Mediterranean Gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus)
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One of the most familiar lizards in the urban Austin area, the Mediterranean gecko has made itself right at home with human habitation, often being found in attics, sheds, and rock walls. Young lizards have banded tails, as in the individual shown above, but adults, which grow to about 4 inches long, lose the distinctive markings. Geckos have several unusual features, including lidless eyes (they lick their eyes with their tongue to clean them), easily detached and regenerated tails, and unique pads on their toes for clinging to vertical or even upside-down surfaces. Anyone who has tried to remove a gecko from their house has probably discovered their propensity for tail loss. Special muscles simply detach the tail rather close to the base and the lost appendage continues to wiggle enticingly as the lizard makes its escape. The tail eventually grows back but it looks different and does not contain any vertebrae.
Geckos are nocturnal and so are rarely encountered during the day unless their hiding place is disturbed. They are frequently seen at night near outside lights where they hunt the abundant insects.
Adapted to very dry conditions, geckos avoid wet surfaces because their toes don't stick well and they have troubles moving quickly. They also have especially dry and brittle eggshells for a lizard. The eggs are so large that a female usually lays just one at a time, rarely two. These are not buried but instead are left in dry rocky crevices, such as between bricks, rocks, or along concrete slabs in garages. Here in the Prehistoric Garden, the hatched eggshells are sometimes found in the rock walls and look much like small bird eggs.
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class: Reptilia / order: Squamata / family: Gekkonidae / genus: Hemidactylus / species: turcicus
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