Gekko gecko
Gekko gecko (Tokay Gecko), locally known to Indonesians as Tokek, is a member of Suborder Lacertilia which can be found from northeast India to southern China and throughout Southeast Asia. There are two identified subspecies of Tokek, those are G. g. gecko (Linnaeus, 1758) and G. g. azhari (Mertens, 1955), the latter is endemic to Bangladesh. This arboreal lizard naturally lives in tropical rain forest but some of them have entered human habitation (Kongbuntad et al., 2016).
The taxonomical classification of G. gecko displayed on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is as followed:
Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Subphylum : Vertebrata
Class : Reptilia
Order : Squamata
Suborder : Gekkota
Family : Gekkonidae
Genus : Gekko (Laurenti, 1768)
Species : Gekko gecko (Linnaeus, 1758)
Tokek is considered as the second largest living geckoes with total body length (TL) of around 35 cm (Kongbuntad et al., 2016). Their eyes are protruding and large with vertical pupils and yellow iris. Tokek has well-developed extremities and their digits are equipped with toe pads enabling them to adhere and move fast on vertical surfaces (Corl, 1999). The coloration of dorsal skin is bluish-grey with red or orange spots while the ventral part is cream with or without grey/pink spots. The male is usually brighter in color and slightly bigger than the female (Das, 2015). Tokek is one of many lizard species which is able to relinquish its tail to distract the attention of predators in order to escape (Rumping & Jayne, 1996). This remarkable defense mechanism is known as caudal autotomy and observed in the majority of lizard families with the exception of only Chamaeleonidae and Varanidae (Bateman & Fleming, 2009; Higham et al., 2013).
Comments
Post a Comment