1 Reptilia Natural history and biology of hobbyist choice leopard gecko Eublepharis macularius Muhammad Sharif Khan Herpetological Laboratory, Rabwah 35460, PAKISTAN Address for communication: Apt # A17, 151-South Bishop Ave., SECANE, PA 19018, USA Email: typhlops99@ hotmail.com Pages 16, Figures 13. 2 INTRODUCTION Of the forty one species and subspecies of geckos known from Pakistan ( KHAN, 2004) the leopard gecko Eublepharis macularius is the largest (snout vent length 120-158 mm, tail 89-93 mm), most robust and hardy species. It is a unique gecko with moveable eyelids, straight non dilated digits without scansors, and tuberculated body. It is placed in a family of its own Eublepharidae. Eight species of which are recognized in southwest Asia (SZCZERBACK & GOLUBEV, 1996). The three species of southwestern group are distinguished from each other by following key (modified from SZCZERBAK & GOLUBEV 1996): 1. Subdigital lamellae smooth………………..…E. angramainyu (western foothills of Zagros: Iran and Iraq) - Subdigital lamellae tuberculated…………………..3 2. Tubercles on subdigital feebly keeled, eight or fewer precloacal pores……………………E. turcmenicus (Turkmenistan and Iran) -Tubercles on subdigital strongly keeled, eight or more precloacal pores……….……………E. macularius (Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, western India) Eublepharis macularius is widely distributed in Pakistan (Fig. 13), from plains to the sub Himalayan foot hills and Balochistan tableland up to 2500 m elevation. There have been several attempts to distinguish Eublepharis macularius population in Indo-Pakistan subcontinent is several species and subspecies: Eublepharis fasciolatus GÜNTHER (1864) from Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan; BÖRNER (1974, 1976, 1981) described several species and subspecies: Eublepharis gracilis from an unknown locality, Eublepharis afghanicus from Kabul-Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Eublepharis macularius fuscus from Bombay, India, Eublepharis macularius smithi, from Delhi, India and Eublepharis macularius montanus from Karachi, and Eublepharis macularius fasciolatus from Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. All these forms have been found to be different color morphs of the wide ranging Eublepharis macularius (SMITH 1935; SZCZERBAK & GOLUBEV 1996). Notes on morphology, ecology, diet and reproduction of Eublepharis macularius in Pakistan are presented in present paper. Taxonomic notes Eublepharis macularius Common name: Fat-tail gecko; Spotted fat-tailed gecko; Leopard gecko; Local name: Kkhan-kkhain; Korrh kirly; Bis cobra. Taxonomic history: EDWARD BLYTH, a British herpetologist, described Eublepharis macularius as Cyrtodactylus macularius, from the Salt Rage, Punjab, Pakistan in 1854. Its subsequent taxonomic information is summarized as follows: Class: Reptilia Order : Squamata Suborder: Sauria 3 Family: Gekkonidae Subfamily: Eublepharinae Genus: Eublepharis Species: macularius BLYTH, 1855 Subspecies: Eublepharis macularius fasciolatus GÜNTHER, 1864 Eublepharis macularius afghanicus BORNER, 1976 Eublepharis macularius gracilis BORNER, 1974 Eublepharis macularius montanus BORNER, 1976 Eublepharis macularius madarensis SHARMA, 1980 Eublepharis macularius fuscus BORNER, 1981 Eublepharis macularius smithi BORNER, 1981 Diagnosis: Head flat, broadest at temples, slopes strongly in front the eyes to obtusely pointed snout. Neck rather round, as long as head. Body robust, subcylindrical, longer and broader than head and neck. Limbs rather short, thin, with short, straight, cylindrical digits, a single row of subdigital lamellae, no adhesive subdigital pads, digits end in a single sharp curved claw, tubercles on subdigital lamellae strongly keeled. Eyelids well developed and movable, shutting eyes. Body, limbs, and tail are covered with small granular scales interspersed with large rounded tubercles. About half of the normal unregenerated tail cylindrical, gradually attenuated to its tip. Tail surface with narrow rings, separated by narrow grooves, rings are tuberculated (Fig. 6), subcaudals small in several rows. While the regenerated tail is plump, bulbous, gets distinctly broader than body is not ringed, suddenly ends at tip (Fig. 3, 4). Male is larger than female, with 9-14 precloacal pores arranged in a slight arch, interrupted