Goniurosaurus

Goniurosaurus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Gekkota
Family: Eublepharidae
Genus: Goniurosaurus
Barbour, 1908
Species

27 recognized species, see article.

Goniurosaurus is a genus of geckos in the family Eublepharidae. The genus contains 27 species. Members species are known by various common names including cave geckos, ground geckos, leopard geckos, and tiger geckos. Members of this genus are found in China, Japan, and Vietnam. For this reason they are also known commonly as Asian geckos.

Diet

Geckos of the genus Goniurosaurus mainly feed on small insects.

Species

The following 27 species are recognized as being valid.

They can be divided into four species groups.

luii group

Species Authority Common Name(s) Distribution Conservation Status
Goniurosaurus araneus Grismer et al., 1999 Vietnamese Leopard Gecko Cao Bằng Province,Vietnam & Guangxi, China Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Goniurosaurus bawanglingensis Grismer et al., 2002 Bawangling Leopard Gecko Hainan, China Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Goniurosaurus catbaensis Ziegler, Nguyen, Schmitz, Stenke & Rösler, 2008 Cat Ba Leopard Gecko/Cat Ba Tiger Gecko Cát Bà Island,Vietnam Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Goniurosaurus chengzheng Zhu, Li & He in Zhu et al., 2021 Chengzheng Cave Gecko China Not evaluated
Goniurosaurus gezhi Zhu, He & Li, 2020 Gezhi Cave Gecko China Not evaluated
Goniurosaurus huuliensis Orlov et al., 2008 NE Vietnam Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Goniurosaurus luii Orlov et al., 2008 Chinese Leopard Gecko Guangxi & Hainan, China, Cao Bang & Lang Son, Vietnam, both of which are in extreme northern Vietnam. Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Goniurosaurus liboensis Grismer et al., 1999 Libo Leopard Gecko China Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Goniurosaurus kadoorieorum Yang & Chan, 2015 Kadoories's cave gecko China Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Goniurosaurus kwangsiensis Yang & Chan, 2015 Guangxi cave gecko Guangxi, China Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Goniurosaurus wuzhengjuni Chen & Chen, 2026 Guangxi, China Not evaluated

lichtenfelderi group:

Species Authority Common Name(s) Distribution Conservation Status
Goniurosaurus hainanensis Barbour, 1908 Chinese cave gecko/Hainan cave gecko Hainan, China Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Goniurosaurus lichtenfelderi (Mocquard, 1897) Lichtenfelder's gecko Hainan, China & Vietnam Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Goniurosaurus zhoui Zhou, N. Wang, Chen & Liang, 2018 Zhou's leopard gecko Hainan China Not evaluated

Nota bene: In the above list, a binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Goniurosaurus.

  1. ↑ Goniurosaurus kwanghua (Zhu & He, 2020) and Goniurosaurus sinensis (Zhou, Peng, Hou & Yuan, 2019) have been determined to be the same species.

kuroiwae group:

Species Authority Common Name(s) Distribution Conservation Status
Goniurosaurus kuroiwae (Namiye, 1912) Kuroiwa's ground gecko
Goniurosaurus nebulozonatus Kurita & Toda, 2024
Goniurosaurus orientalis (Maki, 1931) Spotted ground gecko
Goniurosaurus sengokui Honda & Ota, 2017 Sengoku's gecko
Goniurosaurus splendens (Nakamura & Uéno, 1959) Banded ground gecko
Goniurosaurus toyamai Grismer et al., 1994 Iheyajima leopard gecko
Goniurosaurus yamashinae (Okada, 1936) Yamashina's ground gecko

Nota bene: In the above list, a binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Goniurosaurus.

yingdeensis group:

Species Authority Common Name(s) Distribution Conservation Status
Goniurosaurus gollum Qi et al., 2020 Gollum leopard gecko
Goniurosaurus varius Qi et al., 2020
Goniurosaurus wangshu Zhu et al., 2022 Wangshu's leopard gecko
Goniurosaurus yingdeensi Y. Wang et al., 2010 Yingde leopard gecko
Goniurosaurus zhelongi Y. Wang et al., 2014 Zhe-long's leopard gecko

