Added as a separate page 8 March 2026. Last updated 15 March 2026: added link to care sheet.
A monotypic genus. In recent years it was reassigned to the Family Carphodactylidae, having been formerly part of the Family Diplodactylidae.
See Cogger for a full list of characteristics: one distinguishing feature that sets it apart from other Australian geckos is that the base of each claw is set between five scales. Preanal pores are present.
Günther characterised the genus as follows: digits rather slender, without any dilated portion, not fringed, with a row of transverse lamellae below. Claws projecting, rooted between five small scutes, a pair on each side, and a median unpaired one above. The two or three distal joints are angularly bent. Body covered with flat, very minute granules; larger tubercles along the median line of the back, forming a sort of crest. Tail compressed, tapering.
Possibly because of its Australian distribution and consequent legal restrictions, herpetocultural information on C. laevis is hard to find. However a care sheet is currently available here: Livefoods Unlimited - Chameleon Gecko (Caresheet). My thanks to this website for making this information available. This does not mean that we condone breaking the law! Hopefully Australian keepers can make use of the information provided.
Scientific name |
Common name |
Place of origin |
Size (max) |
Notes |
C. laevis |
Chameleon Gecko |
Australia (NE Queensland) |
13cm |
Slender nocturnal rainforest gecko that lives in leaf litter during the day and climbs low vegetation or forages among debris at night. Little is known of its ecology, and the species range is very small. I am unsure of how the common name arose. See James Cook university for more information, and www.milamba.com for a photograph. Description: Habit slender. Head broad, very distinct from neck, depressed, concave between the eyes and in the loreal region. Crown of the head bony and finely rugose, without tubercles. Eyes large, directed obliquely forwards, about midway between ear-opening and nostril; upper eye-lid thin, with sharp projecting margin. Nostril small, in the hinder edge of a rather large nasal; nasals separated by a patch of small flat scutes. Ear-opening vertical, oval, about one-fourth the size of the eye. Rostral large, undivided; upper labials seventeen, lower fourteen; median lower labial large, pentagonal, without postmentals. Body nearly smooth, the granulations being very minute and flat. Neck with larger tubercles, forming a triangular patch, the apex of which passes into a median dorsal stripe of tubercles, which simulates a crest, and does not extend on the tail. A patch of small scutes in the pubic region. No preanal pores. Legs slender, granular, with minute tubercles. Tail: not quite as long as the body, strongly muscular and compressed in its proximal portion, the distal being very thin and tapering; there is no distinct boundary between the two portions. The whole tail is uniformly covered with small flat granulations. Coloration: light chestnut-brown, with scattered black spots, about the size of the ear opening, on the back and sides. Lower parts whitish, with small indistinct round white spots on the lower part of the sides. Tail nearly black, with five broad whitish rings. Toes irregularly annulated with whitish. Scalation: body scales small and homogenous. Other: body and tail compressed, vertebral ridge runs from nape to tail. Coloration: dorsally brown with subtle paler brown spots and blackish flecks concentrated near the vertebral ridge. Top of snout much paler, as are the labials and tympanum. Blackish streak from snout to eye and another from behind the eye running above the tympanum. Original tail is dark brown to black with 4-5 narrow white crossbands: regenerated tails are brown with darker speckling. Reproduction: no details available. [SOURCES: Günther] |
Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Harold Cogger, 6th edition. Best all-in-one guide to Australian herpetology available.
“Descriptions of new species of lizards and of a tree-frog from north-eastern Queensland”, Dr A Günther FRS, Notvitates Zoologicae, 1897.