Talk:Gecko

Beginning of article citations

The first paragraph states multiple facts but has no citation, where is the tab for the first citation? Lots of citation needed tags in the paragraph about the sounds they make. Dayofrickoning (talk) 19:54, 5 March 2018 (UTC)

Gecko Sound Source?

Does anyone know how geckos make their noise and what is its meaning? --58.9.82.77 (talk) 06:09, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

Translation request

Is "Pasar Tokek" the same as Gekko gecko?

Cicak is the Indonesian word for Gekko. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.69.100.210 (talk) 08:45, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Spatula?

Near the end of the first section: "If a gecko had every one of its spatulae in contact with a surface, it would be capable of holding aloft a 120Kg man.", with a link to the Spatula article. 24.21.149.53 11:59, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

here is a link exlaining what a spatulae is.... basically its the reason they can climb http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?article_id=218392449 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.159.145.91 (talk) 17:52, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

Deleted Geico

Geico does not belong in the Gecko article, as the relation is not encylopedic. Someone made the analogy to Micky Mouse; Micky Mouse is much more famous than Geico. It's also part of a single sentence as part of larger section on mice in popular culture in general, in a longer article. Please comment on the talk page before restoring Geico.

Whoever said the Geico Gecko talks with a South African Accent is also wrong - it's English. I beilieve the actor in question is Jake Wood and he's British. A262 15:36, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

Possible typo

I think there's a typo in the right hand column. The error might be "Gekkonidae" as it's spelled "Gekkoninae" in the body of the text, and "Gekkonidae" is only mentioned half a dozen times on Google whereas "Gekkoninae" is very popular.

Hello, if conventions are the same than in France, Gekkonidae is the name of the familly of the geckos (in the biological sense) while Gekkoninae is a sub-familly (still in the biological sense) of the previous one, containing the true geckos.

Please note that depending of the used classification the sub-familly may not appears.

By the way I do not understand why Gekkonidae is a redirect to Gecko, as the first one is about a biological term and the second one is about an animal. Regards, 134.158.71.97 17:04, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

add species counts

Mention total numbers of species. --Jidanni 2006-04-15

Parthenogenic species?

A mention on the discussion board for Leopard Geckos made me curious, what species of geckos are capable of asexual reproduction?

New article needs mergin

Indigenous Geckos of Madagascar was just created. Out of my realm. Someone merge, delete or take some action. --meatclerk 11:07, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

I do not believe that this article should be merged to the gecko article for several reasons:

• The main purpose of the article was to describe all of the geckos species that inhabit Madagascar (not done by the page entitled "Gecko")
• None of the species that are mentioned in the article entitled "Gecko" are indigenous to Madagascar.
  • Because the geckos of madagascar are in a specific region of the world, i deemed it unfit to put that information into an article providing a general overview of the geckos as a family of lizards.
• The other purpose was to briefly describe the genus' of geckos briefly for reference to the habitats within madagascar ( a topic only briefly touched upon in the article discussing dry-deciduous ecosystems in madagascar); where this does not occur in the article (the genus Geckolepis), the information for the genus was very limited and not enough to create data of value with the current research).

Bheinrich 15:36, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Not withstanding natural divisions need for species, as Indigenous Geckos of Madagascar seems to be, 'genus' as you stated should be a seperate over arching article. Nontheless, the aforementioned article needs some merging, perhaps a good subsection, it needs cleanup work(now). Lastly, a 'family' article might be in order.

Respectfully --meatclerk 20:24, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

The problem with it being a bit choppy is the fact that the information on many of these species is very few and far between, for example: the geckolepis genus took about 2 hours to get that measly bit of information and make sure that i had checked the remote corners of the internet for every speck of info, but alas, that seemed to be all of it. I do agree with a future merger, however the current articles for the remainder of the world do not exist, so i believe it would simply be this article along with several blank sections. But yes, it would be nice to have more information included at some point in time but with the information on many of these species is unknown because of the lack of information on many of the creatures of Madagascar. Bheinrich 02:20, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Harmless

Would it be a good idea to add that they are harmless to humans (as I'm guessing they are)? Perhaps where it's said that "several species of geckos make their home inside human habitations." Stop The Lies 22:52, 11 February 2007 (UTC)Stop_The_Lies

I would agree with you, I don't see how a gecko could seriously harm a human, even a baby. The most a gecko can do is bite, and they do have strong jaws, however they can't bite an entire limb off. Maybe screw up your eyeball, but I would say, harmless, yes. (Babakazooy (talk) 04:05, 1 June 2014 (UTC))

Nomenclature, sounds, calls, et cetera.

