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Standing's Day Gecko

Phelsuma standingi

  • Habitat: Dry forest and thornbush
  • Range: South-western Madagascar
  • Natural Diet: Insects and other invertebrates
  • Status in the Wild:THREATENED

 

Fun Facts

  • The Standing's day geckos are dark green in color, which helps them camouflage from predators
  • They are active by day and rest by night in tree canopies.
  • Sexually mature adult females have calcium deposits stored in sacs on each side of their necks, which is used for the formation of egg shells.
  • Their toes have special adaptations which allows them to adhere to a variety of surfaces helping them to climb.
  • When they are being hunted by a predator, geckos are able to drop their tails. The tail continues to move even after being dropped to distract predators giving the gecko time to make a quick getaway.

 

Conservation Threats

  • Illegal trapping for pet trade has a detrimental influence on their free-ranging population numbers

 

 

These geckos live in the south-western portion of Madagascar

 

 

Map Distributional range - Standing's day geckos are endemic to Madagascar, the island in black to the right of Africa.