Gobi Naked-toed Gecko

The Gobi naked-toed gecko is a small gecko with an elongated body, up to 5.8 centimetres long with a tail up to 7.5 centimetres. The limbs are long: stretched forelimbs reach the edge of the snout, while the hindlimbs reach in front of the shoulders. The head is covered with uniform granular scales, and the back with rounded-triangular tubercles about the size of the ear opening, not in regular rows though about 12–14 rows can be counted across the back. The tail is thin, tapering and ringed, with a row of large plates underneath, and males have 4–7 preanal pores in a broken V-shaped line. (Russian Wikipedia, general species account)

It lives in the Trans-Altai Gobi in southern Mongolia, east to the Edsin Gol river and west to Kashgaria, where it occurs sporadically in dry canyons and rock outcrops at 700–1,500 metres. The areas have a low human population density, so the species is little affected by threats, and local densities are high, more than 20 animals per 500 square metres near Shar-Khulsny Bulak and in Nogon-Tsav canyon. It eats insects and other small invertebrates, is active at twilight and night, and lays eggs; a newborn was noted in August. (Russian Wikipedia, general species account)