or not by one to two scales, pineal sacs at the sides of the cloacal aperture. Snout-vent length 120-160 mm, tail 89-90 mm. Color: Juvenile dark brown to black on dorsal side, with two to three yellow cross bands across body, a white band on nape extends to lips; tail dark brown with yellow to white 3 to four cross bands, narrower than spaces between them. Belly white or yellowish. In adult body is straw yellow to pinkish, juvenile bands are scattered as dark spots, some times form a reticulutm. Head white or brown, spotted with dark brown. Natural history notes: Natural habitat of the fat tail gecko is stony countryside with scrubby vegetation, in the northern and western foot hills. The gecko specifically inhabits holes and crevices in gravel mixed stony terrain in the Salt Range, Punjab, Pakistan. Where it extends into the adjacent mudflats where it hunts insects and caterpillars in sparse grass and bushes, in mesic to xeric sub mountain conditions. It avoids deserts, and prefers humid places. Being gregarious, they colonize crevices and holes in stone walls (Fig. 1, 2), demarcating boundaries of fields and houses, in stony country side in Potohar Plateau, in the Salt Range.. Several lizards may live in loose colonies in holes in ground, under stones, and crevices among rocks. A leopard gecko may climb several feet to reach its permanent selected resting place, which it shares with several individuals of different ages. Almost all geckos at the site come out as soon as sun sets, and are scattered to forage individually around, returning to the site one by one just before dawn. However, in forested places of their habitat, they become semi-arboreal and hide under loose tree bark. 4 In urban areas leopard gecko readily colonizes and invades man-made structures in its habitat, like holes and crevices in dikes, road railway bridges, house walls. On of the favourite urban habitat are the spaces around under ground water pipes, where leeks provide moisture in the soil to keep humidity, while gaps in fillings around pipes provide resting and hideout places. Summer temperature in the Potohar Plateau ranges from 22-24 °C in March to 40-45° C in June-July, Humidity varies from 30-40 %. Until monsoon rains start, temperature drops to 28-33 °C and humidity increases 70-80 % which drive the leopard geckos out in large numbers during hot humid nights. During March-June, humidity in the resting spaces remain 40-56 % which is ideal for the gecko, while outside it is 23-32 %. These climatological changes affect activity pattern of the gecko: dry, cool, and windy weather inhabits its activities and the gecko mostly stays at home. While hot, humid nights in rainy season, drive it out at sunset. In north leopard gecko hibernates from September to March, while in warmer southern Pakistan, hibernation may be delayed to November, or the gecko may never hibernate. Food: Leopard gecko is primarily insectivorous so that its diet list includes several insect groups: beetles, grasshoppers, spiders, scorpions, centipedes etc. As it grows old it becomes opportunist predator preying on sympatric geckos , blind snake and thread snakes, new born mice, bird nestlings and caterpillars. The prey is slowly stalked or ambushed, and is captured by a final sudden lunge. The pray is held in the jaws until immobile and is engulfed. Mostly the juvenile leopards fall prey to the adults. An inanimate or dead prey is disregarded, prey movements provoke the gecko to attack. Social life: The composition of an eublepharine colony differs throughout the activity period of the gecko: a pre-breeding colony mostly consists of several subadults and adults, soon fights among males ensue to scatter them, leaving a dominant male with several females constituting a breeding colony, while a post breeding colony is dominated by juveniles. The dominant male, in the breeding colony, reacts to the presence of a rival male, by intimidating him by raising body on stiffened legs; smearing ground with waxy secretion from precloacal glands by lowering its hind quarters; licking the secretion and smearing it all over its body; rubbing smeared body against stones and other objects to mark its territory. It defends territory by lunging, snarling and hissing, arching body and lashing tail. If the rival is still not intimidated, it is run down and bitten