AG Reader Photo of the Week: sacrificial tail!
October 15, 2018
This week’s reader photo of a common or smooth knob-tailed gecko was captured by Adam Brice
“This is Nephrurus levis (Common or Smooth Knob-tailed gecko) and in particular the sub-species called N l pilbarensis. This is another semi-arid/arid region specialist terrestrial gecko (no toe pads to cling to vertical surfaces),” says Adam.
“Their cute heart-shaped tails have a small knob at the end which can be autotomised (self-amputated) which then wiggles around to distract potential predators, trying to get them to take the tail instead of attacking something more vital. However, unlike most other geckos/skinks – these geckos only have one cleavage point, meaning that the whole tail will be taken not just certain segments.”
