This small animal is one of the two species of geckos that we can find in the Iberian Peninsula that, together with the four endemic species of the Canary Islands would sum the six total species located in Spain.
It is a robust and stubby reptile, with a 8-9 cm. snout-vent length being the largest gecko species on the European continent. It presents a variable colour between grey and beige that can vary according to the locality, state of the animal or moment of the day in which it is, since at night they will tend to darken and during the day to become lighter.
The head is wide and flattened and all along its body and tail has some tubers that makes it look rough. They have large gray eyes in which we see a vertical pupil, typical of nocturnal animals.
The extremities are short and have nails only on the third and fourth fingers, which differentiates them from the mediterranean gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus) that has nails on each finger. In the fingers we can observe a series of adhesive lamellas formed by thousands of bristles and these, in turn, branched, allowing these incredible animals to adhere and climb on the smoothest, slippery and vertical surfaces that we can imagine.
They present sexual dimorphism, with a larger size being observed in the male. During the mating season males become very territorial and emit vocalizations that can be returned by females. The clutches are usually 1 or 2 eggs that are deposited in cracks, holes in trees, under stones ... The incubation time can be variable and can reach 14 weeks. After this period, the offspring will go outside with a size of 4-6 cm from the snout to the tail.
The common gecko feeds on insects and other small beings that it catches by slowly approaching them and then throwing itself like lightning towards them.
They are widely distributed throughout the Mediterranean region and North Africa and Israel. It generally lives in flat, warm and dry coastal areas, but they have spread effectively inside some areas such as the Iberian Peninsula, where we can find them in urban areas on building facades, near streetlights where they capture insects that are attracted by light, and even inside homes. Occasionally they can also be observed in trees. They have nocturnal activity although they are usually sunbathing during the day in the cooler seasons of the year.
Surely due to the daily closeness that we have with these animals, have become protagonists of several myths and legends that in no case are true and that come to cause panic in certain people, chasing and killing these defenseless animals. They will not be able to spit poison at us and leave us blind, eat our clothes when they get into the closets or bite us while we sleep. At most, we may binge on those annoying mosquitoes and insects that make us unable to fall asleep certain nights, so we have a perfect ally to admire when we are lucky enough to have him near our homes.
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