Summary ⁵

Tarentola mauritanica is a species of gecko (Gekkonidae) native to the Western Mediterranean region of Europe and North Africa and widely introduced to North America and Asia. It is commonly observed on walls in urban environments, mainly in warm coastal areas, though it can spread inland - especially in Spain. A robust species, up to 150 millimetres long, its tubercules are enlarged and give the species a spiny armoured appearance.

Range description ⁶

This species ranges throughout much of the Mediterranean region. Mainland European populations are distributed from Portugal (except the northwest), Spain (absent from most of the north), and southern France, throughout mainly coastal areas of Italy, southern Slovenia, northern coastal Croatia and southwestern parts of Greece. In northern Africa the species ranges from northern Egypt, through northern Libya, northern and central Tunisia, and northern Algeria to most of Morocco and northwestern Western Sahara. There is an isolated introduced population in southern Western Sahara. It is present on many Mediterranean islands including Corsica (France), Sardinia, Sicily, Pantellaria and Lampedusa (all in Italy), the Ionian Islands and Crete (all in Greece). Many of the populations in the northern Mediterranean are likely to have been introduced in ancient times. It has been introduced to a number of areas including the Balearic Islands and Tenerife (Spain), the island of Madeira (Portugal), Montevideo (Uruguay), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and California (United States). It is found from sea level up to as high as 2,300m asl (in Spain).

Sources and Credits

1. (c) dubidule, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://www.flickr.com/photos/8598741@N03/695872979
2. (c) Zack Demirtshyan, all rights reserved, uploaded by Zack Demirtshyan
3. (c) Valter Jacinto, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://s.yimg.com/pw/images/en-us/photo_unavailable_l.png
4. (c) Marek Velechovský, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.biolib.cz/IMG/GAL/26591.jpg
5. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarentola_mauritanica
6. (c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/19040176

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• CalPhotos
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HerpMapper
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• The Reptile Database
• VertNet

Range Map

(c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)

iNat Map