The eyes are covered by a transparent scale rather than movable eyelids. Geckos keep their eyes clear by licking them. Each pad consists of thousands of thin membranes arranged like pages in a book. Each membrane, in turn, is covered with hundreds of thousands of tiny, hairlike filaments, and each filament ends in hundreds of spatula-shaped tips. All this makes geckos able to cling to walls and ceilings.
Many geckos have a voice.
The Mediterranean gecko's is a faint mouselike chirp that males use during territorial disputes and when trying to attract females. Both sexes squeak when picked up or handled. A running gecko gets two to four times as much work from its legs as other animals. Scientists would like to know how. TAIL A gecko's only defense is to shed its tail, which thrashes around and distracts a predator, or to literally wiggle out of its skin.