In this letter we report experimental observations on the times of adhesion of living Tokay geckos (Gekko geckos) on polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) inverted surfaces. Two different geckos (male and female) and three surfaces with different root mean square (RMS) roughness (RMS=42, 618 and 931 nm) have been considered, for a total of 72 observations. The measured data are proved to be statistical...

A stomach content analysis was conducted on Hemidactylus turcicus, the Mediterranean gecko, from 19 April 1990 to 15 October 1990, on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas. Geckos (N = 167) were placed into four size groups based on snout-vent-length (5 29 mm, 30-39 mm, 40-49 mm, and z 50 mm) and three microhabitat groups based on perch height (those occupying per...

When the adhesive toe pads of geckos become wet, they become ineffective in enabling geckos to stick to substrates. This result is puzzling given that many species of gecko are endemic to tropical environments where water covered surfaces are ubiquitous. We hypothesized that geckos can recover adhesive capabilities following exposure of their toe pads to water by walking on a dry surface, simil...

Nocturnal geckos are active with body temperatures (Tb) that are low and variable relative to those of diurnal lizards. Ifthe physiology ofgeckos is evolutionarily adapted to these low and variable Tb 's, then thephysiology ofgeckos shouldfunction best at relatively low and variable temperatures. We tested a specific prediction of this hypothesis by comparing the thermal dependence ofsprint spe...

We published a phylogenetic comparative analysis that found geckos had gained and lost adhesive toepads multiple times over their long evolutionary history (Gamble et al., PLoS One, 7, 2012, e39429). This was consistent with decades of morphological studies showing geckos had evolved adhesive toepads on multiple occasions and that the morphology of geckos with ancestrally padless digits can be ...

The Mediterranean gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus) is an introduced nocturnal lizard that often can be seen on and around buildings in the southern United States and in its native Old World range. However, little is known about the factors that determine its selection of microhabitat, except that it does not actively thermoregulate. For example, geckos may forage near lights due to presence of hig...

The genus Cyrtopodion is the most widely distributed of the four gekkonid genera of the angular-toed geckos that inhabit Pakistan and the contiguous Palearctic Region (Szczerbak & Golubev 1996), from the Indus Valley to the eastern borders of the Caspian Sea. Longitudinal rows of trihedral tubercles characteristically line the dorsum of these angular-toed geckos. They primarily inhabit arid bad...

Fluorinated substrates like Teflon® (poly(tetrafluoroethylene); PTFE) are well known for their role in creating non-stick surfaces. We showed previously that even geckos, which can stick to most surfaces under a wide variety of conditions, slip on PTFE. Surprisingly, however, geckos can stick reasonably well to PTFE if it is wet. In an effort to explain this effect, we have turned our attention...

Geckos have gained ecological access to novel microhabitats by exploiting intermolecular van der Waals forces, which allow them to climb smooth vertical surfaces. They use microscopic surface-based phenomena to thrive in a macroscopic mass- and kinetic energy-based world. Here we detail this as a premier example of integrative biology, spanning seven orders of magnitude and a lot of interesting...

Abstract Parasitic mite infections are very common on virtually all organisms including tree geckos. This research was aimed to determine the species and prevalence of parasitic mites infecting lizards in Purwokerto, Central Java. employed a survey method with purposive random sampling technique. One hundred individuals were obtained from trees 4 different sub-districts Purwokerto. The results ...