Heyden’s Gecko

Habitat:

This is a small lizard with a total body length of about 10 cm. It is strictly a nocturnal species. During the day it hides in crevices and under rocks. They live in the mainland and also on Qatar islands. They can be found in stony soils with sparse vegetation and rocks, and also in humanized habitats. It has excellent abilities to climb vertical surfaces thanks to the adhesive pads present on their toes. They eat insects and other small invertebrates. Females lay eggs. It is frequently mistaken for other lizard species- Turkish Lizard (Hemidatylus turcicus) that do not live in Qatar

World Distribution:

This species is distributed in Egypt and Sudan (Red Sea coast); Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya; Arabian Peninsula, Qatar, Iraq, coastal Iran and Pakistan and Yemen and Qatar

Conservation status:

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

Scientific publications:

We have found 13 scientific publications about the species in international databases. All of them are related to their geographic distribution and the description of new species or records for new locations. No information about the ecology of the species exists for Qatar

Similar species:

Hemidactylus persicus

Description:

Heyden, 1827