Butiki

Description:

Gekkonidae; Gehyra; Gehyra mutilata (wiegmann, 1834). My spotting posted earlier today - https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/17... - showed a Butiki which had grown a new tail (as far as I know, most lizards have this ability). When I saw this, I remembered that Francis Floe had posted a spotting with 3 specimens of this species - https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/17... - The first one looks like it has grown a new tail. The second one looks like it might have grown a new tail, but not so certain. The last photo does not show the tail. Then, my wife reminded me that she had taken some cell phone photos of this species for me back in 2014 when one had climbed up our television screen. Two of these photos are the subject of this spotting. What is this all about? Well, I thought that the specimen shown here (from 8 years ago) also appeared to have grown a new tail. That is not the case as you can see. There is a distinct point on the posterior of this Butiki where the colour changes abruptly to a lighter shade on the tail, but it would be speculative to say that indicates a new tail. When you see scar tissue at (or near) the base of the tail, then you are looking at a new tail. If there is no scar tissue visible, there is no way of knowing.

Habitat:

This Butiki was spotted climbing on our television screen. So our house must be considered the habitat of this little lizard.