National Geographics: wonder gecko pictures

Sunday, November 21, 2010

wonder gecko pictures

Description
One of the largest and arguably most beautiful geckos in its range, the wonder gecko is a fairly robust species with a broad head, long and powerfully built limbs, and a rather short tail. The adult is yellowish or buff in colour, with darker and... More
One of the largest and arguably most beautiful geckos in its range (3), the wonder gecko is a fairly robust species with a broad head, long and powerfully built limbs, and a rather short tail (2) (3) (4). The adult is yellowish or buff in colour, with darker and lighter spots or broken stripes, and a white belly and sides, while hatchlings are more brilliantly coloured, being bright yellow with black bands (2) (4). The eyes are large, lidless and quite prominent, giving this gecko one of its alternative names, ‘frog-eyed gecko’ (2) (4) (5). A number of subspecies are recognised (6).

Unlike many other geckos, the wonder gecko lacks the expanded toe pads used in climbing (2) (4), and instead the toes possess a fringe of comb-like scales that allow easier motion in sandy habitats (2). The scales of the head are small, while those of the body, limbs and tail are noticeably enlarged, particularly along the upper side of the tail (2) (4). In addition to producing a sharp call, the wonder gecko is able to produce a loud, defensive hissing or scraping sound by writhing the tail, causing the large scales to rub together (2) (3) (7).