Tokay Gecko
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Sauria Family: Gekkonidae Genus: Gekko Species: G. gecko
Binomial name
Gekko gecko (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Tokay Gecko (Gekko gecko), is a nocturnal arboreal gecko native to southeast Asia and the Indo-Australian Archipelago. They are abundant, ranging from northeast India and Bangladesh, throughout Southeast Asia, to Indonesia and western New Guinea. Their native habitat is rainforest trees and cliffs, and they also frequently adapt to human habitations, roaming walls and ceilings at night in search of insect prey. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1038x1433, 162 KB) Tokay Gecko (Gekko gecko) Location: Vang Vieng, Laos Date: 1 June 1998 Photographer: Richard Ling <richard@research. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Animalia redirects here. ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Subclasses Anapsida Diapsida Synonyms Reptilia Laurenti, 1768 Reptiles are tetrapods and amniotes, animals whose embryos are surrounded by an amniotic membrane, and members of the class Sauropsida. ... Suborders Lacertilia- Lizards Serpentes - Snakes Amphisbaenia - Worm lizards This article is about the Squamata order of reptiles. ... Subgroups Lepidosauromorpha Archosauromorpha Sauria is a clade of reptiles that includes all living diapsids, as well as their common ancestor and all its extinct descendants. ... This article describes gecko lizards. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... A nocturnal animal is one that sleeps during the day and is active at night - the opposite of the human (diurnal) schedule. ... This article is about the biological organisms known as trees. ... Subfamilies Aeluroscalabotinae Eublepharinae Gekkoninae Teratoscincinae Diplodactylinae Geckos are small to average sized lizards belonging to the family Gekkonidae which are found in warm climates throughout the world. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... The Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, Australia. ...

In the late 1980s and early 1990s it was introduced into Hawaii, Florida, Belize, and several Caribbean islands, where it can be considered an invasive species. It is arboreal, living on cliffs and trees; it is usual to see them inside human residences. A typical lifespan is 7–10 years. Tokay geckos are aggressive carnivores which will eat a variety of insects and even small mice. Their aggressive behaviour can lead to attacks on other male Tokays, other gecko species, and also human handlers. The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area Miami Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ... West Indian redirects here. ... Lantana invasion of abandoned citrus plantation; Moshav Sdey Hemed, Israel The term invasive species refers to a subset of introduced species or non-indigenous species that are rapidly expanding outside of their native range. ... This article is about the biological organisms known as trees. ... This tigers sharp teeth and strong jaws are the classical physical traits expected from carnivorous mammalian predators A carnivore (IPA: ), meaning meat eater (Latin carne meaning flesh and vorare meaning to devour), is an animal that eats a diet consisting mainly of meat, whether it comes from live animals... {{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Insects | fossil_range = Carboniferous - Recent | image = European honey bee extracts nectar. ... Feral mouse A mouse (plural mice) is a rodent that belongs to one of numerous species of small mammals. ...

Tokays are the second largest gecko species, attaining lengths of about 30-40cm (11-15 inches) for males or 20-30cm (7-11 inches) for females and weights of 150-300g (5-10 oz). They are distinctive in appearance, with a bluish or grayish body sporting orange or red spots.

They are renowned for their aggressive disposition and (unusually for lizards) their loud vocalizations, sometimes referred to as a bark. Their mating call, a loud croak, is variously described as sounding like tokeh or gekk-gekk, whence both the common and the scientific name (deriving from onomatopoeic names in Malay, Sundanese or Javanese), as well as the family name Gekkonidae and the generic term gecko. Listen to the mating call of a male Tokay gecko. (help· info) For other uses, see Lizard (disambiguation). ... Look up onomatopoeia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Malay language, also known locally as bahasa Melayu, is an Austronesian language spoken by the Malay people who reside in the Malay Peninsula, southern Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, central eastern Sumatra, the Riau islands, and parts of the coast of Borneo. ... Sundanese (Basa Sunda, literally language of Sunda) is the language of about 27 million people from the western third of Java or about 15% of the Indonesian population. ... The Javanese language is the spoken language of the people in the central and eastern part of the island of Java, in Indonesia. ... Image File history File links Mating_call_of_a_male_Tokay_gecko_(Gekko_gecko). ...

The bite of a large tokay, while unlikely to cause lasting damage to a human, is painful and can easily draw blood. Furthermore, a tokay gecko, once having bitten, will not readily let go. Tokay owners report that the only effective way (other than waiting) to get the lizard to release its hold is to submerge it in water.

Feet

Tokays have been used extensively to study the selectively adhesive properties of gecko feet, and indeed most of our knowledge about these properties stems from studies of Tokays. These studies have shown that geckos can cling upside down to polished glass, and the method by which the Tokay Gecko accomplishes this is hidden in its feet. The pads at the tip of a gecko's foot is covered in microscopic hairs. Each of these hairs splits into hundreds of tips only 200 nanometers in diameter. ^[1] By using these tiny hairs that can adhere to smooth surfaces, geckos are able to support their entire body weight with a single toe. The adhesive force created by these hairs, called setae (pronounced see' tee), lining the gecko's toes is estimated to be so strong that a single seta can lift the weight of an ant. Recent experiments have shown that the grip of a typical Tokay Gecko could theoreticly support a rucksack weighing 90 pounds, while suspended upside down on a ceiling. A seta is a stiff hair, wierd, culy, things bristle, or bristle-like process or part of an organism. ... A seta is a stiff hair, wierd, culy, things bristle, or bristle-like process or part of an organism. ...

