#1784 · 🦎 reptiles
Northern Turniptail Gecko
🇳🇱 Knolstaartgekko ·Thecadactylus rapicauda
📍 Terre-de-Haut, Guadalupa
📍 Riosucio, Chocó, Colombia
📍 Saul 97314, French Guiana
📍 Les Anses-d'Arlet, Martinique
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Pedro E. Nahuat-Cervera · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Felipe Barrera Ocampo · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © William PERRIN · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Mark Yokoyama · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 5. © Felipe Barrera Ocampo · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Todd Pierson · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 7. Terre-de-Haut, Guadalupa:© david e leo berton · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. Riosucio, Chocó, Colombia:© Gabriel Camilo Jaramillo Giraldo · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 9. Saul 97314, French Guiana:© Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová · CC BY 4.0
- 10. Les Anses-d'Arlet, Martinique:© Philipp Zimmer · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The turnip-tailed gecko ( Thecadactylus rapicauda ) is a species of gecko widely distributed from Mexico southward through Central America and into South America as far south as Brazil, and on many islands in the Lesser Antilles. It was long thought to be the only member of its genus, until T. solimoensis was described in 2007.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 5,002 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Martinus Houttuyn in 1782 (244 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Northern Turniptail Gecko
- Nederlands
- Knolstaartgekko
- scientific name
- Thecadactylus rapicauda
- class
- Reptilia
- order
- Squamata
- family
- Phyllodactylidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 5,002
- GBIF records in NL
- 2
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1782 by Martinus Houttuyn
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
relatives· Phyllodactylidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 67967, Wikidata Q3018984, GBIF 2445829, Wikipedia (EN). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.