The Rough-snouted Giant Gecko or Tough-snouted Gecko (Rhacodactylus trachyrhynchus) is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of gecko

Gecko

Geckos are lizards belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from 1.6 cm to 60 cm....

 found in central and southern New Caledonia

New Caledonia

New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...

 and on the outlying New Caledonian island of Ile de Pines. This gecko is considered to be in danger of extinction due to disappearing habitat and is being considered for protected status by CITES.

Description & Habitat

The common name of R. trachyrhynchus refers to the enlarged scales

Scale (zoology)

In most biological nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration...

 that cover its snout. Other characteristics of this gecko include broad toes and a prehensile tail. R. trachyrhynchus has a mottled color pattern, generally a grayish-green to brown mixed with white. Its snout to vent length (SVL) is usually around 190mm. There are two sub-species of R. trachyrhynchus:

• R. t. trachyrhynchus, first described by Bocage in 1873.
• R. t. trachycephalus, first described by Boulenger in 1878.

Like all Rhacodactylus geckos, R. trachyrhynchus is an omnivore

Omnivore

Omnivores are species that eat both plants and animals as their primary food source...

. Its diet

Diet (nutrition)

In nutrition, diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. Dietary habits are the habitual decisions an individual or culture makes when choosing what foods to eat. With the word diet, it is often implied the use of specific intake of nutrition for health or weight-management...

 consists mainly of insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s and fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

, and can include as well small lizard

Lizard

Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...

s and nestling bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

s and rodent

Rodent

Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....

s.

Breeding

R. trachyrhynchus is the only Rhacodactylus gecko that gives live birth. It is sometimes seen in captivity and as an arboreal species, requires a vertically oriented terrarium. Males should be housed separately or as a part of a breeding pair or trio with females. Though males housed together will often fight, females are social and can be housed together.