# Aaron Bauer's gecko

Aaron Bauer's gecko (Hemidactylus aaronbaueri) is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is also referred to as the African House Gecko. Geckos as an overall family in comparison to other reptiles are known to be invasive. They were discovered to have emerged in a remote area known as Lom Yen Cave. They are endemic to Laos in which the remote region lies. The common name of the gecko "Aaron Bauer's Gecko" is derived from a well-known biology professor at Villanova University in the state of Pennsylvania (US). This species of gecko is closely related to five other species as well.

## Etymology

The specific name, aaronbaueri, is in honor of American herpetologist Aaron M. Bauer, PhD..

## Background on Aaron Bauer

Aaron Matthew Bauer grew up in and first found his love of reptiles in Long Island, New York at the young age of five. By that age, he knew he wanted to be a herpetologist and his interests only grew from there. He eventually studied at the University of Michigan receiving his bachelor's degree in science and then graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a Ph.D. Over the last thirty years, he has since done field work in over 29 countries and described more than seven percent of the 1,800 living geckos. Bauer has also published hundreds of articles and literature including the "atlas of life" regarding lizards and a John's Hopkins Press published book "Geckos: The Animal Answer Guide". The renowned herpetologist has been rewarded many accomplishments for his works and has countless affiliations with societies and universities all over the world. He now resides outside of Philadelphia near Villanova with his wife, Monica, and pet Maltese, Bertie. Currently, he is as a professor and Gerald M. Lemole Endowed Chair in Integrative Biology at the University of Villanova since 1988 while still researching and discovering geckos, much like the Aaron Bauer gecko.

## Geographic range

H. aaronbaueri itself is found in Khammouane Province, Laos. While there is not a great amount of information regarding the geographic range of H. aaronbaueri, there is more information available on the locations of the whole genus. Speaking in terms of the Hemidactylus genus as a whole, they are typically spread out through the Mediterranean areas and Southern Asia. Many species in this genus are also found throughout India. There just are over twenty species geographically distributed in the Republic of India specifically. In the state Gujarat in India, there are close to ten more species in this genus found. In addition to all of the species found in India mentioned before, more members of the Hemidactylus are dispersed in neighboring countries as well as immense regions of Asia.

## Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of H. aaronbaueri are forest, caves, and rocky areas, at altitudes of 150–200 m (490–660 ft). Geckos live on all continents of the world except Antartica. Specifically, the Aaron Bauer gecko resides on the continent of Asia in Khammouane Province, Laos. This territory is a region found in Thailand where there are many sites to see, yet a large quantity of untouched land. The terrain in this region consists of limestone mountains with lush forests and various caves. The specific isolated cave region in the Loas territory, known as Lom Yen Cave, where the species is found, is made up of the limestone in a remote, karst mountain in the range.

## Description

H. aaronbaueri is medium-sized for its genus. Maximum recorded snout-to-vent length (SVL) is 8 cm (3.1 in). This is different from average geckos that vary in lengths from 18 cm to 30 cm. The back side of this organism consists of about six off-white dots along the spine that are intermixed with yellow patterning, all of which extend from the neck to the base of the spine. On the sides of their bodies, there are groups of more off-white dots patterned with darker-colored markings outlined in yellow in the middle of limb attachments. This species of gecko also has approximately 100 rows of even flat scales on the dorsal side. Aaron Bauer geckos can also be described as rupicolas (associated with rocks). Due to the fact the species is also in the family Gekkonidae, this means the gecko has toe pads for scaling large rocks or any other surface.