Is it true geckos are named after the sound they emit? This article is really substandard.  :/ 211.30.71.59 03:17, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Yes, completely substandard, verging on completely useless.

I've never heard any make a sound, not even when attacked and bitten.

How about their droppings? Describe! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 112.198.64.54 (talk) 11:40, 5 April 2014 (UTC)

Combining pages

Shouldn't the pages Gekko and Gecko be combined? -m-i-k-e-y- 14:39, 25 March 2007 (UTC) Nope, Gecko is common name of the family of lizards and describes the family, Gekko is the latin name, and more taxonomy oriented. 71.197.85.32 04:27, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Lead is too long

The lead is too long for this article. (WP:LEAD) --Matt57 ^{(talk•contribs)} 19:16, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

I added a section heading to split it apart. I'm also going to remove that empty "predators" section, as I'd guess they have different ones for each region/species. --Quiddity 04:03, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

Van der Waals?

The Gecko foot adhesion is described as van der Wasls forces, shouldn't it be correctly refered to as the Casimir effect, as VdW is generaly used only for describing the intermolular forces on a mollecular scale. For the macroscopic effect of these forces, it is the [casimir effect] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.86.51.104 (talk) 02:33, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

Why does the article say in the beginning "one hypothesis explains the ability in terms of the van der Waals force" as if this were scientifically contested, but lateron we get no alternative theories or references to works that back that doubt? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 175.156.214.71 (talk) 13:20, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

Calculation?

A single foot of a gecko can contain almost 500,000 setae each about twice the diameter of a human hair, i.e. 100 millionths of a meter, and each of these is in turn tipped with between 100 and 1,000 spatulae.

By my calculations this would make each foot the size of a credit card! So I rewrote it, bringing in a newer, 2005, paper from Hansen and Autumn, the same scientists as in the 2002 cite. I tried to make it clearer by showing the thinnest human hair would contain over 12 setae, and that they resist about 10 atmospheres stress. -84user (talk) 00:32, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

I just added an image of Cyrtodactulus pulchellus to Malayan forest gecko page. Can this be added to the gecko http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Cyrtodactylus-pulchellus.jpg —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dracoflyer (talk • contribs) 04:44, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

Natural Habitats? General feeding habits?

Though potentially difficult at this taxanomic level it might be good to have something of the form: Most geckos eat mainly insects but some eat foo and a few species eat bar

I'd like to see what it eats, and what eats it — Preceding unsigned comment added by 112.198.64.58 (talk) 03:15, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

Gekos as pets?

I know that several species are sold in pet stores fairly commonly. Identifying these might be useful.

Teflon & Geckos

In the section about Gecko's feet being able to stick to most surfaces via the Van der Waals force, it says that a Gecko's feet cannot stick to Teflon, as this "was specifically engineered to resist the Van der Waals force." However, the article about Teflon states that Teflon was discovered by accident after an unintentional polymerization reaction occured in a lab... which is hardly "specifically engineering" anything. I think the statement about "specifically engineered" should be removed - any thoughts?

Common Size

Hey man can you write in the common size of a gecko in the Common traits section?

Discovery made by Higham and Russell

Wiki zoologists/biologists, please add a reference to the recent discovery by an evolutionary biologist named Tim Higham and his co-researcher professor Anthony Russell as published in Proceedings B. Their discovery indicates that the gecko's grip is triggered by gravity. So geckos do not respond to the slipperiness of a surface but rather to its angle. As Russell explains in a YouTube video, "Body orientation rather than any interaction with the surface is what triggers when this system is switched on ... the central nervous system of the brain and ear probably plays an intensive role in the gecko's internal trigger...something in their system tells them to turn it on at 10 degrees: (referring to the angle of the surface in question). I found this in today's Jakarta Globe, which reprinted an earlier article in The Washington Post. Thanks! Frankly speaking (talk) 10:53, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Width of hairs

Concerning this text: "Each seta has a diameter of 5 micrometers. Human hair varies from 18 to 180 micrometers, so a human hair could hold between 3 and 36 setae."

