Southern Rock Dtella

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Cold-Blooded:
Gecko Feet:
Southern Rock Dtella (Gehyra lazelli)

Retired Professor of Anatomy, Ian Gibbins, has kindly shared his thoughts with us to help people learn:

The way gecko's feet attach to smooth surfaces has been intensively studied for many years. The soles of the feet, especially the toes, are covered in microscopic hair-like protrusions that end in little caps. The caps effectively adhere to surfaces by electrostatic forces - these are physical effects occurring at a subatomic level. The flexibility of the feet / toes as well as these underlying hairs allows the geckos to attach to just about any surface, eg rock faces, bark, leaves, etc. They can pull off the surface by changing the angles of their feet. Each species of gecko has a different set-up of these hairs. Here's a link: Electron Microscope View of Gecko Feet
Ian Gibbins