Barnard's Namib day gecko (Rhoptropus barnardi), also known commonly as Barnard's slender gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is native to southern Africa.
Etymology The specific name, barnardi, is in honor of South African zoologist Keppel Harcourt Barnard.Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Rhoptropus barnardi, p. 17).
Distribution and habitat R. barnardi is found in Angola and Namibia.Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. . (Rhoptropus barnardi, p. 267 + Plate 92).
The preferred natural habitats of R. barnardi are savanna and rocky areas, at altitudes of .
Description R. barnardi is the smallest species in its genus. Adults usually have a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of . The maximum recorded SVL is .
Biology R. barnardi is oviparous. Clutch size is two eggs. Each egg measures on average . Communal nesting sites may contain as many as 200 eggs.
References
Further reading Gates BC (2010). "Day Geckos of Damaraland: Rhoptropus barnardi Hewitt, 1926, Rhoptropus boultoni Schmidt, 1933, and Rhoptropus diporus Haacke, 1965". Gekko 6 (1): 56–60. Goldberg SR (2009). "Rhoptropus barnardi. Reproduction". African Herp News (48): 15–16. Hewitt J (1926). "Descriptions of New and Little-known Lizards and Batrachians from South Africa". Annals of the South African Museum 20 (6): 413–431 + Plates XXXV–XXXVII. (Rhoptropus barnardi, new species, pp. 413–415 + Plate XXXV, figures 1–3). Rösler H (2000). "Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)". Gekkota 2: 28–153. (Rhoptropus barnardi, p. 109). (in German).