Family : GEKKONIDAE
Species : Hemidactylus platyurus
Size (snout to vent) : 6 cm
Size (total length) : 14 cm

One of the commonest house geckos in Southeast Asia. It is identified by the flat tail, fringed with loose skin. Colour and markings can vary from plain grey, to an attractive pattern of dark brown stripes or diamonds along the spine.

Active by day and night, in urban areas it feeds on small insects attracted to artificial lighting. It is highly adaptable and also occurs in forested and agricultural areas. Its call is a muted 'click-click-click'.

This species ranges throughout Southeast Asia.

Fig 1 : Example from Siem Reap, Cambodia, with complex patterning.

Fig 2 : Pale specimen consuming a dragonfly in a brightly lit apartment, Singapore.

Fig 3 : Taking shelter in an abandoned crab hole on a sandy beach on Bintan Island, Riau Archipelago, Indonesia.

Fig 4 : Close up of the toes and claws on the hind foot.

Fig 5 : Dark specimen from Luang Prabang, northern Laos.

Fig 6 : Specimen with well-developed flaps of skin on the tail, Singapore.


References :

Manthey U., Grossmann W., 1997. Amphibien und Reptilien Sudostasiens. Natur und Tier - Verlag.