NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Helmethead Gecko
Tarentola chazaliae (Mocquard, 1895)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Hjälmgecko - Tarentola chazaliae
Disa-the-diva · Public domain · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The helmethead gecko (Tarentola chazaliae), also known commonly as the helmeted gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Phyllodactylidae. The species is native to the northwestern coast of Africa, where it is present in Mauritania, Morocco, and Western Sahara. The environment in which this gecko lives is sandy and rocky desert with sparse vegetation, in a zone near the coast where the humidity is high.
Wikipedia contributors, Helmethead gecko; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:54:47.453877+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Tarentola chazaliae (Mocquard, 1895)
- Name authority
- (Mocquard, 1895)
- Common name
- Helmethead Gecko
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Phyllodactylidae
- Genus
- Tarentola
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderGekkota
- familyPhyllodactylidae
- genusTarentola
- speciesTarentola chazaliae (Mocquard, 1895)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Tarentola. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Jamaican Giant GeckoTarentola albertschwartzi Sprackland & Swinney, 1998 | PhyllodactylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Canary Wall GeckoTarentola angustimentalis Steindachner, 1891 | PhyllodactylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Morocco Wall GeckoTarentola boehmei Joger, 1984 | PhyllodactylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cape Verde Wall GeckoTarentola caboverdiana Schleich, 1984 | PhyllodactylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| African Wall GeckoTarentola ephippiata O'Shaughnessy, 1875 | PhyllodactylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Tarentola fogoensis Vasconcelos, Perera, Geniez, Harris & Carranza, 2012 | PhyllodactylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Common Wall GeckoTarentola mauritanica (Linnaeus, 1758) | PhyllodactylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Tarentola panousei Pasteur, 1959 | PhyllodactylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sierra Leone Wall GeckoTarentola parvicarinata Joger, 1980 | PhyllodactylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Tarentola protogigas Joger, 1984 | PhyllodactylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cape Verde Wall GeckoTarentola substituta Joger, 1984 | PhyllodactylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Tarentola senegambiae Joger, 1984 | PhyllodactylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Geckonia chazaliae Mocquard, 1895 Mocquard, 1895 | synonym |
| Geckonia malazodes Ahl, 1930 Ahl, 1930 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Tarentola&species=chazaliae Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:54XKM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.