Are Gecko’s Lizards Intelligent? From a Lizards Point Gecko’s are intelligent in some of the following ways
- Able to Navigate a Maze to get food
- Able to remember where food had been kept
- Gecko’s are able to vocalize/communicate with each other
- Able to detach their tails for, escape, Illness or infection
- Recognize their Owners – come to outstretched Hands
- Stalk Their Prey
- Be Hand Fed
- Know Their Names
- Explore By Glass Surfing
- Will Get Board
Geckos are very beautiful small to medium-sized lizards belonging to the infra-order Gekkota, which are often found in temperate/warm climates all over the world. They range from 1.7 to 62 cm (0.65 to 26 inches).
Geckos are unique among lizards for their vocalizations, which differs from species to species. Most geckos are nocturnal, that is, they hide during the day and foraging insects at night. They often climb walls of houses and other buildings searching for insects paying attention to porch lights, and are instantly recognizable by their characteristic chirping.
These small geckos are not venomous and not dangerous to humans. Most medium to large-sized geckos are very docile but may bite if distressed, which can penetrate the skin. The Gecko is very adaptable and may prey on spiders and insects, displacing other gecko species that are less robust or behaviorally aggressive.
Are Gecko’s Lizards Intelligent?
The answer is Yes. They are very much intelligent. Even sometimes, they act more sensible than your pet cats and dogs. Some of their essential features which makes them prior or brilliant to others are described below.
Geckos Can Produce Various Sounds for Communication, Including Barks, Clicks, and Chirps.
The first exciting and potentially intelligent adaptation of these reptiles is that geckos are the only lizards that make noise. This can enhance their communication skills, but little research has been done on this topic. They make clicks, barks, chirps, and other sounds to communicate with fellow geckos present in the surrounding.
The sounds Gecko produce may be to warn away competitors from a territory, or to attract mates, to avoid direct fighting, depending on the situation and species. But if you ever hear an odd bark, chirping, or clicks in your house at night, you might have a gecko as a guest.
Along with being a loud pet lizard, they are also notably known for their walking abilities. A 2005 study that looked at geckos’ climbing abilities found that their walking abilities also involved geckos walking on water. These reptiles’ remarkable and gravity-defying ability has intrigued scientists and enthusiasts alike, making it a fascinating study topic for reptile brainpower. Geckos have millions of “setae” in their feet, making their adhesion abilities a phenomenon concerning their weight. They have such a specialized force that it is basically a term of chemistry called “Van der Waals.” It means that they are chemically joined to almost any surface (that is some serious stickiness)!
In this research, scientists examined all of the gecko setae and the influence of water and found that the gecko body can correctly utilize its resources for climbing.
Gecko IQ experiment: To prove their intelligence
Geckos (Lizard) in the Maze Experiment:
In this recent study, one of the Gecko species was tested for “spatial memory in a classic memory maze experiment.” Spatial is a sciency word for time. The scientists were trying to observe proof of memory in these reptiles over time. Behaviors that relate to memory have been connected to many animal groups, but very rarely ever reptiles. This study proved that lizards, especially Gecko, are capable of “spatial memory” when set up in a maze and had to find their way to food. The lizards were able to memorize their food without the clues of direction, helping support reptilian spatial memory.
Most Geckos have the ability to detach their tails and regrow them.
We can imagine how intelligent they are when it comes to predation. They even detach their tail and save their life. When some predator grabs a gecko, the tail drops off and continues to twitch and thrash about, providing an excellent distraction that might allow the gecko to escape from a hungry predator. Geckos also drop their tails to respond to infection, stress, or if the tail itself is injured or grabbed by a predator.
Astonishingly, geckos drop their tails along a pre-scored area known as “dotted line.” It’s a natural adaption of Geckos over time that allows them to lose its tail quickly when any predator attacks. This mechanism also helps the Gecko body for minimal damage as all the damage is taken by the tail.
