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A Baby Large-Headed Gecko like a "?"


A Baby Large-Headed Gecko like a
Photo Information
Copyright: Bayram Gocmen (boreocypriensis) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3981 W: 153 N: 4792] (12682)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-04-06
Categories: Reptiles
Camera: Olympus C-5060WZ
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Theme(s): Turkish Herpetofauna [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-07-22 0:39
Viewed: 789
Favorites: 2 [view]
Points: 70
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Stenodactylus grandiceps (Large-headed Thin-toed Gecko) (in Turk. Tombul Keler, Kocabaş Keler) (A Baby, Juvenile)

Dear Friends, another baby gecko but today I would like to hear your comments on what does this cute baby looks like? :)
Hoping that you like this shot as previous ones!

Cheers,

Bayram

Ps. The name of the species, i.e., grandiceps came after the Latin words grand= "big" + ceps= "head".

*****************************

This lovely gecko species is distributed in Iraq, N. Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan and the westernmost part of SE Anatolia (Turkey). In Turkey, It is represented with some isolated small populations in Kilis province (I do not give their exact localities to protect them against to gecko-hunters).

It is a strictly nocturnal, medium-sized (up to 9-10 cm total length but the males are usually smaller) terrestrial gecko, without adhesive pads on fingers. The head is fairly broad and large, snout relatively rounded. The eyes are large and prominent, with a vertical pupil. Ear opening is small and rounded. The digits and toes lack adhesive pads and they have one row of scales (sometimes these scales shows a tricarinate structure). The tail is relatively thick, elongated conical, gradually tapered to a not very fine point. Coloration is variable especially "depending on age". They are usually grayish, brownish or yellowish above, with whitish or yellowish dots of irregular size. A more or les developed darker pattern, consisting of 3-5 transversal cross-bands is seen on dorsal side. The tail is generally has some dark rings or cross-bands, often nearly completely black, sometimes with a whitish tip. The belly is crème or dirty whitish.

During the daytime, it is hidden in self-dug borrows under stones. It is generally inhabits more burrows. Activity starts with the sunset. They forage for prey with highly arisen tails. When they were encountered with a prey, the tails exhibits lateral undulation, and soon after the dinner Large-headed Gecko shows eye-licking behaviour!. The eyelicking behaviour is definetely spontaneus. When threatened, they adopt a raised, stiff-legged posture. An interesting voice resembling the “whiip” “whiiip” is emitted when touched its tail with finger and soon after it tooks its characteristic posture.

I impressed that Stenodactylus females and juvenilles are especially aggressive. I admire their eye-licking behaviour and the characteristic postures exhibiting when threatened of these lovely geckos.

They feed on various small nocturnal soft-bodied invertebrates including some caterpillars, crickets and grasshoppers. Females lay two hard-shelled, nearly spherical eggs.

References:

1. Göçmen, B. (Unpub. results). The results of herpetological trips.
2. Budak, A. & Göçmen, B. (2005). Herpetology. Ege Üniversitesi Fen Fakültesi Kitaplar Serisi, No. 194, Ege Üniversitesi Basimevi, Bornova-Izmir, 226 pp. [2nd Edition, 2008].
3. Disi, A. M., Modry, D., Necas, P. & Rifai, L. (2001). Amphibians and Reptiles of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Edition Chimaira, 408 pp.
SMYRNA, vanderschelden, jaycee, matatur, haraprasan, zulfu, nkasot, cypturk, xTauruSx, bahadir, eng55, CatherineD, liziafa, red45, montivipera, ramthakur, CeltickRanger, Luis52, yasemin, Jamesp, Juyona, meyerd, maurydv, ammodytes, cicindela has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To matatur: Selamboreocypriensis 1 07-22 08:40
To zulfu: :)boreocypriensis 1 07-22 01:18
To bahadir: :DDDDboreocypriensis 1 07-22 00:53
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Critiques [Translate]

Hello Bayram hocam, she looks like my darling:) because I am waking up with her in these days:). Thanks for sharing this hocam.

