Cape dwarf gecko
species of reptile
The Cape dwarf gecko (Lygodactylus capensis; 'lygodactylus' = 'flexible fingers') is a species of dwarf gecko found in the woodlands and forests of central and southern Africa. It also occurs commonly in towns and cities and is sometimes kept as a pet.
Range
It occurs in South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Angola, Namibia, Mozambique and Tanzania, including Pemba Island.
Its distribution within South Africa has expanded south- and westwards towards the coastal areas since 1981.
Habits
They are often seen on garden walls in towns and cities. When moulting it actively assists the process by detaching skin flakes and consuming them. They have the ability to detach their tails from the rest of their bodies as a mechanism for survival. The high observed frequency of tail loss, coupled with rapid and complete regeneration, suggests that caudal autotomy is an important survival tactic in this species. Although caudal autotomy may allow the Cape dwarf gecko to escape its predator, there have been documented downsides to this survival mechanism. For example, the gecko loses its ability to successfully climb vertical surfaces quickly due to a decrease in balance and adhesion brought about by the loss of its tail, which contains an adhesive pad at the tip of it.
The public source identifies “Cape dwarf gecko” as species of reptile. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Cape, dwarf and gecko.
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Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3005690. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1981.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cape dwarf gecko” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.