New Zealand geckos

There are two genera of geckos native to New Zealand -"Hoplodactylus" and "Naultinus"- for differences between the two, see the individual entry for each genus.

All species are viviparous giving birth to live young, typically twins. This feature makes them virtually unique in the Gekkonidae family, as only one species outside New Zealand (from New Caledonia) has the same reproductive habit.New Zealand Geckos are omnivorous- their diet is primarily insectivorous in nature- flies, spiders, moths etc- but they will supplement it with fruit (ie: from Mahoe) and nectar (ie: from flax flowers) when it is available.

New Species

The number of Gecko species in New Zealand was previously 16 but with a spate of discoveries of new animals in the last 5 years this figure is steadily rising. First of all, it appears that animals with a wide range previously thought to comprise a single species actually represent multiple sub-species as with the "common gecko" "Hoplodactlylus maculatus". Secondly, a number of alpine species in the Hoplodactylus genus are now emerging from high altitude discoveries in the South island including the, Takitimu gecko ("Hoplodactylus cryptozoicus").

References

* Brian Gill and Tony Whitaker,"New Zealand frogs and reptiles", David Bateman publishing, 1996