Bahadır

Hahaaha...) hi Bayram hocam, Bahadır seems to be happy with this shot I think:).Great shot of this cute baby in all aspects as usual. TFS and Warm regards,
Deniz

Hi Uncle:) this absolutely looks like a puppy:p... Great macro capture as always... warm regards, cypturk

Selam hocam ben birşeye benzetmicem zira bana göre gekko gibi gekko yavrusu ama çok sevimli o kesin. Elinize sağlık.
Kıbrıs'tan selamlar.
Nazım

  • Great 
  • zulfu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 527 W: 0 N: 95] (583)
  • [2008-07-22 1:15]
  • [+]

Bayram hocam burda gerçekten bir bebek tombulluğu var:) Tam da yuvasının yanında çekmişsiniz bunu. Çok güzel olmuş. elinize sağlık.
Mehmet

Hi Friend,

Another beautiful capture of this baby Gecko. To me it looks like a baby velociraptor from the movie Jurassic Park. Cheers. Thanks a lot for sharing.

great, it looks like ET, Ori

  • Great 
  • cako Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 379 W: 0 N: 360] (1947)
  • [2008-07-22 5:29]

Merhaba Bayram bey sayenizde daha neler öğreneceğiz bakalım çok güzel ellerinize sağlık.

Hola Bayram,
TN'yi kapatırken son anda sevimli makronu gördüm, eline sağlık, güzel bir örneği resimlemişsin, biraz kahverengi tonlar gekkonun doğal renklerini örtüyor gibi geldi, WS ile düzeltmeye çalıştım, umarım beğenirsin!
Mehmet
Ps. Hala yazını bekliyorum...

  • Great 
  • jaycee Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1778 W: 8 N: 4597] (14871)
  • [2008-07-22 9:20]

Hi L'il Brother,

They get cuter with each picture. I love the grey shadings on the head and body. Beautiful colors and details of the face and skin. What does she look like? If not for the tail looks like a very young baby trying to crawl.

Jane

Hi Bayram,my little reptil friend is back..ehehhe..very nice pic,a great collection,perfect quality and colors,my best compliments,Luciano

Hello Bayram,
Well done.
Don't know what it looks like as it is so specific...
If you multiply its size by a huge factor one will get a 'friendly' dinosaurus. No, not too much dandelion:-)
Well done
TFS
Annick

Hi Bayram, this is like a Geko:), an other great view of this strange creature with splendid sharpness and fine details, very well done, ciao Silvio

  • Great 
  • meyerd Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 386 W: 63 N: 1137] (3485)
  • [2008-07-22 11:40]

Hi Bayram,

another wonder shot of yours: the gecko appears fragile, translucent, to me not babylike although the snout is short. Magnificient, Bayram. Where do you get all these animals for your collection, you must hve quite a network going...:-)

Best regards
Dietrich

Hi bro Bayram,

what a cute little Geckoo
.
Good pov and sharpness.
Beautiful colours.
What a very beautiful animal.

Gert

  • Great 
  • PeterZ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1199 W: 68 N: 2473] (8159)
  • [2008-07-22 12:25]

Hello Bayram,
Again a very beautiful photo of this baby Gecko. Great quality like the earlier photos of this Gecko.
Regards,
Peter

  • Great 
  • Juyona Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 2036 W: 6 N: 2017] (13253)
  • [2008-07-22 12:28]

Hola Bay,
estupendo disparo y buen pov,
excelente foco y detalles,
saludos amigo.

  • Great 
  • Jamesp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1251 W: 0 N: 4829] (14332)
  • [2008-07-22 14:54]

Hi Bayram

Well for my money - it looks like a baby crawling! :) Nice pose and detail as always.

