GECKOS 
In the Malayan region dwells the strangest of geckos. Known as the “fly¬ 
ing” gecko, this lizard, according to Ditmars, is able to glide from tree 
to tree in search of insects. While it does not actually fly, its leap resem¬ 
bles the flight of a man-made aerial glider. The gecko has webbed feet 
which, together with membranes appended to its body, tail and limbs, serve 
it as a parachute. 
Most geckos, however, run about on four feet. They are small thick¬ 
set creatures with flat heads and stumpy tails, rarely attaining a length of 
fifteen inches and often measuring less than two inches. 
With few exceptions, they have expanded toes, sometimes connected by 
a web and equipped with round, adhesive pads. The traction mechanism 
of their toe pads enables them to run casually around on the most slippery 
surfaces and even scamper blithely across ceilings. A tame gecko running 
over a man’s hand produces a clammy sensation and is extremely difficult 
to shake off. One species, inhabiting the forests of eastern Madagascar, is 
believed by natives to dart up on the chest of a man and hold on so firmly 
that it can be removed only by cutting off the skin to which its toes adhere. 
Although the suction power of this uroplatid lizard is exaggerated, it is 
greatly feared by the local populace. 
The skin of geckos is usually of a dull color, smooth, and covered 
with crowded granular scales. Some species have larger scales among the 
small ones, some are covered with “warts,” and still others have round, 
fishlike scales. Among the latter is the wonder gecko of the Central Asiatic 
deserts, which, writes Gadow, can produce a chirping sound by rubbing 
together the big scales on its tail. The Madagascar scaly gecko has an outer 
skin so tender that it can escape a captor by abandoning it in the captor’s 
hand. 
On the whole, geckos prefer night life. Their eyes, which are usually 
without movable lids, contract in daylight to a fine vertical line. A few 
species, however, have true eyelids; some resemble snakes in that the 
transparent lids cover the eye; and the diurnal species, living in open sand, 
possess a round pupil. 
In their broad mouth is a short, flat, sticky tongue, which is extended 
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