Talk:Common house gecko

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Species identification
What is the quick visual identifying difference between the Common House Gecko, scientific name Hemidactylus frenatus and the Mediterranean species Hemidactylus turcicus known as Mediterranean house gecko?

The two juevniles (one on a finger, the other by a coin) and the one eating a spider have strong markings with rather pronounced white tubercles (round nodules found on the skin) along the body and a black-and-white tail. Having seen a Mediteranian house geckoHemidactylus turcicus up close, I am fairly certain those with the white tubercles are H. turcicus rather than H. frenatus. While I'm a biologist I'm no gecko expert, is there someone with a bit of knowledge of these animals that can help sheding some light on this?Petter Bøckman (talk) 17:52, 5 July 2008 (UTC)
 * The photos depend when they were taken. House geckos appear to be very dark during the day and very light (almost white) at night. But sometimes (I am not sure why) juveniles appear dark almost all the time. According to the Mediteranian gecko, It is the same species that are shown on the photos on this page (they are just juveniles). —Preceding unsigned comment added by ZooFari (talk • contribs) 23:10, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
 * So the distinct black and white striped tail is only found in juveniles? I'm still not convinced, the pattern of tubercles seem very different between the two.Petter Bøckman (talk) 08:56, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

We have a lot of these in our house, the coloration of geckos varies depending on their habitata. Geckos who live inside our house, which has white walls are whither than the ones in our laundry which has an unpainted, greyish boulders. The ones in our garden are extremely dark as they usually live in dead tree trunks.--115.85.21.251 (talk) 02:22, 27 September 2012 (UTC)Richmond

Distribution map range - Introduced / Native is inaccurate
The distribution map is grossly out of date based on this species spread through Australia. See http://www.arod.com.au/arod/reptilia/Squamata/Gekkonidae/Hemidactylus/ It would also be useful to differentiate in the map between its native and introduced ranges.--EvenGreenerFish (talk) 00:31, 28 September 2014 (UTC)

I strongly agree with the previous statement. The map is very misleading. The natural range of the species is only a small portion of what is shown, and as an invasive species, the map does not began to show its very extensive distribution in the New World and Africa. --WiLaFa 17:57, 9 February 2020 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wilafa (talk • contribs)

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Collective term "gog"
In 2 places in this article it states the collective term for this gecko is "gog". The reference is to Drs Olivia and Ava Conway, but there is no link to this ref. A Google search does not show any relevant Drs Ava or Olivia Conway who appear to be authorities on geckos.

I suspect this my be a spurious reference. Can anyone confirm the source?

Thanks

Xtal42 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 04:35, 14 February 2019 (UTC)

Possibility of Being an Omnivore
I grew up with House Geckos living in every home I've ever been in and I've seen them eat things that aren't insects or meat. Video of one eating rice, GIF of one eating curry rice. RenzXVI (talk) 12:13, 18 June 2019 (UTC)

Featured picture scheduled for POTD
Hello! This is to let editors know that File:Hemidactylus frenatus mating, ventral view.jpg, a featured picture used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for December 19, 2021. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2021-12-19. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:57, 12 December 2021 (UTC)

Obfuscatory scientificism
"The prospect of increased climate change interacts synergistically with increased urbanisation, greatly increasing the prospective distribution of the common house gecko." = "It is predicted that the range of this species will increase with increased urbanization and climate change." (We already know it's an urban animal, tropical or subtropical in nature, and we know about climate change. What is "increased" climate change?)

"Due to concerns over its potential capacity as an invasive species..." = "Since the species shows the ability to become invasive..."

"Mechanistically, three explanations have been derived to justify the capacity of H. frenatus to outcompete other gecko species:" = "Three proposed ways in which this species competes with other geckos are:"

"Though both sexes use escape sprinting as a survival strategy, males are more likely to need to stop and fight using biting, due to the reduced mobility caused by disproportionate head to hind leg size, which in turn is correlated with localised territorial behaviours." = "Both sexes may run away when threatened, but males are more likely to turn and defend themselves. This may be the result of males having larger heads and smaller hind legs, which is related to the needs of their territorial behavior."

"An active form of this thermoregulation includes the presence of the Gecko in lighter environments, proximal to cracks in the substrate." = "Daytime thermoregulation includes staying near cracks that are warmed by the sun." (?? I am not really sure what this sentence means! "lighter environments," indeed!)

These proposed changes are not perfect. We cannot achieve perfection. But I suspect many of these jargon-laden sentences (and there are others) are copy-pasted from the references. If so, we should not be doing that. Removing this jargon and turning it into encyclopedic language will require a lot of rewriting. Wastrel Way (talk) 14:26, 19 December 2021 (UTC) Eric
 * I agree with your changes and their necessity. Lighter environments means ones with higher reflectivity. Invasive Spices (talk) 19 December 2021 (UTC)