James

Selam kardesim, aceleyle girdim ve bu guzel misarocukla karsilastim... Yol icin hazirliklar yapiyoruz.. bence de emekleyen bir bebege benziyor...Eline saglik... Leyla

  • Great 
  • Luis52 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1022 W: 5 N: 2801] (10142)
  • [2008-07-22 15:53]

Hola Bayram.
Hermosa foto de este pequeño, su piel luce bellamente a pesar de su edad, los grandes ojos lucen de sobremanera.
Saludos Mi buen amigo.
Luis52.

hello Bayram

another excellent shot of a camouflaged creature in the nature,
fine POV & DOF, excellent sharpness and details, TFS

Asbed

I agree with Annick, Big Bro!
This looks like a kind hearted Dinosaurus!
A lovely shot, as usual!
Goldy

THANK YOU BAYRAM, THIS LOOKS GREAT! :)
HOWARD

I have a soft corner for Geckos, Prof Bayram.
In my solitary days in Saudi Arabia for five years, I had bonded with a family of domestic Geckos giving me company inside my house. Every year, I would see newcomers like the one shown in your picture staring back at me from unexpected places inside the house. You can see a couple of their pictures from that period in my portfolio.
The little one in your picture is really cute and you have captured it with more than just the scientific interest.
Ram

  • Great 
  • clnaef Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 762 W: 58 N: 629] (6452)
  • [2008-07-22 22:55]

Bonjour,
Que voilà un bon spécimen et de bonnes explictions.
Bonne journée.
clnaef

Merhaba Hocam,
Birkaç gündür bakamamıştım, harika bir seri yapmışsınız :) Gerçekten eşsiz fotoğraflar, her haliyle görüntülemişsiniz. Paylaşımınız için teşekkürler.
Saygılar,
Naşit.

  • Great 
  • red45 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2828 W: 75 N: 8007] (26809)
  • [2008-07-23 5:13]

Hello Bayram!

I'm sure that this gecko will become some kind of your logo :-) Another fantastic pose, cute as always and loved by all TN members :-) Thank you for this great serie!

Hi Bayram,
Very nice shot - very funny :-)
Very good composition.
Well done!
TFS Malgosia

Hello Bayram,
Amazing photo of this cute baby. I wonder how he takes slowly the colours of the sand. Very well done and thanks to share it with us. Best regards,
Catherine

  • Great 
  • eng55 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 353 W: 3 N: 376] (1127)
  • [2008-07-24 4:47]

Merhaba Bayram Bey,
Bu da çok sevimli.Detaylar,netlik,kadraj mükemmel.Sisirilmis,üzerine bastikca ses cikaran oyuncaklara benziyor:)Selamlar,ellerine saglik!

It looks like dino juvs illustrated in cartoons. TFS

Ümit

  •      
  • SMYRNA Silver Star Critiquer [C: 12 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2008-08-03 5:30]

Kanka ne kadar iğrenç adamsın yaf... Hiç mi, tiksinmiyorsun bu fotoları cekerken... Ama bu senin işin dimi :)

Ciao Bayram,
un'altra bellissima immagine di questo giovane geco dai fantastici colori mimetici, il grande occhio suscita una forte simpatia, come sempre la tua impareggiabile tecnica fotografica e le note argute ed esaustive sono eccellenti sotto tutti gli aspetti.
TFS. Maurizio

  • Great 
  • Mana Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1714 W: 24 N: 4988] (16346)
  • [2008-08-18 20:23]

Hi Bayram,
Outstanding shot of this baby Gecko with immaculate sharpness and clear details. Looks so cute and I like the markings on its body. Looks very vulnerable too. Excellent POV and DOF with a very nice composition. Thanks for sharing.
Sumon

merhaba Hocam, bu sevımlı hayvancık için BEBEK soylenebıleccek en guzel soz herhalde. özellıkle basının buyuk olmasından dolayı:D inanılmaz tatlı bı hayvan. bu guzellıği bızımle de paylaştığınız için tesekkurler
saygılarımla
Filiz

And hello again my Friend!
And again fantastic creature! And even if I looked at earlier picture of this species from you, I still can not believe that so strange reptile can leave almost "next to us" :)
I would like to see it someday in the wild :)
TFS and best regards,
Radomir

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