References

  1. ↑ Genus Goniurosaurus at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  2. ↑ Qi, Shuo; Grismer, L. Lee; Lyu, Zhi-Tong; Zhang, Liang; Li, Pi-Peng; Wang, Ying-Yong (2020). "A definition of the Goniurosaurus yingdeensis group (Squamata, Eublepharidae) with the description of a new species". ZooKeys (986): 127–155. Bibcode:2020ZooK..986..127Q. doi:10.3897/zookeys.986.47989. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 7661482. PMID 33223883.
  3. ↑ Assessment), Lee Grismer (SRLI Reptile; Truong Quang Nguyen (Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology; Yang, Jianhuan (2017-05-24). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Goniurosaurus araneus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  4. ↑ "Goniurosaurus bawanglingensis". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
  5. ↑ Wang, Lijun; Yang, Jianhuan (2018-05-08). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Goniurosaurus bawanglingensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  6. ↑ Truong Quang Nguyen (Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology; Ziegler, Thomas; Nature), Hai Ngoc Ngo (Vietnam National Museum for; Mona van Schingen (Cologne Zoo, University of Cologne) (2016-06-15). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Goniurosaurus catbaensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  7. ↑ "Goniurosaurus chengzheng". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
  8. ↑ Zhu, Xiao-Yu; Chen, Guang-Yu; RomáN-Palacios, Cristian; Li, Zheng; He, Zhu-Qing (2020-09-15). "Goniurosaurus gezhi sp. nov., a new gecko species from Guangxi, China (Squamata: Eublepharidae)". Zootaxa. 4852 (2). doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4852.2.6. ISSN 1175-5334.
  9. ↑ "Goniurosaurus huuliensis". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
  10. ↑ Resources, Truong Quang Nguyen (Institute of Ecology and Biological; Technology, Vietnamese Academy of Science and; Hanoi; Nam), Viet (2017-05-25). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Goniurosaurus huuliensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  11. 1 2 "Goniurosaurus luii". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
  12. ↑ "Goniurosaurus luii". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  13. ↑ Truong Quang Nguyen (Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology; University), Yingyong Wang (Zhongshan; Yang, Jianhuan (2017-05-23). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Goniurosaurus luii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  14. ↑ Yang, Jianhuan; University), Yingyong Wang (Zhongshan (2018-05-08). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Goniurosaurus liboensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  15. ↑ Yang, Jianhuan (2019-06-20). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Goniurosaurus kadoorieorum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  16. ↑ Yang, Jianhuan (2019-06-20). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Goniurosaurus kwangsiensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  17. ↑ Chen, Hui-Ling; Yu, Jia-Yi; Li, You-Bang; Li, Yu-Hui; Chen, Ze-Ning (2026-04-07). "A new species of Goniurosaurus (Sauria, Gekkota, Eublepharidae) from Guangxi, China". Zoosystematics and Evolution. 102 (2). Pensoft Publishers: 611–620. doi:10.3897/zse.102.177343. ISSN 1860-0743.
  18. ↑ Chen, Hui-Ling; Yu, Jia-Yi; Li, You-Bang; Li, Yu-Hui; Chen, Ze-Ning (2026-04-07). "A new species of Goniurosaurus (Sauria, Gekkota, Eublepharidae) from Guangxi, China". Zoosystematics and Evolution. 102 (2): 611–620. doi:10.3897/zse.102.177343. ISSN 1860-0743.
  19. ↑ "Goniurosaurus hainanensis". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  20. ↑ Wang, Lijun; Wang, Jichao (2019-01-14). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Goniurosaurus hainanensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  21. ↑ "Goniurosaurus lichtenfelderi". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  22. ↑ Resources, Truong Quang Nguyen (Institute of Ecology and Biological; Technology, Vietnamese Academy of Science and; Hanoi; Nam), Viet (2017-05-25). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Goniurosaurus lichtenfelderi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  23. ↑ "Goniurosaurus zhoui". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2026-10-13.

Further reading