A Tale of Two Gecko Species

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Noah M
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Joined: November 3rd, 2012, 7:00 pm
Location: Gainesville, FL
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A Tale of Two Gecko Species

Post by Noah M »

I've been living in the same apartment complex for a few years now, and I have been able to do a decent job of surveying the wildlife on property. Here is a brief story of two gecko species.

When I first moved here, I lived in a small one bedroom apartment on the top floor. Each night through the warmer months up to four geckos could be seen hanging around the light in the hallway. At the time I thought they were H. turcicus. I was fairly new to the hobby then. While the pictures aren't great, I now think that all of these were H. mabouia. The black star on the map below indicates my old apartment.

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Typical view of a gecko seen in the early years.

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As time passed I grew more interested in the herping hobby and decided to check the other buildings of the complex. I also moved to the north side of the complex to a roomier 2 bedroom apartment. In my search I found mostly H. mabouia. Every gecko along the northern block there is a H. mabouia. I even saw several young ones last year. But one night last year I turned up a H. turcicus; the western most white triangle on the map. At the time, with the false information of thinking my old apartment geckos were H. turcicus, I thought the apartment complex was split among the species. I thought the southern half or so would all be turcicus, and the northern half, where I had moved to, would all be mabouia.

Here is the western most triangle.
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And the marker just south of it, between my old apartment and the white triangle.
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Never mind that these were on the wrong sides of the complex according to my theory - there would be some overlap where the two species meet right? Either way, it was interesting to see two species no more than 100 feet apart.

So this year I have been looking to see where H. turcicus would turn up. Last night I found three of them. Two hanging around the mailbox (southern most white triangle) and one randomly on the east side of the complex (the last white triangle, seen here)
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It too was no more than 150 ft from H. mabouia. I've never seen them on the same buildings; there is always a parking lot or driveway between them. But the spot that had H. turcicus last year, this year had a mabouia.

So this new information, in conjunction with my realization that what I had been seeing at my old complex were probably H. mabouia suggests my former theory was wrong. It seems as though, based on 3 years of non standardized observation, that there is no nice division between these two species. I'm going to keep looking for H. turcicus around the property, too. I find it fascinating watching how these two species compete for prime walls, and I hope you enjoyed this post as well.
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mtratcliffe
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Location: Mt Laurel, NJ

Re: A Tale of Two Gecko Species

Post by mtratcliffe »

Interesting study, Noah. I may have to do something similar to where I am. The houses in my neighborhood are dominated by H. mabouia, and I have found an Indo-Pacific Gecko on a building in a remote part of the base. Just today, I found what I believe was a juvenile H. turcicus elsewhere on base, but I did not photograph it as the gecko was in obvious distress. I found it out in the sun on the hot pavement mid-day, and it was flipping itself over and over, probably trying to stay cool. I quickly moved it into a shaded, moist area. I believe I have seen other H. turcicus in that general area, which is where the office buildings/industrial areas are.

Gecko Turf Wars!
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Noah M
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Location: Gainesville, FL
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Re: A Tale of Two Gecko Species

Post by Noah M »

I would be interested in what you find. Florida has no native nocturnal geckos that I know of, which to me makes these all the more interesting. I like seeing how they compete. Just be careful walking around people's houses with a camera at night. We have a fair bit of foot traffic here so I don't think I stand out too much, but I'm waiting for the day the police approach me asking about a peeping tom :o
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BDSkinner
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Joined: February 15th, 2011, 8:03 am
Location: Boone, NC

Re: A Tale of Two Gecko Species

Post by BDSkinner »

I love doing little stuff like this. Going out to similar spots trying to beat species counts, watching the small lizard community at my relatives ranch, finding the same old snapping turtle for years.

Maybe there is a way to photo individuals to use as an id to get around the problem of marking them. Don't know how well that would work in geckos. At least try and quantify/ standardize your observations. You can use excel to do a lot of neat things at home.

About the authorities getting involved, I thought it'd be funny to have a t shirt saying "It's ok, I'm a herper!". Just to clarify. Or confound.


-Brad
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