Scientists illuminated by glow of desert geckos found in UAE
▶ Neon green fluorescence may enable members of the same species to find each other
A study has for the first time shed light on the illuminating ability of the UAE’s desert-dwelling geckos to glow in the dark.
Three nocturnal species of the diminutive lizard, all common in sandy areas of the country, were found to have prominent skin fluorescence only previously seen in geckos in the sprawling Namib desert of southern Africa.
Researchers made the discovery during a field trip to a desert area of Sharjah in June 2022, and subsequently observed it three times last year: in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, in April; in Nizwa, Oman, in May; and in Sharjah, for a second time, in June.
The fluorescence is thought to enable the reptiles to see other members of the same species, which may help the creatures to mate.
“One night we were looking with the ultraviolet light and we saw that, actually, these desert geckos were fluorescing. It was very surprising for us,” said Bernat Burriel-Carranza of the Museum of Natural Sciences of Barcelona, one of the authors of the study.
“It was an extremely bright neon-green colouration, similar to the one that had already been reported in Namibian desert geckos.
“Once we saw that was happening, in the other expeditions we were trying to focus on this and to find these specimens.”
Bright fluorescence, often around the eye and on the flanks, was observed in two species – the dune sand gecko (Stenodactylus doriae) and the Arabian web-footed sand gecko (Trigonodactylus arabicus) – which inhabit sandy environments with little vegetation.
The eastern sand gecko (S leptocosymbotes) also showed fluorescence, although less prominently, around its eyes and on its flanks.
A fourth species, Slevin’s sand gecko (S slevini), had just a small amount of flourescence around its eye.
Also among the authors of the study, published in the Journal of Arid Environments, is Johannes Els of the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife, part of the Environment and Protected Areas Authority in Sharjah.
The fluorescence can be seen by humans only if a UV lamp is shone on the animals, but is probably visible to geckos without UV illumination, because their eyes can detect light outside the spectrum perceptible to humans.
Fluorescence has previously been observed in six gecko species, but only one of these – the nocturnal web-footed gecko, found in the Namib desert in Africa – fluoresces from its skin. These animals fluoresce around their eyes and on their lower flanks, probably so the creatures can spot one another.
This enables the geckos to mate or to lick water that has condensed on each other’s bodies, a useful way to hydrate in a desert.
The nocturnal web-footed gecko’s ability to fluoresce is thought to have evolved separately from that of the geckos in Arabia.
“It seems that this type of mechanism can be very useful to communicate in deserts because they have evolved this fluorescence independently,” Mr Burriel-Carranza said.
The position of the skin fluorescence on the lower parts of the geckos’ bodies may ensure that the animals are less visible to predators.
“Predators might also see UV light, so this is probably why they have it underneath or on their sides only and not on their back,” said Salvador Carranza, a professor at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology at CSIC-Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, and the senior author of the study.
“There is a compromise between communication and also being attacked by other animals. Sometimes there is a trade-off.”
If the animals are alarmed, they tend to press themselves against the ground and hide their flanks, indicating that the geckos are probably aware that these areas are more easily spotted by predators.
With some other species of gecko, the fluorescence comes from the bones, and are visible because the animals’ skin is thin and translucent.
“It’s very clear when you see the bone is fluorescing, because you will see for example the ulna, the tibia, a specific bone,” Mr BurrielCarranza said. Photographs
taken as part of the study show that, as well as skin fluorescence, the dune sand gecko demonstrates bone fluorescence in its tibia.
While not confirmed from tissue studies, those species of gecko in the Arabian Peninsula that fluoresce from their skin are thought to do so as a result of iridophores, which are stacks of cells that give off light.
Prof Carranza said that the species in Arabia that have been found to fluoresce often live in remote desert areas
that tend not to be developed. They are classified, he said, as being of “least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, indicating that they are not threatened.
They differ from the house geckos familiar to many UAE residents.
“Some of the animals that appear in the paper, they are some of the most common night geckos in the deserts of Arabia. You can find them everywhere from Saudi Arabia to Oman to the UAE,” Prof Carranza said.
We were looking with the UV light and saw that these desert geckos were flourescing. It was very surprising for us
BERNAT BURRIEL-CARRANZA Evolutionary biologist