The next species of the New Caledonia geckos, Rhacodactylus chahoua, the mossy giant gecko. Is a species of the geckos that are found on the Grand Terre island and Isle of Pines (Black). They are noted for the patterns and colorations that they come in. Shades of green, brown, rusty red, gray-green and a lichen color. With a banded or blotted patterns to help blend in with the mosses, and lichens found of tree trunks and branches in the rainforests where they inhabit.
This species of gecko can reach 10 inches and have a prehensile tail, like its relatives, however it does not lose its tail as easily. The tail if dropped which rarely happens and will regenerate but not reach the normal size and stay smaller (Black).
Like crested geckos, mossy giant geckos will lay multiple clutches of eggs throughout the breeding season. These geckos will not bury the eggs but will lay a more calcified shelled egg (Black). Making it more thick and harder to break. It has been noted that the hatchlings have a tough time breaking through the harder shell of the egg. Cause some to die inside the egg making the survival rate lower than other Rhacodactylus species.
What do you guys think the benefit of having a harder shell and not burying them is then burying a soft shelled egg is?
Black, Adam. Crested Gecko. Neptune City: T.F.H. Publications, 2005. Print
Liman, Alfred. Rhacodactylus chahoua. 2006. Photograph. web. 26 April 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhacodactylus_chahoua>
If they eggs are burried it may limit oxygen to the baby geckos if they hatched underground. Also in a rainforest having hard eggs would keep water out. For the survival of the species, the stronger baby geckos that are able to get out of the hard shell carry on that trait for evolution.
ReplyDeleteI think that the hard shell is beneficial because geckos cannot dig very well because they have soft toes made for climbing. Maybe the shell is hard because the gecko leaves the eggs and continues looking for more mates throughout the breeding season. The extra hard shell could offer some of the protection that a parent would if they were there to tend the eggs.
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