New gecko species discovered in the Northern Cape
The gecko is pale grey to pink in colour, featuring numerous dark brown bands that criss-cross the body, each surrounded with small yellow speckles.
The Gravel Pygmy Gecko was first spotted on a rocky outcrop in 2020. Picture: Courtney Hundermark/GroundUp
The Gravel Pygmy Gecko was first spotted on the low slopes of a rocky outcrop on the evening of 17 December 2020, and immediately recognised as a mystery member of the genus Goggia.
It was only nine months later that my colleague Luke Kemp and I made a return visit to the area near Klein Pella in the Khâi-Ma Local Municipality, Northern Cape. On the evening of 14 September 2021, in cold and windy conditions, we observed another six Gravel Pygmy Geckos between the rocks. Now, after four years of research, it has been confirmed that this is a unique, isolated species.
In a study published in the international taxonomic journal Zootaxa earlier this month, Dr. Werner Conradie, Dr. Chad Keates, Kemp and I describe the new species. We used a combination of genetic analyses, morphological comparison, and geographic information to assess the taxonomic status of this isolated population of pygmy gecko from near Klein Pella.
The Gravel Pygmy Gecko (Goggia sabula) is a tiny, colourful species, measuring a maximum of 5.5 cm from head to tail. The gecko is pale grey to pink in colour, featuring numerous dark brown bands that criss-cross the body, each surrounded with small yellow speckles. It is closely related to four other members of the genus known from different parts of the province, being the Richtersveld Pygmy Gecko (Goggia gemmula), Cryptic Pygmy Gecko (Goggia incognita), Matzikama Pygmy Gecko (Goggia matzikamaensis), and Namaqua Pygmy Gecko (Goggia rupicola). Despite their apparent similarities, when compared with these relatives, the Gravel Pygmy Gecko is geographically separated, genetically distinct, and physically recognisable.
The Gravel Pygmy Gecko is known only from the rocky hills and gravel flats near Klein Pella, where it inhabits thin rock crevices. The environment in which this species survives is very rugged, and with little vegetation cover, receiving minimal rainfall, from 45 to 80mm in an average year. This area is characterised by very specific geology, which probably facilitated this species’ isolated evolutionary trajectory. The underlying rock consists of rough, highly foliated gneisses of the Haramoep Gneiss, and is overlain by a loose scree of hard, white quartzites of the Wortel Formation.
While this tiny gecko’s habitat is presently believed to be stable and at little risk of degradation, there may be some cause for concern in the near future. According to a draft basic assessment report from last year compiled by Sonette Smit of Greenmined Environmental on behalf of African Exploration Mining and Finance Corporation, the possibility of mining within this species’ only known environment looms, and should be monitored carefully.
The discovery and description of the Gravel Pygmy Gecko is, in reality, only the beginning of this story. Now that the species is known to science, and has been formally described, targeted surveys need to be undertaken to understand this gecko’s distribution in the surrounding landscape, and to gain further insight into its ecology, evolutionary history, and habitat preferences, as well as to observe first-hand any potential risks to the species’ survival in the future, in order to inform a red-list conservation assessment by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.