CreatureData

Sad gecko

Lepidodactylus lugubris (Duméril & Bibron, 1836)

Status not recordedlizards

The sad gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris) is a species in the family Gekkonidae, order Squamata. Recorded adults weigh 1.46 g to 1.52 g and reach 4.48 cm in length.

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Quick facts about the sad gecko

Weight
1.46 g – 1.52 gsrc for Weight
Length
4.06 cm – 4.48 cmsrc for Length
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Omnivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
15 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
83 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
1 – 3src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
30.4 days – 8.5 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
2 – 9src for Litters or clutches a year
Reproduction
Eggssrc for Reproduction
Active
At night (nocturnal)src for Active
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the sad gecko?

SAD GECKO · LENGTH 4.48 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 4.48 cm, the recorded maximum length of the sad gecko is about 2.6% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the sad gecko live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the sad gecko as introduced in 9 countries, and flagged as invasive in 2 of them.

  1. Ecuadorinvasive
  2. Japaninvasive
  3. Australia
  4. Brazil
  5. Colombia
  6. Costa Rica
  7. South Africa
  8. Turks & Caicos Islands
  9. United States

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the sad gecko endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the sad gecko classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classReptilia
  4. orderSquamata
  5. familyGekkonidae
  6. genusLepidodactylus
  7. SpeciesLepidodactylus lugubris (Duméril & Bibron, 1836)

Synonyms Dactyloperus pomareae, Gecko harrieti, Gehyra variegata ogasawarasimae, Gymnodactylus candeloti, Gymnodactylus caudeloti, Hemidactylus meijeri, Lepidodactylus divergens, Lepidodactylus woodfordi, Peripia cantoris, Peripia mysorensis, Peripia ornata, Peropus neglectus, Peropus roseus, Platydactylus lugubris

Other names and names in other languages (29)
  • Common smooth-scaled geckoEnglish
  • Mangrove smooth-scaled geckoEnglish
  • Mourning geckoEnglish
  • Prehensile-tailed lizardEnglish
  • Dragó endolatCatalan
  • gekon panenskýCzech
  • JomfrugekkoDanish
  • JungferngeckoGerman
  • Gewöhnlicher SchuppenfingergeckoGerman
  • tuquequeSpanish
  • Geco asiático enlutadoSpanish
  • Geco enlutadoSpanish
  • salamanquesaSpanish
  • Gecko nainFrench
  • Gecko demi-deuilFrench
  • Lépidodactyle demi-deuilFrench
  • Lépidodactyle lugubreFrench
  • שממית מתאבלתHebrew
  • Geco dalla coda prensileItalian
  • オガサワラヤモリJapanese
  • RouwgekkoDutch
  • Gekon płaczącyPolish
  • Geco asiáticoPortuguese
  • Lagartixa-de-lutoPortuguese
  • Пенангский чешуепалый гекконRussian
  • จิ้งจกแคระทะเลใต้Thai
  • 鱗趾虎Chinese
  • 哀鳞趾虎Chinese
  • 鱗趾蝎虎Chinese

Catalogue of LifeiNaturalistITISTAXREFWikidata

Relatives of the sad gecko

Other species in the same genus Lepidodactylus.

CompareSad gecko vs Lister's geckoSad gecko vs Batan scaly-toed geckoSad gecko vs Boungaiville scaly-toed geckoSad gecko vs Moluccan scaly-toed gecko

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the sad gecko?

An adult sad gecko weighs 1.46 g – 1.52 g and measures 4.06 cm – 4.48 cm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the sad gecko an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the sad gecko as invasive in 2 countries: Ecuador and Japan. It lists it as introduced in 9 in all.

What kind of animal is the sad gecko?

The sad gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris) belongs to the family Gekkonidae in the order Squamata.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Sad gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/sad-gecko

MLA

“Sad gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/sad-gecko.

BibTeX
@misc{sad_gecko_2026,
  title = {Sad gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/sad-gecko},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}