Greetings everyone, Amazing Nature community. I'm back today to participate in the community contest. Since it is free topic, I wanted to share some observations and photos I took in my backyard, of two lizards, which I had not seen before.
It is common for lizards and iguanas to exist in this area of my house, however, I had not seen these two specimens before, perhaps because they are small in size. I made these observations on a mamon tree (Melicoccus bijugatus) that is already dying (I want to take some cuttings from it), and its trunk, which is cracked and disintegrating, serves as a habitat for these beautiful and elusive animals. It should be noted that they are very elusive and difficult to photograph, which is why the quality of the photos is not very good. Below you can see photos of the tree.
As you can see in the following photos, at the base of the tree, I have allowed dry leaves to accumulate. This is by way of mulch or fertilizer, since near this plant, there is a small acerola tree (Malpighia emarginata), which is in full production. This mattress of leaves becomes an ideal area for many insects to take refuge in, offering a lot of food for any insectivorous animal, as is the case of these small and curious lizards, whose scientific name is Gonatodes vittatus.
I have brought photos of two specimens. One, without a doubt, corresponds to the species I indicated (Gonatodes vittatus). The other, I have my doubts, since within the images of this species, I only found a similar photo. Making comparisons with Google Lens, I found a fairly similar lizard, but it is native to Australia, I highly doubt they are the same species. Below I present the images of the lizard that I am certain is Gonatodes vittatus.
As you can see both on the cover and in the previous photos, it is a small, beautiful and delicate lizard, with iridescent colors, and a beautiful white dorsal stripe, with dark edges, which is very characteristic of Gonatodes vittatus. Its round and beautiful eyes are also a characteristic of this lizard. Below I present the photos of the other specimen, which I was able to photograph another day. This lizard was even more skittish than the other. I was able to take both series of photos at midday.
In the photos above, you can notice that this lizard lacks the dorsal stripe, and its eyes are not round like the other one. Plus this one is darker; however, she is very pretty, but very shy.
When doing a bibliographic review of the characteristics of lizard species (you can see the links consulted at the end of this post), I found some interesting features, these being:
They belong to the Sphaerodactylidae family, which is a family of geckos.
They are diurnal animals.
They are distributed throughout the Caribbean area of South America, which includes islands and the coastal areas of Colombia and Venezuela. In Venezuela they are located in La Guaira, Puerto Cabello and Caracas; However, I live in the Venezuelan plain, very far from the coast, and I was able to see this animal in my backyard.
Large and hexagonal tail.
Its average length is 7.62 centimeters (3 inches).
The diet of these lizards is based on insects from the families Hymenoptera Araneae, Coleoptera and Orthoptera; It is an insectivorous species.
Here I end my post today, where I have told you about this beautiful lizards, which fulfill an important function as biocontrollers within ecosystems. Remember that every animal is important and fulfills a fundamental ecological niche.
