THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY
Loading taxon account
Retrieving account information and occurrence data...

Reptilia    Squamata (part-other lizards)    Gekkonidae  
Golden Gecko
Gekko badenii Szczerbak and Nekrasova, 1994
GEH-koh — bah-DAY-nee-eye
Taxon Links
iNaturalist
The Reptile Database
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
NatureServe
GenBank
USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Native to Vietnam. It was introduced via the pet trade during the 2000s and is established in Hollywood, Broward County, Florida (Krysko et al., 2011, Zootaxa 3028: 1–64; Krysko and Rochford, 2019, Gekko badenii. Pages 323–324 in Krysko et al. (Editors) Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida). (Krysko, Kenneth and Travis W. Taggart. 2025. Established Exotic Species. Pages 64-87 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)

(,   Museum Voucher) (,   Observation) (,   Literature Record), (,   Citizen Science), (  Fossil)
Open icons indicate questionable records, including those with coordinate uncertainty greater than 10,000 m (approximately 6 miles). Click a marker to view metadata.
Occurrences:; 14 Total; 11 Museum; 3 Other

The locality database contains 8,248,810 records, and geographic and taxonomic errors exist. Logged-in, registered users may report a potential issue directly from the marker popup.
Shaded range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH. (Version: 2025.03.31.14.27.03)
Download map data (GeoJSON):
Polygon Range File Museum Literature Fossil Personal Observation Citizen Science

Province/State Distribution:

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named in honor of a European noble or naturalist.
Gekko — Onomatopoeic, based on the sound made by some Asian geckos, transcribed as "gecko." Originated from Indonesian/Malay.
badenii — A patronym; likely Named after Prince Louis of Baden or another 19th-century European figure associated with collecting or sponsoring expeditions. The specific honoree is not definitively identified in the original description.

First instance(s) of published English names:
No historic English names have been assigned to this taxon yet.


Selected References:
1994 Szczerbak, N. N. and O. D. Nekrasova. Vklad v znaniye yashcherits-gekko yuzhnogo V'yetnama s opisaniyem novogo vida (Reptilia, Gekkonidae). [A contribution to the knowledge of gekko lizards of southern Vietnam with description of a new species (Reptilia, Gekkonidae).]. Vestnik Zoologii, Kiev [Bulletin of Zoology, Kyiv] 1994(1):48-52
2011 Krysko, Kenneth L., Joseph P. Burgess, Michael R. Rochford, Christopher R. Gillette, Daniel Cueva, Kevin M. Enge, Louis A. Somma, Jennifer L. Stabile, Dustin C. Smith, Joseph A. Wasilewski, Guy N. Kieckhefer III, Michael C. Granatosky, and Stuart V. Nielsen. Verified non-indigenous amphibians and reptiles in Florida from 1863 through 2010: Outlining the invasion process and identifying invasion pathways and stages. Zootaxa 3028(1):1-64

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Saturday 24 October 2026 18:01 CT
Site concept, design, and programming: Travis W. Taggart (CNAH President/Executive Director).
CNAH usage since 31 August 2026: 338,707 human page views • 182,771 visitors • 166,362 file accesses