A gecko always regrows its dropped tail, though the new tail will likely be blunter, shorter, and slightly different from the original tail in terms of its color.
But there is one Gecko species known as Crested Gecko which can’t regrow its tail; once it’s gone, it’s permanently gone.
Geckos are so intelligent that they store fat and nutrients in their tail and use them in lean times.
Losing a tail isn’t a favorable event for a gecko. It’s an energy-intensive process to regrow a whole tail and because of a gecko stores nutrients and fat in its tail.
A plump, healthy, and well-rounded tail is an excellent way to judge the individual gecko’s health. It varies among species, but generally, a thin tail might indicate illness or starvation.
Do not underestimate the brainpower of Gecko
Gecko is devised creative ways to get at a hidden treat of dead larvae, remembered them, and adapted what they’d learned to continue snagging these baby-bug snacks.
“This is one more point that can help us understand the evolution of cognitive abilities,” said Duke University behavioral ecologist Manuel Leal, the lead researcher of the study. “We know a lot based on reviews of birds and mammals, but there have been few studies on reptiles in general.”
Intelligent adaption of Geckos over time is that Geckos Can Live a Long Life
Gecko’s life span depends on individual Gecko species, but many will live around five to six years in the wild. Several other species that are popular as pets may live a bit longer. In your captivity, a well-tended and healthy gecko can live between 11 to 21 years. Leopard geckos have the most prolonged age between 15 to 20 years, though the longest-lived individual is recorded at 27 years old.
Best Fit to the Environment: Most Species of Gecko Don’t Have Eyelids, So They Lick Their Eyes to Clean Them
Perhaps one of the exciting facts about geckos is that most species lack eyelids. Because they are not able to blink, they lick their eyes to keep them moist and clean. (Actually, they’re licking the transparent membrane that covers the whole eyeball.)
Another most intelligent feature is that Geckos are masters of changing color.
Similarly, like a chameleon, Gecko can change color also concerning to their surrounding environment.
They sense, rather than see, their surrounding environment to camouflage themselves, using opsins, which are light-sensitive proteins in the skin.
Survival of the fittest: Some Geckos can glide through the air.
The parachute gecko, or flying gecko, is a gecko species found in Southeast and Southwest Asia. Well, that is sure that they do not possess independent flight ability, but they get their name from their gliding ability in which they use the flaps of skin located on their feet and their flat tails.
The flying gecko can glide up to 220 feet (64 meters) in a single leap, regardless of measuring only about 5 to 9 inches (17 to 22 cm) in body length.
These flying geckos, while skittish, are relatively popular in the pet trade.
Recently, Scientists have discovered a hidden talent of geckos which reflect their intelligence is beyond any other pet
The flat-tailed house gecko can not only glide through the air and stick to walls but also run on water, and a new study confirms that. This finding of the combination of techniques the reptile uses to race across the water could help us make robots capable of the same feats that run on water.
The flat-tailed house gecko is a common pet reptile native to northern and Southeast Asia. The bristles on its toes help them to climb a wall and hang from ceilings, but along with that, it can glide with the aid of its skin flaps and webbed feet. “They’re like superheroes of Geckos, every time you look at them, they can do more things,” said senior study author Robert Full, an integrative biologist at the University of California, Berkeley.
My life Example of Geeecko intelligence: I have to say, my leopard gecko knows what she’s doing. I thought I owned it. Now I think that’s the other way around! I came home from work yesterday and lay down on my bed for a while. However, as I walked, I saw something I had never seen before, the leopard gecko lying in its bowl of water! I thought it was bizarre, so I decided to wait some more time. Then I realized she was out of the water! As soon as I opened the cage/enclosure door, she jumped out and stood by the dish, waiting for it to fill so she could drink.
Types of Intelligent Geckos That Make Great Pets
- Leopard Gecko
- Pictus Gecko
- Crested Gecko
- Day Gecko
- Fat-Tailed Gecko
- Gargoyle Gecko
