Rhacodactylus leachianus | 台北市立動物園資訊網

Description[edit]...At14inches(360mm)totallength(includingtail),R.leachianusisthelargestextantgeckointheworldandisconsideredanexampleofisland ...

Species of lizard

Rhacodactylus leachianus, commonly known as the New Caledonian giant gecko, Leachs giant gecko, leachianus gecko, or Leachie, is the largest living species of gecko and a member of the family Diplodactylidae. It is native to most of New Caledonia.

The specific name, leachianus, is in honor of English zoologist William Elford Leach.[3] Historically, there have been three recognized subspecies of R. leachianus (including the nominotypical subspecies): R. l. aubrianus, R. l. henkeli (first described by Seipp and Obst in 1994),[4] and R. l. leachianus. However, based on recent molecular data, no populations of R. leachianus are granted subspecies status at the present time.[1][5] Instead, locality based morphotypes are used to distinguish populations of R. leachianus.[6]

R. leachianus is the largest extant gecko in the world[7] and is considered an example of island gigantism. R. leachianus of the Grand...