I hope this isn't too pedantic, but it seems to me that you could put at least five 5-micrometer-diameter tubes into and 18-micrometer-diameter tube; perhaps more. If we're comparing widths instead of volume, perhaps this should say, "so it takes 3 to 36 setae to equal the width of a human hair." (Or something like that.)

I don't want to make the change myself, just in case I'm missing something. Dcwaterboy (talk) 23:51, 11 January 2010 (UTC)

Domain

User:209.183.185.226 today added "Domain: Eukarya" to the taxobox, whereupon User:89.240.239.157 removed it without comment. User:Sjö reverted the removal, whereupon 89.240.239.157 undid that reversion, again with no comment; but did post at the Help desk. I believe 89.240.239.157 is completely wrong, and the domain does belong (and have answered the help desk question accordingly); but in view of the fact that there has been this reversion episode, I decided to open discussion here rather than just restore the domain myself. --ColinFine (talk) 12:05, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Number of species

Am I missing something? On the Skink page it says "With about 1200 described species, the Scincidae are the second most diverse family of lizards, exceeded only by the Gekkonidae (or geckos)" but on the Gecko page it says "Geckos are the second most species rich group of lizards (after skinks), with close to 1,500 different species worldwide" - which is right? Manbilong (talk) 09:21, 28 November 2011 (UTC)

Gekkonidae

It is listed as an infraorder at Gekkonidae#Taxonomy_and_classification. It bounces back to Gecko.

I just added missing taxoboxes to items on that list. Please check my work. Can Infra come after Sub? Anna Frodesiak (talk) 23:59, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

Gecko#Taxonomy and classification

Not sure if Gekkota is a sub or infraorder. Is this cladogram correct: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~gambl007/geckos.html Anna Frodesiak (talk) 01:14, 5 June 2012 (UTC)

Doublet?

Which taxon does this article describe? It is not the family Gekkonidae, not the genus Gekko, and also not the infraorder Gekkota; but what else? Something in between? Perhaps, the article should be merged with Gekkonidae? FelixReimann (talk) 12:06, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

This article describes geckos, the common name of the Gekkota. Gekkonidae is one of seven families within Gekkota while Gekko is one genus within Gekkonidae.Gymnodactylus (talk) 19:42, 18 October 2013 (UTC)

Somebody (I don't know who) really messed up the taxonomy in this article. Now geckos are listed as marsupials! (Under Macropodidae, the family that includes kangaroos and wallabies.) This really needs to be fixed. 2604:2000:EFC0:2:BC7C:2DC0:5E0D:976C (talk) 16:21, 2 October 2015 (UTC)

Merger proposal

Should this article be merged with Gecko? See Talk:Gecko#Doublet.3F FelixReimann (talk) 12:08, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

• This page was formally proposed by Arjuno3 (21 March 2016) for merger with Gecko.

• But the answer is do not merge. Because gecko is only one of the seven families under Gekkota, a valid suborder. Meaning that Wikilink from each family will redirect to gecko, which is absurd. Each taxon requires/derserves a separate page, unless it is monotypic. Chhandama (talk) 03:13, 9 June 2017 (UTC) Merge is my new opinion because, upon careful observation, the two pages are about the same thing really. And I thought they were about different taxons. Chhandama (talk) 02:51, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

• Oppose Are Pygopodidae species (legless lizards) really considered to be geckos? Mos definitions of gecko I've found restrict it to Gekkonidae. Calling the entire suborder Gekkota geckos appears to be a Wikipedia invention not followed elsewhere. Merging gecko/Gekkonidae might be appropriate, but not gecko/Gekkota.

@Plantdrew: That's absolutely reasonable, but unfortunately the current article is named Gecko, and covers something between Gekkonidae (fairly good coverage) and Gekkota (a bit of Taxonomy, not much more). I suggest we Do not merge Gekkota, adjust the article to cover Gekkonidae only, and merge Gekkonidae here. Chiswick Chap (talk) 15:57, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

@Plantdrew Pygopodidae and Gekkonidae are two of seven familes under Gekkota, which are all broadly known as geckos. For example, EOL treats all Gekkota, including pygopodid lizards, as geckos. About their evolutionary relationship, this PLOS One article says a lot—pygopodid lizards are geckos too. Hence, Gekkota and geckos are technically synonymous—a compelling rationale for merging. Chhandama (talk) 03:15, 19 July 2017 (UTC)

