About Pachydactylus rangei (Andersson, 1908)
Pachydactylus rangei, commonly called the web-footed gecko, reaches a total length of approximately 13 cm (5 in), with a 6-centimetre (2.4 in) tail. Its head is clearly distinct from its slender body, and both the head and body are flattened along the dorsal side. It has large, dark, protruding eyes with vertical pupils. This gecko is very pale and nearly translucent, with a salmon-colored undertone; some individuals have light brown stripes or patterns. This skin coloration provides excellent camouflage against the sand of the Namib Desert. Its skin is covered in fine, smooth scales and is translucent enough that some internal organs are visible through it. It has thin legs, but broad feet with fully webbed toes, an adaptation that lets it burrow easily and run across loose sand. The webbed feet evolved to help the gecko stay on the surface of Namib Desert sand, or bury itself beneath it. This adaptation developed because the species is nocturnal: it spends daylight hours in self-dug burrows, and emerges to feed on the sand surface at night. The undersides of its feet also have adhesive pads to aid climbing. Males have thicker tails than females. Females can reach a mass of around 10 grams, while males average approximately 6 grams. The head and dorsal surface are pinkish-brown with darker markings, most notably two intermittent lateral lines; the ventral surface is off-white. A bluish band often runs between the gecko's eyes. This species looks quite similar to Ptenopus garrulus, another gecko species that occurs within its range. Pachydactylus rangei is endemic to the Namib Desert of Southern Africa. It is found near the coast, and extends up to 130 kilometres (80 miles) inland at altitudes no higher than 300 metres (1,000 feet). Its type locality is Lüderitz, Namibia. It inhabits areas around rocks and stunted vegetation, as well as the dry loose sand of sand dunes. The gecko prefers sandy desert regions, and is only found in coastal Namibia and the Richtersveld, located in the extreme north of Namaqualand in the Cape.
