Closing the gap: Extreme desert gecko spotted on salt-flats in central Oman
The Gulf Sand gecko is a remarkable desert reptile in that it is the only lizard found habitually on sabkha substrate across large parts of the eastern Arabian Peninsula. These arid salt flats...
View ArticleGeckos on Australasia side of Wallace Line found to be growing to twice the...
A team made up of several researchers from Australia and one from the U.S. has found that bent toed geckos living on the Australasia side of The Wallace Line are evolving to grow up to twice the size...
View ArticleWhat goes up must come down
Found in warm regions of the world, geckos are extremely capable of climbing up steep, smooth surfaces. To do so, they employ an adhesive system – a key evolutionary innovation that facilitates...
View ArticleGeckos are sticky without effort
(Phys.org) —Geckos, found in places with warm climates, have fascinated people for hundreds of years. Scientists have been especially intrigued by these lizards, and have studied a variety of features...
View ArticleResearchers uncover morphological and biomechanical consequences of geckos...
(Phys.org)—A team of researchers with members affiliated with the University of California, the University of New Orleans and the University of Calgary has uncovered some of the impact of secondary...
View ArticleGeckos found to have skin mechanism that flings off water (w/ video)
A small team of researchers with members from institutions in Australia and the U.K. has found that in addition to being able to walk on walls, at last one type of gecko has a skin feature that causes...
View ArticleGeckos found able to expel all manner of fluids and their skin can kill bacteria
(Phys.org)—A multinational team of researchers that recently published a paper describing how they had used a scanning electron microscope to discover that gecko skin actually ejects water into the air...
View ArticleTeam finds geckos resistant to antibiotics, may pose risk to pet owners
Tokay geckos harbor bacteria that are resistant to a number of antibiotics, making them a health concern for pet owners, according to a study by University of Georgia researchers.
View ArticleResearchers develop a new type of gecko-like gripper
Picking things up and putting them down is a mainstay of any kind of manufacturing, but fingers, human or robotic, are not always best for the task at hand.
View ArticleGecko grippers moving on up
A piece of tape can only be used a few times before the adhesion wears off and it can no longer hold two surfaces together. But researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California,...
View ArticleCarnegie Mellon spinoff nanoGriptech is first mass manufacturer of a...
Carnegie Mellon University spinoff nanoGriptech has announced the launch of Setex, the first commercially available gecko-inspired adhesive. Because it is dry and can repeatedly grip to surfaces...
View ArticleThe springy mechanics of large and small gecko toe pad adhesion
Geckos employ dry adhesion, using a combination of microscopic hairs on their toe pads, as well as other aspects of internal anatomy, to climb vertical walls and run across ceilings, a skill that has...
View ArticleHow the stick insect sticks (and unsticks) itself
New research shows the fluid found on insects' feet does not help them adhere to vertical and inverted surfaces, as previously thought, but may in fact help them to unstick their feet more easily to...
View ArticleWhy Spiderman can't exist: Geckos are 'size limit' for sticking to walls
Latest research reveals why geckos are the largest animals able to scale smooth vertical walls - even larger climbers would require unmanageably large sticky footpads. Scientists estimate that a human...
View ArticleThe scaled king and his knight: Two new giant bent-toed gecko species from...
The extremely complex geological history of New Guinea has allowed many of its animals and plants the chance to grow different enough to make a name for themselves. In the case of two newly described...
View ArticleClimate change puts the heat on velvet geckos
While we often hear warnings about the potential impact of climate change on humans, new research from UTS Science has found that even the smallest of creatures are likely to be affected by rising air...
View ArticleIn the war against dust, a new tool inspired by geckos
Micrometric and sub-micrometric contaminant particles—what most of us call "dust"—can cause big problems for art conservators, the electronics industry, aerospace engineers, and others. These...
View ArticleGecko study offers evidence that small morphological changes can lead to...
How do key innovations in the animal kingdom arise? To explore this question, gecko expert Timothy Higham, an associate professor of biology at the University of California, Riverside, led a team of...
View ArticleAncient gecko shines light on Australian desert origins
Researchers have discovered an ancient species of gecko in the ranges of Central Australia which may shine new light on how and when Australia's deserts began to form millions of year ago.
View ArticleA new species of gecko with massive scales and tear-away skin
Many lizards can drop their tails when grabbed, but one group of geckos has gone to particularly extreme lengths to escape predation. Fish-scale geckos in the genus Geckolepis have large scales that...
View ArticleStudy reveals mass extinction event 35 million years ago
Australian National University biologists have found the first evidence of mass extinction of Australian animals caused by a dramatic drop in global temperatures 35 million years ago.
View ArticleLeaping lizards: Research tests the limits of gecko adhesion
Many geckos inhabit trees, often living high in the canopy. Relying on their incredible adhesive strength to help them break their fall, they jump from trees, and land on either leaves or relatively...
View ArticleBig-headed gecko shows human actions are messing with evolution
Evolution doesn't have to take millions of years. New research shows that a type of lizard living on man-made islands in Brazil has developed a larger head than its mainland cousins in a period of only...
View ArticleSkin-ditching gecko inexplicably leaves body armor behind when threatened
When trouble looms, the fish-scale geckos of Madagascar resort to what might seem like an extreme form of self-defense—tearing out of their own skin.
View ArticleHow tails help geckos and other vertebrates make great strides
A wagging tail is often associated with dogs' emotions, but the side-to-side motion may also help them take longer strides and move faster, according to a study by researchers at the University of...
View ArticleTree-climbing geckos that use narrower perches have longer limbs than expected
Tree-climbing geckos that use narrow perches have relatively longer limbs than comparisons with other tree-climbing lizards would suggest, according to a study published September 27, 2017 in the...
View Article15 new gecko species discovered in Myanmar
With support from Fauna & Flora International (FFI), 15 karst-adapted gecko species were recently found in Myanmar within the space of just two weeks, highlighting the outstanding biodiversity of...
View ArticleAn evolving sticky situation
While many animals try to avoid sticky situations, lizards evolved to seek them out.
View ArticleGecko adhesion technology moves closer to industrial uses
A gecko scampering up a wall or across a ceiling has long fascinated scientists and encouraged them to investigate how to harness lizard's mysterious ability to defy gravity.
View ArticleScaling to new heights with gecko-inspired adhesive
Some animals, such as geckos, can easily climb up walls and across ceilings. But currently, no material exists that allows everyday people to scale walls or transverse ceilings as effortlessly. Now,...
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