THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY
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Reptilia    Squamata (part-other lizards)    Sphaerodactylidae  
Yellow-headed Gecko
Gonatodes albogularis (Duméril and Bibron, 1836)
goh-nah-TOH-deez — al-boh-GYOO-lar-iss
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SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Native to Central and South America and the Caribbean. It was introduced during the 1930s and is established in the Florida Keys, Monroe County, Florida (Carr, 1939, Copeia 1939: 232; Krysko, 2005, Florida Scientist 68: 272–280; Krysko, 2019, Gonatodes albogularis albogularis. Pages 343–345 in Krysko et al. (Editors) Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida). The English name White-throated Clawed Gecko is used by Hedges et al. (2019, Caribbean Herpetology (67): 1–53). (Krysko, Kenneth and Travis W. Taggart. 2025. Established Exotic Species. Pages 64-87 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)

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Open icons indicate questionable records, including those with coordinate uncertainty greater than 10,000 m (approximately 6 miles). Click a marker to view metadata.
Occurrences:; 5,182 Total; 1,257 Museum; 3,925 Other

The locality database contains 8,094,850 records, and geographic and taxonomic errors exist. Logged-in, registered users may report a potential issue directly from the marker popup.
Shaded range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH. (Version: 2023.04.08.21.20.38)
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Province/State Distribution:
United States: Florida

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its light-colored throat.
Gonatodes — From Greek gonat- (γονατός), “knee” or “joint,” and -odes (a suffix meaning “resembling”). May refer to limb or joint structure, though the origin is somewhat obscure.
albogularis — From Latin albus, “white,” and gula, “throat.” Refers to the white or pale-colored throat of the male in breeding condition.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Yellow-headed Gecko (Gonatodes fuscus: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); White-throated Clawed Gecko (Gonatodes albogularis: Hedges, S. Blair, Robert Powell, Robert W. Henderson, Sarah Hanson, and John C. Murphy. 2019. Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles. Caribbean Herpetology (67):1–53);


Selected References:
1836 Dumeril, A. M. Constant and Gabriel Bibron. Erpetologie Generale ou Histoire Naturelle Complete Des Reptiles. Tome Troisieme. [General Herpetology or Complete Natural History of Reptiles. Volume Three.]. Librairie Encyclopedique de Roret, Paris, France. 517pp.
1939 Carr, Archie F. A geckonid lizard new to the fauna of the United States. Copeia 1939:232
2019 Hedges, S. Blair, Robert Powell, Robert W. Henderson, Sarah Hanson, and John C. Murphy. Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles. Caribbean Herpetology (67):1–53

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