Gigarcanum delcourti
Also known as Kawekaweau, Delcourt's sticky-toed gecko, Hoplodactylus delcourti
Gigarcanum delcourti, formerly Hoplodactylus delcourti, is an extinct species of gecko in the family Diplodactylidae. It is the largest known of all geckos, with a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of and an overall length (including tail) of at least . It is only known from a single taxidermied specimen collected in the 19th century that was rediscovered unlabelled in a museum in France. The origin of the specimen was undocumented. While originally suggested to have been from New Zealand and the kawekaweau of Māori oral tradition, DNA evidence from the specimen suggests that it originates from New C
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- Gecko de Delcourt Hoplodactylus delcourti GLAM MHNL 2016 3742.jpg
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- taxon name
- Hoplodactylus delcourti
- Commons category
- Gigarcanum
- short name
- H. delcourti
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5 sectionsContents
- History of research and taxonomy
- Description
- Ecology
- Extinction
- References
Gigarcanum delcourti, formerly Hoplodactylus delcourti, is an extinct species of gecko in the family Diplodactylidae. It is the largest known of all geckos, with a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of and an overall length (including tail) of at least . It is only known from a single taxidermied specimen collected in the 19th century that was rediscovered unlabelled in a museum in France. The origin of the specimen was undocumented. While originally suggested to have been from New Zealand and the kawekaweau of Māori oral tradition, DNA evidence from the specimen suggests that it originates from New Caledonia.
==History of research and taxonomy== According to the 1873 report of Major William Gilbert Mair, in 1870, a Māori chief said that he had killed a kaweau that he found under the bark of a dead rātā tree in the Waimana Valley in Te Urewera on the North Island of New Zealand. This is the only documented report of anyone ever seeing a kawekaweau alive. Mair reported the chiefs description of the animal as being "two feet long, and as thick as a man's wrist; colour brown, striped longitudinally with dull red".