Phyllodactylus darwini
Silhouette: Jose Carlos Arenas-Monroy · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Darwin's leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus darwini) is a species of lizard in the family Phyllodactylidae. The species is endemic to San Cristóbal Island in the Galapagos. The specific name, darwini, is in honor of English naturalist Charles Darwin, author of On the Origin of Species.
The preferred natural habitat of P. darwini is shrubland. P. darwini is oviparous. Rösler H (2000). "Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent, und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)". Gekkota 28: 28–153. (Phyllodactylus darwini, p. 104). (in German).
Taylor EH (1942). "Some Geckoes of the Genus Phyllodactylus ". University of Kansas Science Bulletin 28 (6): 91–112. (Phyllodactylus darwini, new species p. 104–108, Figures 4A–4D). Torres-Carvajal O, Rodríguez-Guerra A, Chaves JA (2016). "Present diversity of Galápagos leaf-toed geckos (Phyllodactylidae: Phyllodactylus) stems from three independent colonization events". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 103: 1–5. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Darwin's Leaf-toed Gecko sighting in Galápagos Islands on a given day, based on 26 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 25th most-seen of the 31 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.
February–April, June, August and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Darwin's Leaf-toed Gecko in Galápagos Islands on a given day, against under 5% in May, July, September and November–January, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Darwin's Leaf-toed Gecko sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
Only Galápagos Islands, in our data
Galápagos Islands is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Darwin's Leaf-toed Gecko sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Phyllodactylus
The closest relatives of the Darwin's Leaf-toed Gecko that you can see in Galápagos Islands (genus Phyllodactylus, Leaf-toed Geckos) are San Cristóbal Island Leaf-toed Gecko (about 10%) and Peters' Leaf-toed Gecko (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Darwin's Leaf-toed Gecko is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Galápagos Islands (26 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
