invertebrates. Females lay eggs

World Distribution:

This species is distributed in Arabian Gulf countries, including Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar. Its type locality is Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia

Conservation status:

It is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List

Scientific publications:

This is a poorly studied lizard in the world with only four scientific publications found about the species in international databases. Three of the studies describe the presence of the species in new geographic localities, one of them in Qatar; and one study is about osteology. No information about the ecology of the species exists for Qatar or anywhere in the world

Similar species:

Stenodactylus slevini and Stenodactylus doriae

Description:

Haas, 1957