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I think that this is a baby gecko, although baby iguanas are green also, and I must confess that I cannot tell the difference.We like geckos because they are cute and they eat insects. At night they will perch upside down on the ceiling of the patio of our condo. They can make a chirping sound louder than a bird.
I took this photo on the very short path from our condo to the beach in Playa Langosta.
[Later note: If you click on the comments, you will read that this is a baby iguana.]
10 comments:
great looking chappie!
My first visit to your blog, and it won't be the last.
I lived in San Jose, Costa Rica, for a year... some 30 year ago as a newlywed (my husband got a posting there) - I wasn't even newlywed when I arrived: we got married in Costa Rica.
Rediscovering the country through your eyes brings back great memories. When you take a pic of a manzanilla, will me let me know ? She ate one while walking on the beach, not paying attention to the warning signs and thinking it tasted rather nice... she almost choked, couldn't breathe. It was one of the scariest things she ever did.
Very neat looking, looks like he is saying HI.
What a cutie! And you must be fast with your camera.
This is 100% a baby green iguana. Most geckos are nocturnal and have vertical pupils, whereas this baby iguana has a circular pupil and is diurnal. Also, the geckos that we see hanging from walls have the pads on their feet with thousands of microscopic "hooks" that act like velcro when climbing walls and ceilings. This iguana instead has claws and while they provide good traction on angled surfaces, they do not allow them to climb vertical walls or hang upside down from ceilings. Geckos will also typically have larger eyes in proportion to their head and their tails are no longer than the length of their torso, whereas iguanas have smaller eyes and their tail is much longer than their body.
You can also see part of the iguana's tail just above it's knee on the right side of the photo. They have these dark and light bands down their tail as juveniles.
I stand corrected by my son Stuart, who has a vastly superior knowledge of reptiles (and computers) than I do. I confessed in my original post that I cannot tell the difference between gaby geckos and baby iguanas. Next time, I will be sure to ask you first, Stu.
The question is, how do cute green baby iguanas grow up to be so unattractive as adult? The iguana that I posted on June 14 is the most handsome adult iguana that I could find. Many of them are grey and ugly.
He looks so cute! I love that little head tilt and his color. Of course, I have no idea what kind of lizard he is.
The gecko sounds like what we call "tuko" because of the sound it makes. I like the bug-control side of lizards (and spiders), but they can get a little too gregarious at times—irritating. ;)
ha. fantastic shot
Got here thanks to Denton's (http://www.greenvilledailyphoto.com) question about 'Which blog posted a picture of..' a green insurance seller! :o. Glad I did.
And if you'd known it was an iguana, Denton's question would not have happened at all - or would have been very different! :)
Cheers!
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