Uroplatus henkeli
Henkel's Leaftail Geckos live in Madagascar. They eat large invertebrates like spiders and cockroaches. They are capable of noticeable color change from light to dark. The leaf-like tail of these geckos can be dropped and regrown. Sometimes they open their mouth wide to startle predators. Their broad, fleshy tongue is used to keep their lidless eyes clean. The toes have special pads (see picture below) that allow them to climb vertical surfaces and cling to a surface as smooth as glass (as the gecko in the first picture is actually doing: it is stuck on glass vertically downwards, although we rotated the picture to accommodate it in the page).
Detail from gecko's "foot".
Both pictures above were taken at St. Louis zoo, in May 2002.
Subfamily Gekkoninae
Family Gekkonidae
Infraorder Gekkota
Suborder Sauria
Order Squamata
Class Reptilia
Subphylum Vertebrata
Phylum Chordata
Kingdom Animalia
Life on Earth
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