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History

Geckos are thought to have originated in Southeast Asia and thewestern Pacific, but are now found in large numbers in the warmer parts of every continent, and even on isolated islands around the world. Geckosmake popular house pets, since they are harmless, relatively unafraid of humans, and provide effective and natural control of insect pests such as thecockroach. Geckos may live as long as 15 years in their natural environment,but seldom that long in captivity.

Geckos began their migration from the Pacific Rim thousands of yearsago, some "stowing away" on the canoes of unsuspecting sea voyagers;others beginning colonization from eggs deposited under the bark of logssubsequently swept out to sea and washed up on a distant shore. As humansgraduated from forest and land dwelling, building cities in which artificiallights illuminate the night skies attracting billions of insects, geckos alsograduated from their original habitats to these new urban feasting grounds. Today, flicking on the light in the middle of the night in apartments, homes,and even tall office buildings in many parts of the world, one may interruptthe nocturnal feeding foray of one of these little creatures.

Only a small number of gecko species occur in North America. The tiny,two-inch leaf-toed gecko or Phyllodactylus tuberculoses, leaf-toed gecko,thrives in southwestern Californian among the rocks of semiarid lowermountain regions and canyon lands. The banded gecko inhabits southernCalifornia's coastal plains, rocky deserts, juniper-covered hillsides, and sand dunes. Several species of West Indian geckos are now established in Florida,and many different species thrive on the Hawaiian islands.

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Distribution

Worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions, where the weather is warm.

• Philippines (Palawan, Panay, Calamian Islands, Luzon etc.), Japan(Ryūkyū, Bonin).

• Polynesia, Micronesia (Caroline Islands: Pohnpei), Melanesia, SolomonIslands [McCoy 2000]

• Somalia (Lanza 1990).• Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion, Rodrigues, Comoro Islands (Mayotte),

Nossi Be = Nosy Bé (probably Nosy Mitsio, Seychelles, India, Pakistan,Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands, Bangladesh, Bhutan.

• Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Malaysia, Brunei, Burma (Myanmar)Vietnam, Thailand.

• Indonesia (Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sulawesi, Ambon.• Australia (Cook Island, CKI, coastal Northern Territory, coastal

Queensland, coastal Northern New South Wales,South Australia,Western Australia, Norfolk Island).

• Western Samoa, New Caledonia.• New Guinea, Fiji (introduced).•  Taiwan, China (Hong Kong, Guangdong, Hunan, Hainan, S Yunnan).• El Salvador (HR 33: 65), Mexico (Yucatan), Belize, Guatemala, Panama,

Honduras [HR 31: 53; Isla de Utila: HR 32: 57], Costa Rica, Nicaragua.• Introduced to Mariana Islands (Guam) and New Caledonia.• Introduced to USA (Hawaii, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Philadelphia, PA

and Alabama).• Found in Desert Hot Springs, California and Arizona as well as parts of 

 Texas, such as Austin, San Antonio, and the Dallas/Fort Worth area.Also found in Philadelphia, PA. *Type locality: Java

• Introduced to USA (New Mexico)• Starting to appear in England• Introduced to Brazil

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Anatomy

Geckos have short, wide, fleshy toes with large, backward-curved claws. Most

geckos have sticky toe pads, composed of microscopic Velcro-like hooked bristles

(called setae) on the bottom of the feet; the bristles allow them to climb well, even

on smooth surfaces or upside down. Desert geckos have fringed feet that let them

run across sand very easily. Flying geckos (genus Ptychozoon) have wide flaps of 

skin extending from the abdomen and have webbed toes, legs, and tail that help

them glide gracefully through the air.

 The head is relatively large in comparison to the tubular-shaped body,

and the long, sheddable tail comprises up to one half of the total body

length, snapping off in sections if it is grabbed by a predator. The discarded

tail wriggles around on the ground, distracting the attacker's attention and

providing precious seconds for the animal to flee. A new tail grows back

within a few months. The tail also stores fat, providing nutrients in times of 

food scarcity. Being cold-blooded creatures, geckos draw their body heat 

from their environment by basking in direct sunlight or on warm surfaces.Geckos range in size from 1/2 inch to about 14 inches (1.5 to 35 cm) long. The wide

tail stores fat. The gecko's eyes are covered and protected by a transparent

membrane; the gecko cleans this membrane with its long tongue.

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Special eyes

Geckos have well developed sight and hearing. Their eyes, which theydepend on heavily for survival, adapt to bright and dim light by way of majorchanges in the aperture of their pupil - from very wide, to a single verticalrow of pinhole openings in bright sunlight. In the latter case the colour of their iris resembles their skin colour, so the eyes don't give them away, asoften occurs with other creatures. The lower lid is fused shut to form atranslucent 'spectacle' covering the eye. Dust specks which stick to the'spectacle' are simply licked off using their extra long tongue.

Gecko reproduction and mating behavior

When mating, the male gecko grasps the skin at the back of thefemale's neck in his jaws and wraps his tail around that of the female,bringing their cloacas—the reproductive openings together. Some species of gecko reproduce asexually, when the female produces fertile eggs withoutmating with a male. All geckos, except some species found in New Zealand,lay eggs. Some species lay one egg in each clutch while others lay two. Eggsare deposited under rocks, tree bark, and even behind window shutters. Onlya few species lay two clutches per year and incubation may take severalmonths. Eggs of the banded gecko and of many other species have aleathery, parchment-like texture, while those of such species as the leaf-toedgecko have a hard, calcareous (containing calcium) shell, the durable natureof which has aided in the wide-spread distribution of many species,particularly the species that reproduce asexually, where just one viable eggcan begin a whole new colony.

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