The Eyelash Gecko
Blog vol 4.24. The Eyelash Gecko
One of my son’s friends got a gecko for his birthday. It is really cool; it is a reptile after all. The thing that I am amazed at is its eyes (surprise!). It is called the Crested Gecko, Correlophus ciliatus, with the cilia part of the name coming from the Latin word for eyelashes.
So I got on the web and did some research. This gecko is a native of New Caledonia, a group of islands in the southwest Pacific. They live in the canopy of the rain forests and can live to be 5 to 10 years old in the wild and about 5 years longer in a terrarium. Crested Geckos can grow to be 10 to 15 cm in length with half of that being their tails. They have a prehensile tail that can grab onto branches or fingers, but one must be careful with the tail as it can break off and, unfortunately, it does not grow back.
Among the most distinctive features of these geckos are the hair-like spikes above the eyes which greatly resemble eyelashes. They also have two rows of spines that run from the sides of their wedge-shaped head to the base of their tail. Their padded feet have tiny setae, hundreds of them, which increase surface area and allow them to even climb vertical panes of glass.
The part about their eyes is crazy because these creatures have no eyelids. They have a thin, transparent layer called a nictitating membrane which can be drawn across to protect and moisten the eye. What is really endearing is that they often just sit and lick their eyeballs, especially after eating. Their tongue is very long and soft with a widened spatula-like tip. The nictitating membrane keeps each eye moist, and the geckos use their tongues to clear away debris.
The crested gecko is primarily nocturnal. In the wild, it spends much of the night foraging in shrubs in lower portions of the rainforest canopy. It is also an omnivore, feeding on fruit, nectar, pollen, and a variety of insects. It spends the day resting near the forest floor where it is cooler and less sunny. (Read more here).
The little fellow that we are getting to know goes by the fierce name of Draco, all he needs is fire-breathing creature powers and then watch out.
Til next week,
the good doctor
