{"pk":39861,"title":"Hidden in the bark: the unexpected presence of the leaf-toed gecko, Euleptes europaea (Gené, 1839) (Squamata, Sphaerodactylidae), in Sicily","subtitle":null,"abstract":"We report the first observations regarding the presence of the leaf-toed gecko, \nEuleptes europaea\n, in Sicily. During field activities for environmental impact assessment several leaf-toed gecko individuals were found in a restricted coastal area in the north-west of the island, near the city of Palermo. Further surveys were then carried out to better assess the presence of the species. A total of 21 \nE. europaea\n individuals were observed in a small area of approximately 4.4 hectares, consisting of mixed eucalyptus and pine reforestation. Out of the 21 individuals, there were 14 males, 5 females, and 2 whose sex could not be determined. Additionally, at least two pregnant females were observed. Leaf-toed geckos were found exclusively under eucalyptus bark, syntopic with two other Gekkota species (\nTarentola mauritanica\n and \nHemidactylus turcicus\n). The presence of such a breeding population of \nE. europaea\n is probably limited to a small area. However, our results do not allow us to clearly assess either its origin or its actual distribution and demography, therefore new field investigations are necessary.","language":"en","license":{"name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0","short_name":"CC BY 4.0","text":"Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.\n\nNo additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0"},"keywords":[{"word":"elusive species"},{"word":"reforestation"},{"word":"Palermo city"},{"word":"reptiles"},{"word":"Gekkota"}],"section":"Articles","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5h63m4qt","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Gabriele","middle_name":"","last_name":"Giacalone","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of Palermo","department":"None"},{"first_name":"Francesco Paolo","middle_name":"","last_name":"Faraone","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of Palermo","department":"None"},{"first_name":"Marco","middle_name":"","last_name":"Pecoraro","name_suffix":"","institution":"Indipendent researcher","department":"None"},{"first_name":"Maurizio","middle_name":"","last_name":"Sarà","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of Palermo","department":"None"}],"date_submitted":"2024-06-18T07:03:05Z","date_accepted":"2024-06-18T07:03:05Z","date_published":"2024-07-09T07:00:00Z","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/biogeographia/article/39861/galley/30020/download/"}]}