and lashed with the tail, the bitten rival sheds its tail, pieces of skin are torn from its body vice versa, the weakened party runs away, leaving behind writhing and wriggling tail and torn off pieces of its skin to the wining adversary as a treat. The leopard gecko is rather docile, sluggish in movements, has deliberate slow walking style. It allows manipulation, needs repeated provocation to intimidate it. When threatened the gecko does not try to escape, rather it stands and faces the threat by raising and arching out its body, curls up tail, flicking and twisting it sideways. Snarls and hisses and threatens with wide opened mouth, staring right into the eyes of the adversary. Gecko has a weak bite, just like a moderate pinch as its teeth are small. When gecko is handled it mostly defecates and voids fowl smelling liquid. 5 During demolition of an old stone wall that was colonised by leopard lizards, I chanced to observe and trace the extent of the retreat chambers between stones inside the wall (Fig. 1, 2). Several openings (Fig. 1) leads by narrow vertical and horizontal passages leading into expanded chambers running across the 1.5 feet thickness of the wall (Fig. 2). The lizards apparently had done nothing in the setting of the site, the spaces are due to the masonry style mostly used in construction of stone walls: larger stones are fixed along the surfaces of the wall with clay-mud mixed with minced straw or cement. Space between large stones is filled with smaller stones. As time passes, the mud or cement that holds stones is washed away, leaving holes and crevices at wall’s surface leading into the loose core of smaller stones, creating a pattern of passages and spaces in the stone wall (Fig. 2). The leopard lizards stay clinging to walls or sleep at the stony base. A special pocket at the base is reserved as defecation site into which their faeces fell to collect. Several local animals colonize such old stone walls, some of which that I recorded are common sparrow, black-bird, local agamids, scincid lizards, salt range gecko, and common toad etc. Reproduction: The leopard gecko breeds from March to July. Male is larger than female, has precloacal pores and pineal-sac thickening on side of the cloacal aperture. The male follows the receptive female, who ultimately comes to stay in a corner. He approaches her, bites at the side of her neck and rides her. The female lifts her tail, male entwines his tail under her’s to approximate his cloaca with her’s, a shiver of female’s body indicates successful intromission. The pair may stay in this position 5-10 minutes, when they separate, both bend down to lick their cloacae. Gestation lasts from 10 to 20 days. A pair of oval egg is laid 2-3 times a year. The female keeps stored sperms from single mating. The eggs are large with smooth pliable parchment covering, measuring 31-35 x 13-16 mm. Female chooses the egg laying site which is preferably a dark, humid recess, with no chances of being soaked by with dripping rain water. Eggs take almost a month to hatch. The hatchling has an egg-tooth which helps it to shear the pliable egg covering, which soon drops. At birth the hatchings measures 3.25 - 3.5 inches in total length. They increases rapidly in size so that by next year or so attain the adult size. There is no record of gecko’s longevity in wild, however, hobbyist reports indicate 20-30 years in captivity, which is impossible in the wild where there are so many enemies around. Geckos are known to lay more than one batch of a pair of egg during breeding season (KLUGE 1967; FITCH 1970; VITT 1986). However, KHAN (1991) reported three gravid Cyrtopodion kohsulaimanai females with three oviducal eggs in each, similarly three oviducal eggs are reported in a female leopard gecko Eublepharis macularius (MINTON 1966). Persecution: Among locals the leopard gecko is considered to be venomous as it is believed to be related to the common black cobra snake and is known as bis cobra (young cobra). The bite of the gecko is believed to liquefy body of the victim, causing instantaneous death. A local will kill the lizard on sight, and will flung the stick for away with which he killed the lizard, as the stick is believe to absorbed poison from the lizard. 