Rhacodactylus leachianus

New Caledonian Giant Gecko ( Rhacodactylus leachianus )

The New Caledonian Giant Gecko ( Rhacodactylus leachianus ), or Leach 's Giant Gecko was described by Cuvier in 1829 first. It is the largest gecko of the genus cloth finger ( Rhacodactylus ) and one of the largest geckos in the world. Its length is up to 360 mm long.

Subspecies

There are three subspecies of the New Caledonian Giant Gecko:

• Rhacodactylus leachianus aubrianus
• Rhacodactylus leachianus henkeli ( Seipp & Obst, 1994)
• Rhacodactylus leachianus leachianus

Way of life

The New Caledonian Giant Gecko is a tree dweller. His home is the high trees on the island New Caledonia. The distribution are the southern and eastern parts of New Caledonia and smaller islands around New Caledonia.

New Caledonian Giant Gecko females of lay 2 eggs, hatch after 60-90 days of incubation, the hatchlings.

The New Caledonian Giant Gecko eats insects and fruit, and possibly even small lizards. In nature, many populations probably live purely vegetarian.