McMartinVille--Reptiles

 
NO NEED FOR A CAR, CLICKED YER MOUSE... AND HERE YOU ARE! "McMartinVille"
 

Utah Banded Gecko

Order:  Squamata (scaled reptiles)
Suborder:  Lacertilia (=Sauria; lizards)
Family:  Gekkonidae (geckos)
Subfamily:  Eublepharinae (geckos with eyelids)
Genus:  Coleonyx (banded geckos)
Also known as:  Western banded gecko (generic name for all subspecies of Coleonyx variegatus)

Scientific Name:  Coleonyx variegatus utahensis Klauber, 1945

Habitat:  Rocky areas, cliffs, washes, and dunes.

Koleos="covered," onyx="claw," variegatus="of different colors," utahensis="from Utah"

Length:  to 6 inches total.
Food:  Small insects and spiders. Banded Gecko Range

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.

When I saw my first gecko it was crossing the road slowly with its tail arched over its back. The first thing I thought was that it looked a lot like a scorpion, which leads me to believe this may be a form of mimicry to ward off potential predators. Utah Banded Gecko
The picture here is a different gecko found the following night on an interstate on-ramp just outside Mojave National Preserve in California. It was pretty big for a banded gecko, probably six inches long. It was a cold night with mist and intermittent showers, but the geckos were still active. I found more specimens on another occasion when the air temperature was 60 degrees Fahrenheit.