@Chhandama: EOL displays "gecko" as a common name for both Gekkota and Gekkonidae. EOL doesn't show any common name for 4 of the families, but it calls Eublepharidae "eyelid geckos" and Pygopodidae "snake-lizards". The PLS One article is studying Gekkota and repeatedly calls them geckos. And I'm not arguing that Gekkota isn't a good clade/taxon. The question is whether readers searching for "gecko" are best served by reading an article that treats geckos as a suborder or a family. The PLS One' is one data point for suborder. Google Scholar has 7660 results for gecko+Gekkonidae and 1800 for gecko+Gekkota. That's a very crude analysis and not a final word. However, while you've established that gecko can refer to Gekkota, I have yet to see any evidence that Gekkota is a better match to the common name "gecko" than Gekkonidae. And if "gecko" doesn't match well to either scientific concept, it's probably better not to do any merges, but adjust this article to reflect that the common name is ambiguous scientifically. Plantdrew (talk) 04:15, 19 July 2017 (UTC)

Gecko matches Gekkonidae rather well, both in hit-count and in everyone's perception that any member of that family is a gecko. I don't believe anybody feels intuitively that a snake-lizard is a gecko. Whether 'Gecko' is a title or a redirect is quite unimportant; but it should lead to an article about the Gekkonidae only, so the taxonomy section needs to be replaced. Chiswick Chap (talk) 07:21, 19 July 2017 (UTC)

I have made a technical argument, and on the more popular usage I shall argue no further. But to Chiswick Chap, it should be known that gecko is not only about Gekkonidae, while it is true that all Gekkkonidae are geckos, but not all geckos are Gekkonidae. The main problem is with Pygopodidae, whether we embrace them as geckos or not. Plantdrew's suggestion may be more feasible that gecko is better be labelled umbiguous. Chhandama (talk) 03:30, 20 July 2017 (UTC)

Tail

What significance has the tail? They seem to swish it as a signal, and also slap it on whatever surface they're on (wall, ceiling). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 112.198.64.58 (talk) 10:42, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

Aggressive

They seem aggressive toward each other, although that may be between different species. They bite each other - tail and abdomen. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 112.198.64.58 (talk) 10:44, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

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Is the most important fact about geckos really that they cannot blink, and instead lick their eyes?

It is the only fact in the first paragraph after the first sentence. Really? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.113.109.127 (talk) 17:50, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

No mention of the fact that geckos can change color like chameleons?

I noticed the lizards in our yard changing color to match the surfaces they stood on. I'd always thought they were geckos, and I didn't know they could do that. So I checked the Wikipedia article and found no mention of that ability. I double-checked on other websites and found that yes, geckos can change color like chameleons. So why isn't it mentioned here?

DEAbbot (talk) 21:22, 24 August 2019 (UTC)DEAbbot

Is there a specific reason certain geckos are not nocturnal since most are?Bap027 (talk) 04:26, 8 September 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 28 November 2022

Under "Adhesion ability", in the sentence "However, a recent study suggests that gecko adhesion...", change "recent" to "2014". It's setting off my MOS:RELTIME alarm. 70.163.208.142 (talk) 19:30, 28 November 2022 (UTC)

 Done ARandomName123 (talk) 20:39, 28 November 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request

The etymology section’s grammar is incorrect. Please remove “Indonesian-Malaysian” and replace it with Malay since these are both standardized versions. It should say “The Neo-Latin gekko and English 'gecko' stem from Malay word gēkoq, borrowed from the Javanese word tokek, deriving from the sounds that some species like Tokay gecko make”. 2600:100C:A211:5D6D:8071:F30A:B3A6:9F9F (talk) 19:03, 29 October 2023 (UTC)

And WP:RS? --Fama Clamosa (talk) 20:29, 29 October 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: Need sourcing to consider this request. —Sirdog (talk) 00:42, 5 November 2023 (UTC)

Van der Waals still?

The paragraph explaining that the gecko setae do NOT use Van der Waals force doesn’t get to that point until the last sentence. Other sections still refer to the method of overcoming the Van der Waals force on the setae. This needs someone with more knowledge than me to update things a bit. CaedMcG (talk) 03:14, 27 April 2024 (UTC)