Carter's rock gecko

Appearance

''P. carteri'' may attain an average snout-to-vent length of 5–6 cm , and a total length of 8–9 cm .

Naming

The generic name, ''Pristurus'', means "saw-tailed" in Latin.

The specific name, ''carteri'', is in honor of Dr. Henry Carter who collected the holotype.There are two subspecies of ''Pristurus carteri''. The first is the nominotypical subspecies, ''Pristurus carteri carteri'' , and the other is ''Pristurus carteri tuberculatus'' Parker, 1931, ''P. c. carteri'' being the more common.The species ''P. carteri'' has many common names such as Carter's rock gecko, ornate rock gecko, and scorpion-tailed gecko.

Behavior

''P. carteri'' are often seen swaying their curly tails back and forth to each other in a way to sort of communicate to each other. The males develop little fleshy spikes on their tails upon reaching sexual maturity. When they feel threatened they curl their tails in a scorpion-like fashion and even mimic the movements a scorpion will use as a threat display; this and the tail waving are the source of the common name scorpion-tailed geckos.

Members of the genus ''Pristurus'' are diurnal. This is unusual in geckos except in the genera ''Phelsuma'', ''Lygodactylus'', ''Naultinus'', ''Quedenfeldtia'', ''Rhoptropus'', all Sphaerodactylids, and, of course, ''Pristurus''.

Habitat

''P. carteri'' is native to Oman, where it often is found basking on rocks or in urban areas.

Reproduction

''P. carteri'' reaches sexual maturity in roughly 10 months. Adult females lay 1–2 hard shelled eggs that are incubated at 28 °C for 70–90 days. Each neonate hatches out at a total length of about 3.5–4 cm .