Geckos Have Superpowers Besides Selling You Insurance

Geckos decided they were going to be different from all other lizards by developing specialized features that gave them a leg up in the survival business. These include eyes that can see in low light so they can hunt at night, hydrophobic skin so they don't catch their death of cold, and strangely detachable tails, not to mention feet that have velcro on the ends. 

Most of those powers required some explanation of physics, which geckos have mastered. It's no wonder they are often studied by scientists. These studies include putting geckos in a wind tunnel, which may seem cruel, but it's also quite funny, and the geckos didn't seem to come out any worse for wear. Ze Frank gives geckos his usual "education with some snarky giggles" treatment in the latest video in his True Facts series. At least he doesn't obsess on the animal's sex life in this installment.


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When I lived in Louisiana we had Mediterranean House Geckos. They are nearly transparent with a pale pink coloring. I called them flesh eater lizards because they creeped me out from their looks. I would find them clinging to my glass back door at night and they liked to squiggle their way into my house when I let the dogs out for their night time bathroom break. They are very hard to catch and would drop their tails off sometimes and you could watch the tail wiggle around all by itself. Creepy. I would find some squished between the door and the hinges or dried up and mummified under a bed or in vases, stuff like that. One day I went into our library and randomly picked up a book, opened it and there was a live gecko between the pages just staring at me. Scared me good. I took the book outside and let the lizard go. It scurried off into the grass like nothing special had happened. Now that I think about it I wonder how many other geckos were reading my books...
So glad I moved out of state.
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