Hey, Did that Stick Just Blink?
The wily, not to mention barky, leaf-tailed gecko.
There is good camouflage and then there is this fellow--the leaf-tailed gecko. I practically had to touch my eye my right up against her eye before I was even sure she had an eye. And this one wasn't even on a tree with bark. It was on a larger ginger plant, but it still blended completely in to look like just some part of the plant.
If I was a fly, I would have been smacked by her tongue and scarfed up as a tasty snack for sure.
Proof. This is no hunk of bark. There are indeed eyeballs. Not to mention a big grinning mouth.
Check out the leafy eyelashes. That's attention to details.
The gray bit on the left is the tail and the rest are legs, feet and probably the world's weirdest toes.
Here's a little comparison. On the left is the bark of a nearby tree. Notice that the gecko's disguise even includes white spots to mimic fungus and mites. Crazy.
10 comments:
The gecko looks like a small tree with big bark cracks. How did you know it was a gecko? How old is the gecko?
Alona, 3rd grade, Federico
When is your birthday, Mr. Lebo?
What is your favorite color?
What kind of tree does the gecko like to live on? What do the geckos eat?
Lou-Anne and Dylan, 3rd grade, Federico
The gecko's eyes were cool. The gecko looks like a tree branch, but gray. What does that gecko eat?
Jose, 1st grade, Salle
They don't have any pupils. Why are their eyes gray?
Alice, 1st grade, Salle
Does the gecko grow fungus on its back the way the tree grows fungus?
How is your dog?
What percent of the people in Madagascar speak English?
Jordan, 5th grade, Livingston
When the gecko is a baby is it immediately that color or does it have to look at the tree branch and change colors on its own?
How is your weevil?
Georgia, 5th grade, Livingston
How old is your dog? Is it a boy or a girl? How do you say gecko in Malagasy? Do they celebrate Valentine's Day in Madagascar?
Annefleur, 5th grade, Gargione
Mrs. Gargione's Class-
Izzy- When you touch the gecko, does it feel like tree bark?
Leila- Did you think the gecko was a tree?
Matt- How long was the gecko?
Justin- Is the tail longer than the gecko's body?
Jack- Is the gecko born with that coloring/texture or does it change?
Mrs. Livingston's class-
Stefan- Don't some animals eat fungus? Would they try to eat the gecko?
Josephine- How does the gecko hold itself on the branch?
Fia- where does the word "gecko" come from?
Merrick- I wonder how long it took to evolve that way.
Parker- Did you see the gecko blink?
Alex- Could the gecko change its color?
Audrey- How did the gecko evolve to look the way it does?
Siyang- Are the gecko's toes fragile since they're flat?
Sean- What do geckos like to eat?
Dear Alona,
I don't think I would have ever seen it. We were lucky enough to have a guide with us who had seen it earlier in the day, so he knew where to look. I don't quite know how old it was, but it was an adult, so it won't be getting any bigger.
Dear Lou-Anne and Dylan,
My birthday is two days before Christmas. My favorite color is manga (that's Malagasy for blue). I don't know if the gecko has a preferred tree or not. It is camouflaged to look like many different trees. But this one wasn't even on a tree at all. It was hanging out on a large ginger plant.
Dear Jose,
The leaf-tailed geckos eat what most geckos eat: a lot insects. But geckos can even nibble on nectar or even feast on other lizards, small birds or just about what ever they can catch.
Dear Alice,
Insects don't have pupils, but geckos do. The eyes are gray to help in blend into the tree bark that the rest of its body is perfectly camouflaged to match.
Dear Jordan,
It's a long story, but here's the short version. The gecko doesn't grow any fungus. Its skin has just evolved over millions of years to to look like fungus, so it can blend in and get more food and make more babies that also have fake bark and fungus skin. My dog is fine and just had a flea bath today. Probably only 2-3 % percent of Malagasy can speak English, so it can tough to have a conversation here.
Dear Georgia,
The geckos are born already looking like tree bark. It helps keep them safe when they are young. They just look like a lot of different tree branches, so they tend to blend in where ever they go. They can't change color at all. But chameleons can. We haven't seen our favorite kitchen weevil in a few months, so I don't know. I hope it is alright.
Dear Annefleur,
Our little girl dog, Puce (French for flea as you very well know) is only about 6 months old. I don't know how to say gecko in Malagasy yet, but it might be tanala which is the word for smaller chameleons. They do celebrate Valentine's day here, but it's not quite such a big deal as in America.
Dear Mrs. Gargione's Class,
I don't know how the gecko skin feels, because I didn't touch it. It did look rough just like bark though. I'm sure I have walked past several of these before and never even noticed them. Even when you're only a few inches from one, it is hard to tell what it is. The gecko was about 20 cm long and it's tail was only about 6 cm long, so it was not longer than its body like on some lizards. And finally, leaf-tailed are born with their amazing disguise. And they are stuck with it whether they want it or not, because geckos cannot change their color.
Dear Mrs. Livingston's Class,
Some of your wonderful questions I have already answered in some of the comments, so take a gander at those if I don't answer yours here.
There are some fungus eaters out there, so I bet there have been a few surprises when the fungus turns around and hisses. The gecko has no trouble holding onto a branch or even to bare glass with the millions and millions of tiny hairs that cover their amazing feet. I did not see the gecko blink. And for that matter, no one has seen a gecko blink, because they don't have eyelids. They have to lick their eyes with their long tongues to keep them nice and moist and clean. The gecko's toes probably aren't too fragile, because they are remarkably flexible, so they can wrap around all sorts of branches and limbs.
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