The Asian house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) is a tropical invasive species that has established and spread throughout several temperate regions around the world. In some species, rapid thermal acclimation (thermal hardening) may contribute to their success in occupying wide range of climates. this study, we investigated whether geckos from southeastern Australia show differing hardening respo...

Both natural and artificial light at night can strongly influence animal behavior. Nocturnal animals often alter activity dependent on lunar levels, to increase prey capture, minimize detection by predators, or both. Trade-offs among these ecological effects are likely have a strong behavior fitness. Here, we examined the of nocturnal geckos that both predators prey, use anthropogenic habitats....

Differences in habitat use are often correlated with differences in morphology and behavior, while animals in similar habitats often exhibit similarities in form and function. However, this has not been tested extensively among lizards, especially geckos. Most studies of gecko locomotion have focused on the ability to adhere to surfaces. However, there are several species of geckos that have ei...

The copulatory neuromuscular system of lizards is highly sexually dimorphic. Adult males possess bilateral penises called hemipenes, which are independently controlled by two muscles, the retractor penis magnus (RPM) and transversus penis (TPN). These structures are not obvious in adult females. However, in adult female leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius), testosterone induces hemipene grow...

Two chigger mite species, Ericotrombidium tarentolae (Vercammen-Grandjean and Langston, 1976) Neotrombicula orycti Taufflieb, 1960, have been recorded outside their type localities on two species of geckos from the genus Quedenfeldtia Boettger for first time. One new subjective synonym has established base examination specimens additional materials — 1960 (syn.: lemni n. syn.).

A well-supported and well-resolved phylogeny based on a concatenated data set from one mitochondrial and two nuclear genes, six morphological characters, and nine color pattern characters for 44 of the 50 species of the Southeast Asian Rock Geckos (genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887) is consistent with the previous taxonomy of Cnemaspis based solely on morphology and color pattern. Cnemaspis is part...

Adhesion and friction are closely related and play a predominant role in many natural processes. From the wall-clinging feet of the gecko to bacteria forming a biofilm, in many cases adhesion is a necessity to survive. The direction in which forces are applied has shown to influence the bond strength of certain systems tremendously and can mean the difference between adhesion and detachment. Th...