An Amusing Look at the Unique Physiology of Geckos

In an amusing episode of the True Facts series, narrator Ze Frank recounts the unique physiology of geckos, noting how these little lizards are so different than the rest of their species.

About 200 million years ago, some real “do it your own way” sorts of lizards split off from the rest. 

These differences include the absence of eyelids, nocturnal hunting, and small, hairy feet.

While the other lizards were mainly hunting during the day, these ones figured that at night the line would be shorter at the buffet. So, these little plucky bastards evolved incredibly sensitive night vision….And as if that wasn’t enough, they told evolution to get rid of the eyelids. …Many geckos, especially the ones good at climbing, have these pads on their toes.If you take a cross-section of the foot, you can see that these pads are made out of little tiny hairlike structures called setae.