6 I well remember, back in 1996, while on a collection tour in the Salt Range, north-western Punjab, Pakistan, I caught several leopard geckos with bare hands. A local man kept me warning not to touch the lizards. Later he shunned to touch me for several days. He was amazed to find that nothing had happened to me. Later he asked me if I had a dam (magic against venom of the lizard), and requested me several times to teach him the dam. The leopard gecko falls prey to several wild animals like foxes, jackals, mongoose, owls, kites, varanids, garden lizards and most of the local snakes like Ptyas mucosus, Spalerosophis diadema, and Naja naja etc. Distribution: (Fig. 13)The leopard gecko is reported from Rajputana and Khandesh Districts of India. In Pakistan it has been recorded from Azad Kashmir, North Western Frontier Province, Punjab, Balochistan, and Sindh. It has been reported from parts of Iran and Afghanistan bordering Pakistan. Facts about leopard gecko’s way of life 1. The leopard geckos have no maternal care for its eggs or hatchlings. 2. Leopards lay a pair of eggs at a time, 3-4 times a year. 3. It does not excavate pit in ground to lay eggs into it. 4. The eggs are laid in a secure place: usually in the depth of a crevice in a stony corner, under a stone, where there is dark, no direct exposure to sun, moderate humidity, no danger of being soaked by the rain. 5. Eggs are left at the mercy of environments. 6. An egg laying site may be used year after year by the same female or by several females in the colony. It is in a secure resting place regularly used by the geckos. 7. Hatchlings are not cared for by parents, rather they are always under constant threat of being preyed upon by adults. 8. Primarily leopard is insectivorous, however, becomes opportunistic carnivorous as it grows old. The menu includes own hatchlings, hatchlings and adults of sympatric geckos, lizards, scorpions, millipedes, baby mice, caterpillars, thread and blind snakes, etc, etc. 9. Geckos as rule does not eat inanimate (dead) food in nature, they are rather attracted to the living food by its movements. A hand-fed gecko is attracted by the movements of the hand that feeds it, to which it is subsequently habituated. 10. Reptiles and amphibians are abhorred in Indo-Pakistani culture. People are superstitious about these animals. Right from childhood children learn to fear and not to 7 touch them as they are believed to be poisonous and causing diseases. Children rarely read in their school books natural history and information about these animals. 11. There are several low cast tribes of snake charmers known as Sanyasies or Gagras in Pakistan. They roam about in wilderness, catching and supplying animals to the pet dealers and scientific laboratories. Animals are caught according to market demand. They hold road-side displays to earn their living, and are the main source of spreading fallacies about snakes and lizards (KHAN 2000, 2002). 12. Children in Pakistan culture are not encouraged to keep a reptile as pet. Though turtles are maintained in water tanks close to temples, with stories of their relation with some saints related to the temple. 13. Near famous Mangu Pir shrine (Karachi, Pakistan), several marsh crocodiles are maintained in a pit. They are venerated as lice of the saint. Referring to ‘high’stature of the saint, whose lice were of the size of a crocodile! These crocs are regularly fed by the believers and wildlife people. 14. In Pakistan the lizards, especially the geckos, are killed because they are believed to had conspired with the enemies and tore the water filled goat-skin empty, which was being carried for dying grand son of the Holy Prophet in Karbla desert, Iraq. 15. Geckos are believed to carry poison in their skin, if one is dropped in cooking food, it may poison it. 16. Geckos live in holes, crevices and under stones loose bark of trees. They remain clinging to the sides of their resting places, not needing any special substrate to lie upon. 17. Desert geckos of genus Crossobamon, Teratolepis, and Teratoscincus burrow in sand, otherwise mostly gecko are building-attracted. They prefer to retreat among rocks rather than a sandy place. Sand is not an appropriate substratum, it may cause difficulty in movements and feeding etc. 18. Hatchlings are not helped by the parents to come out of the shell, rather the movements of the embryo in the egg may provoke parents to attack and eat the embryo before it is hatched! 