THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY
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Reptilia    Squamata (part-other lizards)    Phyllodactylidae  
Yellow Fan-Fingered Gecko
Ptyodactylus hasselquistii (Donndorff, 1798)
TEE-oh-DAK-til-us — HAS-sell-kwist-ee-eye
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SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Newly listed species. Native to northeastern Africa (Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Sudan) and southern Middle East (Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sinai [Egypt], and Syria). It is established in Orange County, California (Hansen and Shedd, 2025, California Amphibians and Reptiles, Princeton University Press. 520 pp). (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:; 4 Total; 0 Museum; 4 Other

The locality database contains 8,094,832 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: 2025.01.05.22.28.56)
Download map data (GeoJSON):
Polygon Range File Museum Literature Fossil Personal Observation Citizen Science

Province/State Distribution:
United States: California

Taxonomic Etymology:
A Middle Eastern/North African gecko Named for a Swedish explorer.
Ptyodactylus — From Greek ptyon (πτύον), “fan,” and dactylos (δάκτυλος), “finger.” Refers to the broad, fan-like toe pads adapted for climbing.
hasselquistii — A patronym honoring Fredrik Hasselquist (1722–1752), a Swedish naturalist and student of Linnaeus, known for his travels and natural history observations in the Levant and Egypt.

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


Selected References:
1798 Donndorff, Johann August. Zoologische Beyträge zur XIII. Ausgabe des Linneischen Natursystems. Dritter Band, Amphibien und Fische. [Zoological contributions to the XIII. Edition of the Linnean natural system. Third volume, amphibians and fish.]. Weidmannschen, Leipzig, Germany. vi+980pp.
2016 Fedler, Matthew T., Kenneth L. Krysko, and Michael L. Avery. Molecular analysis confirming the introduction of the Western African Fan-footed Gecko, Ptyodactylus togoensis (Tornier 1901) (Sauria: Phyllodactylidae), in Florida. IRCF Reptiles and Amphibians 23(1):183–186
2025 Hansen, Robert W. and Jackson D. Shedd. California Amphibians and Reptiles. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. 520pp.

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