Gekkon

* Male
* Female
* Juvenile Male
* Juvenile Female

## General Info

Gekkons are medium carnivores, and are diurnal species. Males are completely terrestrial because they are to bulky to climb trees properly, while the females and young of both genders are semi-arboreal, and prefer to be in the trees, but also spend some time on the ground. Male gekkons are much larger than the females, and are much heavier too and their tails are very strong, and they can use it as a powerful whip. Gekkons usually prefer densely forested areas, and only leave the forest to hunt large herbivores on the open plains. Gekkons prefer the company of others, and hunt together in hunting parties. They can also be pretty aggressive and are known for a very bad temper, even attacking creatures much larger than themselves, only retreating when a massive creature, or a large group of similarly sized creatures attacks them. Gekkons usually live to be 35 if they can survive in the harsh world, but few individuals can live longer, and the oldest gekkon observed was 62 years old! Male gekkons usually communicate through deep bellowing roars, meanwhile females are quieter and communicate through hissing and grunting. Female gekkons and their young live high in trees, but will come down when leaving for a hunt, or socializing all together. Gekkons make nests in the trees, either for sleeping in or for laying their eggs, These nests are usually made up of leaves. Gekkons will lay about 7 to 23 eggs, most of which do not survive.

## Juvenile Behavior

When Gekkon hatch they immediately cling to their mothers back for safety until they are too big for her to carry. When a mother has young on her back, she usually stays in the trees and will have food brought to her by other females she has made friends with. Once they get too big, the mother will go onto the ground and shake them off, to which the young respond with trying to climb back on her. The mother has to be very stern and will hiss at them until they understand that they cannot be on her back anymore. They are usually kicked off the mothers back at around 2 years old. When on the ground the young have to be very wary of their father. Even though male gekkons don't deliberately kill their own offspring, they wont hesitate to kill ones that bother him too much, or if he is starving. The females don't pay much attention to their young once they are off their backs, so the young gekkons learn to find safety in each other. Gekkons usually start out quadrupedal, and can only stand on 2 legs for short bursts. But as they get older they will start to become more and more bipedal.

Because of their mothers not protecting them anymore they become much more distant and prefer to stick with others their age. And while they cant do much on their own, when they are together they are (usually) safe from predators. The only constant threat is their father, whom they fear more than most other creatures. When they get older, all of the young are kicked out of the gang, and so, with each other they find a new forest to call home. This is around 5 years of age. And they will stay together for a while until they reach sexual maturity (which is around 8 years) the males will leave. Males will either look for a lone gang of females, or a gang with a with a male, whom they fight for the right to be the only male of the gang. And females will start their own gang as they wait for a male to show up.

## Behavior

Gekkon are very hot-headed creatures, and are only friendly to their own gang. These gangs consist of only 1 male (very weak individuals will sometimes have 2 or 3 other related males.) and around 10 to 25 females. The females are usually all related, and share very strong bonds. The male will stick on the ground around the trees the females stay in. Male gekkon will establish a territory around the forested area they inhabit.

## Competition

Gekkon are very territorial, and do not allow any other carnivore in their territory or hunting ground, neither do they allow large herbivores or particularly aggressive ones in. Most creatures dont mess with Gekkon, due to their very aggressive behavior, and their large numbers. Both female and male gekkons will ferociously defend their territory, grouping together and mobbing any invading creatures. Gekkons also have a special hatred towards salormandons due to both competing for the same food. Gekkons will also have turf wars with rival gangs.

## Hunting Instinct

Lone Gekkons are nomadic and dont have a designated hunting ground. Lone Gekkon usually hunt anything the same size as they are, or smaller. Meanwhile gekkons living in gangs have a separate hunting ground from their home territory, these hunting grounds are usually in open plains, so they can hunt medium, large, and occasionally giant herbivores. Gekkons have very organized hunting parties, usually having the male and his favored females accompanying him. Females are faster and will herd the herbivores toward the male, who will leap from cover and attack an herbivore, preferably weak, sick, or young ones. When eating, the social hierarchy is completely gone as they all ferociously eat, while also squabbling amongst one another. Even though males are bigger and usually more aggressive, when it comes to food, females turn just as hyper aggressive as the male. When finished eating their fill, they will make very loud echoing calls, that can travel for miles. These calls indicate to the rest of the gang, that its time to temporarily leave the territory to stay at the rendezvous site until the carcass is gone. This is a very dangerous time for young gekkons, as not only do all the members of the gang get extra aggressive when eating, but there are many predators lurking the outside area, watching and waiting for an opportunity to eat. The only food they get is from their mothers, who give a portion to their young even when they are not on their backs anymore. But the independent young do not get the protection that the young still on their mother's backs do.

## Danger Response

Gekkons dont have much to fear. But when a large group of medium carnivores or a large carnivore shows up, the gekkons start to get nervous. When they get nervous, the females will join the male in attempting to chase them off while the young stay in the trees. If the threat does not leave, the gekkons will be forced to leave, and find a new territory.

## Courting and Reproduction

Courting for gekkons is very simple when a male already leads the group. He will mate with the females during the fall, since he has already bonded with them. For males who do not have a gang yet, they either court a gang of females or they will takeover another male's gang, and proceed to court the females. He will also kill any young that are not his. Courting for lone gekkons is a difficult process, as the male will have to allow the females personal space, as he tries to bond with them. At first the male will stay away from the females and protect the territory away from them. As the females warm up to him more, he will join them in hunting, and if he succeeds in multiple hunts, the females will accept him into their gang. That's when he will mate with each one of them. Gekkons are polygamous, meaning only the current dominant male of the gang will have multiple partners. Once the females have mated, they will start creating a nest in the trees, where they will guard those nests for 4 months, and once those eggs hatch, the young will climb onto the mother's back. When female gekkons have young on their back they can be much more aggressive, sometimes snapping at the male, or their sisters when they get too close. Its only until the young are off her back and become independent that she will slowly start to pay less and less attention to them. Only completely paying no attention to them right before they leave.

## Miscellaneous Info

* A group of Gekkon is called a gang.
* Gekkon were the first carnivores to be discovered and now represent Zemdros's carnivores as a whole.

## Previous Iterations

The history of all of my creatures spans back to August 14th 2017, starting with the gnark, on my old DeviantArt page (Which I no longer use). And no matter how far I get, I will always look back and remember the humble beginnings! So lets appreciate the original drawings that made my creatures the way they are today!

The first carnivore! [Publication Date: August/15/2017][Publication Date: August/15/2017][Publication Date: July/24/2019][Publication Date: July/24/2019][Publication Date: April/24/2021][Publication Date: April/24/2021]