Gecko

This article describes the gecko lizard. If you are looking for the HTML renderer for Mozilla, see Gecko layout engine.

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The gecko is a small lizard native to several islands in the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii, as well as being found in parts of Asia. Geckos are generally green, though other colors are also quite common. They tend to eat insects, and many have even been known to take up residence in human habitation. The females are capable of reproducing asexually if there are no males present. This improves the gecko's capability to spread to new islands, but since the offspring will be a clone, the population will be less able to adapt to unfavorable environmental conditions like change in climate, and diseases.

The toes of the gecko have attracted a lot of recent attention, as they adhere to a wide variety of surfaces, without the use of liquids or surface tension. Recent studies of the setae[?] on gecko footpads demonstrates that the attractive forces that hold geckos to surfaces are van der Waals interactions between the finely divided setae[?] and the surfaces themselves. That these kinds of interactions involve no liquids (or no gases) is important; in theory, a boot made of synthetic setae would adhere as easily to the surface of the International Space Station as it would a living room wall.

Geckos may be kept as pets and will eat many pest insects. The most common pet gecko is the leopard gecko, which does not have setae, but rather claws, which enable it to more easily climb on rough surfaces like trees. This type of gecko cannot climb glass. The leopard gecko[?] is docile and calm, while other types of geckos (with setae, such as the Tokay) kept as pets will bite if disturbed.

External Link

• Evidence for van der Waals interactions in gecko setae (http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/192252799v1)

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Gecko is also a Japanese word for moon light.