Hemidactylus
Hemidactylus is a genus of the common gecko family, Gekkonidae. It has 192 described species, newfound ones being described every few years. These geckos are found in all the tropical regions of the world, extending into the subtropical parts of Africa and Europe. They excel in colonizing oceanic islands by rafting on flotsam, and are for example found across most of Polynesia. In some archipelagoes, cryptic species complexes are found. Geckos like to live in and out of houses. They have been introduced to Australia.
| Hemidactylus | |
|---|---|
| Mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Gekkonidae |
| Subfamily: | Gekkoninae |
| Genus: | Hemidactylus Oken, 1817 |
| Type species | |
| Gecko tuberculosus Raddi, 1823 | |
| Diversity | |
| 190 species, see text | |
| Synonyms | |
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In alphabetical order:
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The species are typically known as house geckos, due to their readiness to adapt to and coexist with humans, and can be easily encountered in human habitations. This genus was originally established by Lorenz Oken in 1817 for the species at that time known as Hemidactylus tuberculosus, and now described as the tropical house gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia).
This species is closely related to the genus Gehyra, which belongs to the same family in Gekkonidae.