Fall 2021 Children's Sneak Previews

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tangerine leopard gecko :: Article Creator

Web-Footed Gecko

Common Name: Web-Footed Gecko Scientific Name: Palmatogecko rangei Average Life Span In The Wild: 5 years Size relative to a teacup: IUCN Red List Status:? Not evaluated

Least Concern Extinct

Current Population Trend: Unknown

The ghostly web-footed gecko is nearly translucent with a pale, salmon-colored undertone and light-brown stripes. Their color provides perfect camouflage among the powdery reddish sands of the Namib Desert, their primary habitat.

Desert Adaptations

These geckos have adapted their webbed feet not only to help them stay atop, but to bury beneath the dunes of the Namib Desert. Strictly nocturnal lizards, they spend the day in self-dug burrows and emerge at night to feed.

Their bloodshot-looking eyes are massively oversized to help them detect prey, which includes crickets, grasshoppers, and small spiders. They move surprisingly quickly across the sand, and adhesive pads on their toes make them excellent climbers.

Size

Web-foots are considered medium-size geckos, reaching an average size of about four inches in length. Males are slightly smaller than females.

Conservation

People sometimes hunt these tiny lizards for food, and human encroachment is destroying some of its habitat. Their estimated lifespan in the wild is about five years.


Being A Gecko Is Sticky Business!

Have you ever seen a gecko run up a tree or fence? They are very fast, and they seem to stick to just about anything! Wouldn't it be fun if you could hang upside down from the ceiling or a branch like a gecko?

Geckos belong to the lizard family, and they can be anywhere from 2 to 24 inches long. They help us by eating insects, and they are found in many warm climates throughout the southeastern and southwestern parts of the US, and around the world. However, their most amazing feature is the ability of their feet to stick to almost anything.

Stickiness happens when two substances are attracted to each other. If you have ever felt the pull of two magnets toward each other, you have felt one example of an attractive force. So how does a gecko stick? Is it a sticky goo, tiny suction cups, or even tiny hooks? No, it's none of those things. The answer has to do with chemistry!

The gecko sticks with temporary attractive forces between molecules called Van der Waals forces. They are easily formed and broken again, and only occur over short distances, like when the molecules on the gecko's feet are very close to the molecules of the wall. The distance between the molecules has to be very tiny. The molecules are approximately 0.3 – 0.6 nanometers apart. Nanometers measure very small lengths. If one of your hairs were a mile wide, a nanometer would only take up one inch of it! A gecko's attraction to surfaces like walls, ceilings and branches depends on thousands of tiny hair-like structures called setae on the bottom of the lizard's toes. The setae have even smaller divisions on their ends called spatulae, which are like tiny versions of the kitchen spatulas that chefs use to flip pancakes. The spatulae are like the tiny bristles at the end of a brush. The molecules that make up the spatulae are attracted to the molecules of the wall, so the gecko's feet stick to the wall.


Indian Golden Gecko Sighted In Seshachalam Forest

TIRUPATI: The elusive Indian golden gecko (Calodactylodes aureus) has been spotted in Seshachalam forest ranges near the Kalyani Dam area in Tirupati district.

The rare reptile, endemic to Eastern Ghats, had been spotted by a team of three wildlife photographers – 'Birdman' Karthik, I. Siddhartha and L. Gopi – during their expedition in search of birds and reptiles.

The sighting of Indian golden gecko holds particular significance due to the limited distribution of the species and the difficulty in observing it in the wild.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, the Birdman said the golden gecko is primarily nocturnal. Its daytime sighting is rare.

Contrary to popular belief, Karthik pointed out that the "Golden" gecko is not always golden. "In fact, it comes in different morphs, not just the gold colour we're familiar with. What's interesting is this gecko's skin texture. It's very light, which means it can't bear the heat well. This is why we often find them in cooler, shaded areas," he explained.

On the Indian gecko's conservation status, the Birdman said the species is listed in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, which affords it the highest level of protection. Regarding its current population status, he said spotting a golden gecko remains difficult due to its nocturnal habits and tendency to hide in rock crevices.

"However, the species is now considered fairly robust, with sightings reported across various regions, including Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Tirupati and parts of Andhra Pradesh, even Visakhapatnam," Karthik disclosed.





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