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Tucson Banded Gecko
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- Order: Squamata (scaled reptiles)
- Suborder: Lacertilia (=Sauria; lizards)
- Family: Gekkonidae (geckos)
- Subfamily: Eublepharinae (geckos with eyelids)
- Genus: Coleonyx (banded geckos)
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Also known as: Western
banded gecko (generic name for all subspecies of Coleonyx
variegatus) |
Scientific Name: Coleonyx
variegatus bogerti Klauber, 1945 |
Habitat: Rocky areas,
cliffs, washes, and dunes. |
Koleos="covered," onyx="claw,"
variegatus="of different colors," bogerti
honoring Charles M. Bogert, previous AMNH
herpetology curator.
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Length: to 6 inches
total. |
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Food: Small insects
and spiders. |
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Banded geckos are one of the few types of lizards
you will see at night. Most desert lizards are active during the
day, but geckos and night lizards (Xantusia) are nocturnal.
These lizards are most often encountered on the roads at night.
They utilize the heat of the roads to warm themselves before
searching for food. Geckos are unique in that they can
vocalize--while some tropical species can bark loudly, the most
that banded geckos can muster are small chirps and squeaks. |
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I found these geckos on a trip
to Phoenix and Tucson in June 1999. At only 4 to 6 inches long,
they're very hard to spot going down the road at 40 mph! One
specimen I examined squeaked . He also held his tail high and
waved it slowly, to attract attention towards the detachable tail
rather than his head. That way, a potential predator will attack
the tail which falls off easily, while the gecko makes its escape. |
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