The strong adhesion is caused by an intermolecular force called Van der Waals force. This force is weak until it gets very close to a surface. When the surface it contacts is large, it can add up to a strong attraction. Van der Waals forces occur when unbalanced electrical charges around molecules attract each other. The charges are always fluctuating and can sometimes reverse direction, but the outcome is that they draw molecules together, such as molecules in a gecko's foot and molecules on a smooth wall.^[1] This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... In chemistry, the term van der Waals force originally referred to all forms of intermolecular forces; however, in modern usage it tends to refer to intermolecular forces that deal with forces due to the polarization of molecules. ...

To release their feet (to break the intermolecular force) they curl their toes. When a toe is at an angle of 30 degrees the binding breaks.

Foot of a Tokay Gecko, showing adhesive pads. Photo by David Clements

Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 546 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (800 × 879 pixel, file size: 147 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) David Clements I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 546 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (800 × 879 pixel, file size: 147 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) David Clements I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ...

As pets

While Tokay Geckos are frequently seen in the exotic pet trade, they are often seen as an undesirable animal to own because of their aggressive temperament. Their popularity, in the United States at least, has waned somewhat in recent years. Tokay Geckos can be very attractive display animals, but very few can be handled by their keepers. ^[2]

They are abundant and inexpensive, make a spectacular display animal (although, being nocturnal animals, they are not very active in the daytime), and are not difficult to maintain or breed, so long as they are given a sufficiently large enclosure (which should be vertically oriented). Tokays prefer a temperature gradient inside their enclosures: 27-33 °C (80-90 °F) while a humidity of 55-75% is ideal. Heat is best provided with a ceramic heater or red-colored light bulb placed over one half of the enclosure. UV light is not needed. They may be fed insects and small ("pinky") mice. ^[3] Some owners report that they have "tamed" their tokays to the point that they can handle them, but for the most part these lizards do not take well to being handled, unlike (for instance) the more popular Leopard gecko and Crested gecko. Those wishing to keep tokays long term should consider having their specimens tested and treated for internal parasites. A nocturnal animal is one that sleeps during the day and is active at night - the opposite of the human (diurnal) schedule. ... Orders Subclass Apterygota Symphypleona - globular springtails Subclass Archaeognatha (jumping bristletails) Subclass Dicondylia Monura - extinct Thysanura (common bristletails) Subclass Pterygota Diaphanopteroidea - extinct Palaeodictyoptera - extinct Megasecoptera - extinct Archodonata - extinct Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass Neoptera Blattodea (cockroaches) Mantodea (mantids) Isoptera (termites) Zoraptera Grylloblattodea Dermaptera (earwigs) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets... Feral mouse A mouse (plural mice) is a rodent that belongs to one of numerous species of small mammals. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Binomial name Rhacodactylus ciliatus Guichenot, 1866 Approximate distribution of the Crested Gecko. ... Mites parasitising a harvestman Parasitism is one version of symbiosis (living together), a phenomenon in which two organisms which are phylogenetically unrelated co-exist over a prolonged period of time, usually the lifetime of one of the individuals. ...

Pet shop owners in New York City have been known to recommend the tokay gecko to apartment dwellers as a means of keeping the perennial cockroach problem under control. While there is no doubt that a freely-roaming tokay will make a dent in the household insect pest population (as they do in Southeast Asia, where they frequently live in human habitations), there are a few disadvantages to this approach. For one, if pesticides have been used in an attempt to exterminate the insects, these may be ingested by the lizard and cause it harm. Also, especially if a breeding pair of geckos is present, the loud mating calls can be quite disturbing to the apartment's human occupants. Finally, there is the problem of gecko droppings ending up behind furniture and in other obscure places. There is also the possibility that the animal could escape that particular apartment and cause a disturbance among other tenants (not to mention that some apartments forbid tenants from owning exotic pets such as reptiles). Nickname: Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1625 Government  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area  - City  468. ... Families Blaberidae Blattellidae Blattidae Cryptocercidae Polyphagidae Nocticolidae Cockroaches (or simply roaches) are insects of the Order Blattodea. ... ants carpenter ant pharaoh ant bats bed bug cockroaches german cockroach oriental cockroach carpet beetles fur beetle varied carpet beetle woolly bear flea flies blue bottle green bottle house fly hornet Jews mealworm beetle rodents mice rats silverfish termite wasp woodworms death watch beetle furniture beetle weevil See also List... the plane is spreading pesticide. ... Feces (also spelled faeces or fæces) are the waste products from the digestive tract expelled through the anus during defecation. ...

External links

• Introduction into Belize
• Global Gecko Association: Tokay geckos
• Tokay Gecko care sheet

Reference Page

1. ^ ^{a b} Discovery Channel, “Beyond Invention”. May 28-29, 2004.
2. ^ "Wild Facts Tokay Gecko", BBC-Science and Nature, June 1, 2006.
3. ^ Baldwin, Robert. "Tokay Gecko", Care and Information Sheet, Western New York Herpetological Society