19. The embryo develops a hard egg-tooth at the tip of its snout before hatching, which helps in tearing the parchment like shell and hatch. The hatchlings as soon are able to walk sneak into crevices to hide from their elders. The reports of leopards eating their eggs pertain mostly when the embryo is struggling to hatch. 20. When an egg is laid, it is covered by a pliable soft covering egg, which soon hardens in a shell. It does not need to be kept specifically at a humid place, rather it need a dark, secure place. However, the pliability of the covering of the leopard’s egg remains so and it never hardens. So the egg needs to be kept at a dark humid place, exposure to dry air 8 may kill the embryo with it Legends to the figures Fig. 1. Holes and crevices in a stone wall. Fig. 2. Leopard gecko’s resting spaces in a stone wall. Fig. 3. A subadult Eublepharis macularius with regenerated tail. Fig. 4. Leopard gecko: intimidation stance. Fig. 5. Leopard gecko: intimidation attack. Fig. 6. Leopard adult voiding, had unregenerated natural tail. Fig. 7. Leopard gecko: walking style. Fig. 8. Leopard gecko: natural habitat, Islamabad, Pakistan. Fig.9. Leopard gecko: natural habitat, Kirana Hills, Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. Fig. 10. Leopard gecko: natural habitat, Salt Range, Punjab, Pakistan. Fig. 11. A foraging site, Salt Range, Punjab, Pakistan. Fig. 12. A scorpion, a favorite dietary item, Salt Range, Punjab, Pakistan. Fig. 13. Range of Eublepharis macularius in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and India. Literature cited BÖRNER, A-R. 1974. Ein nuer Lidgecko der Gattung Eublepharis GRAY, 1827. Mis. Art. Saurologica 4:5-14. BÖRNER, A-R. 1976. Second Contribution to the systematics of the southwest Asian lizards of the geckonid genus Eublepharis GRAY, 1827: Materials from the Indian subcontinent. Saurologica 2:1-15. BÖRNER, A-R. 1981. Third contribution to the systematics of the southwest Asia lizards of the geckonid genus Eublepharis GRAY, 1827: Further materials from the Indian Subcontinent. Saurologica 3:1-7. FITCH, H. S. Reproductive cycles in lizards and snakes. Univ. Kansas Misc. Publ. No. 52: 1-247. KLUGE, A. G. 1967. Higher taxonomic categories of gekkonid lizards and their evolution. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 135:5-59. KHAN, M. S. 1991. A new Tenuidactylus gecko from the Sulaiman Range, Punjab, Pakistan. Journal of Herpetology, 25:199-204. KHAN, M. S. 2000. Sar Zameen-a-Pakistan kay maindak aur Khazinday (Frogs and lizards of Pakistan). In Urdu. Publication # 366. Urdu Science Board, 299 Upper Mall, Lahore, Pakistan. 9 KHAN, M. S. 2002. A guide to the snakes of Pakistan. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, pp. 265. KHAN, M. S. 2004. Annotated Checklist of amphibians and reptiles of Pakistan. Asiatic Herpetological Research, 10: 191-201. MINTON, S. A. 1966. A contribution to the herpetology of West Pakistan. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 134(2):31-184. SMITH, MALCOLM, A. 1935. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and amphibia. Vol. II: Sauria. Taylor and Francis Ltd. London. SZCZERBAK, N. N, & GOLUBEV, M. L. 1996. Gecko fauna of the USSR and contiguous regions. English translation. Society for the Study of Amphibian and Reptiles, Itheca, NY: 1-233. VITT, L. J. 1972. Reproductive tactics of sympatric gekkonid lizards with a comment on the evolutionary and ecological consequences of invariant clutch size. Copeia 1986:773786. ……………………………………. ALBUM 10 11 Fig. 3. A subadult Eublepharis macularis with regenerated tail. Fig. 4. Leopard gecko: intimidation stance. 12 Fig. 5. Leopard gecko: intimidation attack. Fig. 6. Leopard adult voiding, with unregenerated natural tail. 13 Fig. 7. Lepard gecko: walking style. Fig. 8. Leopard gecko: natural habitat, Islamabad, Pakistan. 14 Fig.9. Leopard gecko: natural habitat, Kirana Hills, Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. Fig. 10. Leopard gecko: natural habitat, Salt Range, Punjab, Pakistan. 15 Fig. 11. A foraging site, Salt Range, Punjab, Pakistan. 12. A scorpion, a favourite dietary item, Salt Range, Punjab, Pakistan. 16 Fig. 13. Range of Eublepharis macularius (■).in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and India. . ………………………………………………………………………. .