gecko
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What is a gecko?
Geckos are reptiles belonging to the suborder Gekkota, which includes over 1,000 species of lizards. These mostly small, nocturnal reptiles have soft skin, stout bodies, large heads, and well-developed limbs, often with digits featuring adhesive pads that allow them to climb smooth surfaces.
Most gecko species range from 1.2 to 6 inches in length, including their tail, which accounts for about half of their total length. They inhabit diverse environments, from deserts to jungles, and some can be found in human dwellings. Geckos typically feed on insects.
These reptiles are found worldwide in warm regions, except for Antarctica. While most geckos have drab colors, such as grays, browns, and dirty whites, some species, like the day geckos of Madagascar, are bright green and active during the day.
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What makes geckos different from other reptiles?
Geckos, belonging to the suborder Gekkota, stand out from other reptiles due to a few unique traits. Most geckos are small, nocturnal lizards with soft skin, short, stout bodies, large heads, and well-developed limbs.
Many gecko species have specialized feet with adhesive pads, covered in tiny, forked, hair-like structures, enabling them to climb smooth, vertical surfaces. Unlike most other reptiles, geckos possess a voice, with calls ranging from soft clicks to shrill barks, and most have a clear protective covering over their eyes, similar to snakes. While most geckos are oviparous, laying hard-shelled eggs, some species in New Zealand give birth to live young.
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Where do geckos live?
Geckos are reptiles that belong to the suborder Gekkota, which includes more than 1,000 species. They are mostly small, nocturnal lizards with soft skin, short, stout bodies, large heads, and well-developed limbs. Geckos have adapted to habitats ranging from deserts to jungles and are abundant throughout the warm areas of the world, occurring on all continents except Antarctica. Some species can be found in human habitations, and most feed on insects.
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How do geckos stick to walls and ceilings?
Geckos are reptiles known for their ability to stick to walls and ceilings. Most gecko species have feet modified for climbing, featuring toe pads covered with small plates. These plates are covered in numerous tiny, forked, hair-like structures that act as microscopic hooks.
These hooks cling to the smallest irregularities on surfaces, allowing geckos to climb smooth, vertical areas and even move across ceilings. To disengage, geckos curl their pads upward, requiring them to curl and uncurl with each step when climbing.
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What do geckos eat in the wild?
Geckos, small nocturnal reptiles, possess a short stout body, a large head, and well-developed limbs with digits, often with adhesive pads. They have adapted to habitats ranging from deserts to jungles. Most geckos feed on insects, which they grab in their jaws. Some species frequent human habitations.
Iguanian lizards, including geckos, spend considerable time obtaining food, usually insects. They detect their prey using visual cues, dash from their perches to where the prey item is, and capture it with their tongue in a process known as lingual prehension. Geckos also use olfaction for discriminating between chemical cues.
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How do geckos protect themselves from predators?
Geckos have several strategies to protect themselves from predators. When threatened, they can sprint across water surfaces to escape. Many geckos can detach their tails (autotomy) when seized by a predator; the tail regenerates later. Geckos also use vocalizations to communicate in social interactions. Though their colors are typically drab, blending in with their environments, the day geckos of Madagascar are bright green.
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gecko, (suborder Gekkota), any of more than 1,000 species of lizards making up six families of the suborder Gekkota. Geckos are mostly small, usually nocturnal reptiles with a soft skin. They also possess a short stout body, a large head, and typically well-developed limbs. The ends of each limb are often equipped with digits possessing adhesive pads. Most of the species are 3 to 15 cm (1.2 to 6 inches) long, including tail length (about half the total). They have adapted to habitats ranging from deserts to jungles. Some species frequent human habitations, and most feed on insects.
Geckos are spread across six families: Carphodactylidae, Diplodactylidae, Eublepharidae, Gekkonidae, Phyllodactylidae, and Sphaerodactylidae. Of these, the eublepharids—a group that includes the banded geckos (Coleonyx) of the southwestern United States, the cat geckos (Aleuroscalabotes) of Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula, and others—have movable eyelids.
Most geckos have feet modified for climbing. The pads of their long toes are covered with small plates that are in turn covered with numerous tiny hairlike processes that are forked at the end. These microscopic hooks cling to small surface irregularities, enabling geckos to climb smooth and vertical surfaces and even to run across smooth ceilings. Some geckos also have retractable claws.
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In their efforts to avoid predators, geckos appear to be fast enough to sprint across the surface of a water body without sinking. Although this ability has been shown in only one species, the flat-tailed house gecko (Hemidactylus platyurus), herpetologists argue that many other geckos may also possess it.
Like snakes, most geckos have a clear protective covering over the eyes. The pupils of common nocturnal species are vertical and are often lobed in such a manner that they close to form four pinpoints. A gecko’s tail may be long and tapering, short and blunt, or even globular. The tail serves in many species as a storehouse of fat upon which the animal can draw during unfavourable conditions. The tail may also be extremely fragile and if detached is quickly regenerated in its original shape. Unlike other reptiles, most geckos have a voice, the call differing with the species and ranging from a feeble click or chirp to a shrill cackle or bark.
Most species are oviparous, the eggs being white and hard-shelled and usually laid beneath the bark of trees or attached to the underside of leaves. A few species in New Zealand give birth to live young.
Geckos are abundant throughout the warm areas of the world, and at least a few species occur on all continents except Antarctica. Geckos’ colours are usually drab, with grays, browns, and dirty whites predominating, though Phelsuma, a genus made up of the day geckos of Madagascar, is bright green and active in the daytime. The banded gecko (Coleonyx variegatus), the most widespread native North American species, grows to 15 cm (6 inches) and is pinkish to yellowish tan with darker bands and splotches. The tokay gecko (Gekko gecko), native to Southeast Asia, is the largest species, attaining a length of 25 to 35 cm (10 to 14 inches). It is gray with red and whitish spots and bands and is frequently sold in pet shops.
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