Gonatodes caudiscutatus
Silhouette: Jose Carlos Arenas-Monroy · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The shieldhead gecko (Gonatodes caudiscutatus) is a species of lizard in the Sphaerodactylidae family native to Ecuador and Colombia. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Machalilla National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 2 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guayaquil | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
No species of the same family or order lives in Galápagos Islands, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Shieldhead Gecko sighting in Galápagos Islands on a given day, based on 34 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 22nd 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.
November
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Shieldhead Gecko in Galápagos Islands on a given day, against under 5% in January, April–May, July and September, the lowest months. That is one of Galápagos Islands's driest months, with almost no rain against 50 mm in March.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Shieldhead 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.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Shieldhead Gecko sightings, Galápagos Islands ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Machalilla National Park (Ecuador, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Shieldhead Gecko is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Galápagos Islands (34 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.
