Pachydactylus geitje
Silhouette: Emmanuel Jimenez · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Pachydactylus geitje, also known commonly as the ocellated gecko, the ocellated thick-toed gecko and the Cradock thick-toed gecko, is a tiny species of thick-toed gecko, a lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is indigenous to the Western Cape of South Africa.
P. geitje is a very colourful, mottled little gecko. Its smooth (almost silky) body is usually covered in dark-edged white spots. P. geitje typically lives on the ground among debris and under rocks. Further inland it only lives higher in the mountains where rocky outcrops provide it with sufficient places to hide.
Pachydactylus geitje lays a clutch of two tiny eggs in the summer. Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume I. Geckonidæ.... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 436 pp. + Plates I-XXXII. (Pachydactylus ocellatus, pp. 205–206).
Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Cradock Thick-toed Gecko sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 56 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 15th most-seen of the 35 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March to October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Cradock Thick-toed Gecko in Cape Town on a given day, against under 5% in November to February, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cradock Thick-toed Gecko sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Cape Town, in our data
Cape Town is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Cradock Thick-toed Gecko sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Gekkonidae
The closest relatives of the Cradock Thick-toed Gecko that you can see in Cape Town (family Gekkonidae, Typical Geckos) are Marbled Leaf-toed Gecko (about 40%) and Cape Dwarf Gecko (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cradock Thick-toed Gecko is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Cape Town (56 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
