Gecko With Taranaki Stripes

Striped lizards live in Taranaki and they sunbathe near the beach. They're called Taranaki gold striped geckos and their homes are along the Taranaki coast.

David Wilkinson found some gold stripes in 1977 and he was pretty sure they were a separate species. Zoology experts agreed and gave these geckos a very special name. They're called Hoplodactylus chrysosirecticus and they're as interesting as their name.

Rewind

New Zealand has some amazing plants and animals that aren't found anywhere else in the world. We used to have a lot more but they began to die out when people arrived. Now we have a very high extinction rate and a high number of threatened species.

So what was New Zealand like before people arrived? You decide.

True or false?

1. There are no rats.

2. Weta are the biggest insects on earth and hunt like mice.

3. The tallest birds in the world are here.

4. Thick bush grows right down to the sea.

5. The only mammals are bats and marine mammals like seals.

Answers at the bottom of the page.

Lizard landing

Lizards evolved during the Mesozoic Era - about 248 million years ago to 65 million years ago. The earth was warmer, the sea level higher, and there was no polar ice. Continents were jammed together at the beginning of the Mesozoic Age and began to break apart around the middle of this era.

Look here to see when and how New Zealand broke away from the big continent Gondwana.

It's thought that lizards made it to New Zealand after it broke away.  How could that happen? Sketch a step by step guide showing how you think lizards got here. Compare your idea with those of your classmates.

Answers at the bottom of the page.

A gecko or a skink?

Geckos and skinks are our two types of native lizard so... what am I?

1. I belong to an ancient and primitive lizard family the Geckonidae. I am a?

2. I have a firm skin with shiny overlapping scales. I am a?

3. I have a loose wrinkled skin with granular scales. I am a?

4. Sometimes I shed my skin all in one piece. I am a?

5. I belong to large family called the Scincidae. I am a?

6. Out of the two of us I have probably been in New Zealand the longest. I am a?

7. My skin comes off in small pieces and not all at once. I am a?

8. I move the fastest. I am a?

9. I have sticky feet and can run up smooth vertical walls and even travel upside down parallel to the ground. I am a?

10. I am known as the Taranaki Gold Striped. I am a?

Answers at the bottom of the page.

Word watch

All the words and phrases below are in this week's story. Choose the best meaning and check your answers as you read the story.

1. visualise (a) to see an image in the mind's eye or (b) unable to work out

2. a whole raft of  (a) a great number or (b) a small group

3. forged the way (a) finding the direction or (b) moving ahead steadily

4. tradable commodity (a) something useful that can be traded or (b) something precious

5. exotic gecko (a) gecko from other countries or (b) unusual or excitingly strange gecko

6. gecko's natural habitat (a) where the gecko normally lives (b) the place the gecko migrates to

7. safe haven (a) an artificial home like an aquarium or (b) a place that is safe from enemies

8. gestation period (a) lifespan or (b) time span of pregnancy

9. roes (a) a mass of eggs or (b) a lining that protects the eggs

10. akin (a) completely different or (b) very much the same

Answers at the bottom of the page.

Need a lizard?

David Wilkinson has been a lizard man since 1975. Read the first part of this week's story and find out these things:

1. Who did David first catch some skinks for?

2. How did David become an expert lizard investigator?

3. What important "discovery" did David make?

"Strange things" according to the story, were passed over the pharmacy counter where David worked. Write a caption for the cartoon or two speech bubbles to match the characters.

A close look

Read "climbing the wall" and work out the piece of evidence in the "Gecko or a skink" puzzle above, that told David the lizard on the wall, was not a skink.

This part of the story tells us that little research had been done on native lizards in the 1970s and that people like David now know a lot more. So,which creatures did people study then? Make a "high five" list of New Zealand creatures that you think scientists would have known the most about by the 1970s.

Compare your list with a classmate's and decide if there is a common reason as to why these animals might have been the most studied. For example was it because they were the cutest or perhaps the most dangerous?

Answers at the bottom of the page.

Buckets of geckos

The next two parts of the story will tell you how David was able to find so many of the little lizards and why the gold striped gecko became known as a distinct species. Read through to "A class of its own."

Design an identification card to help young zoologists recognise Taranaki's gold striped gecko. The only words on this card will be, "Taranaki Gold Stripe Gecko," so everything else needs to be shown with pictures and diagrams.

Here is some more information to go with the details you read in the story. It comes from the Concise Natural History of New Zealand, by Harriet Fleet.

• The gold striped gecko seems to only live near human habitations.
• It is up to 14 centmetres long.
• It is largely nocturnal.
• It hunts ground living insects and spiders.

David has also found that flax seems to be the gold striped gecko's natural habitat.

Should people collect?

"A class of its own," is all about the lizard collection trade. Read this part of the story and then team up with a classmate and decide whether lizard collections are a good idea. Do they help or hinder the development of lizard populations? Decide as a pair whether you are for or against collections and jot down some points that you could use in a debate about this topic.

Share your ideas in class or better still have a debate... if you can find a pair with a different point of view.

The great escape

The next part of the story tells you where the little gecko in the cartoon might be heading to. Read "Velvet beauties head for flax" and find out.

Home sweet home

"Food and drop-in haven," tells you why flax is such a perfect habitat for the gold striped gecko. The cartoon above gives a clue but read on and then draw your own picture. The story lists at least five reasons why the gold striped gecko has chosen flax for its home. Make sure your picture shows each one.

Our theory Use

Read the part of the story with the title, "Babies not eggs."

Now that's interesting. New Zealand's geckos give birth to babies while nearly all the other geckos in the world lay eggs. Why would this be?

Pair up with a classmate and come up with a theory that explains just why our geckos are so different. Share your ideas in class but make your idea sound more believable than anyone else's. Have a class vote to see which idea sound the most scientific.

Geckos at your place?

Barbara says she has seen signs of geckos living in her house in the middle of New Plymouth. From what you now know about where they like to live and what they eat, work out the perfect place for them to live at your place. Remember a flax bush is an ideal gecko home. The habitat at your place would need just as many good qualities.

Sketch and label the habitat at your place that you think a colony of gold stripes would like.

Beware of the enemy

Finish the story now and decide on gecko enemy number one. Seven enemies are listed in the story but which one do you think is the worst? List some reasons for your choice then compare your ideas with others.

Fast forward

Moreporks, blackbirds and kingfishers hunt lizards. Now magpies are chasing humans. One or more of the big black and white birds have been dive bombing New Plymouth cyclists. They're serious attacks!

The Taranaki Daily News reports:

• Ian Paul spent 10 days in hospital after a magpie knocked him off his bike. He broke his collar bone and four ribs.
• Mike Baldwin was hit on the helmet and when he turned around he was hit in the eye. He needed medical treatment for a cut on his eyeball.
• Mark Baldwin's bomber left scratches on his helmet and then attacked again when Mark repaired a puncture.
• Dean Hickey was belted in the side of the head. He lost his balance and ended up grazed at the side of the road.
• All four cyclists were hit by the Barrett Rd bomber but there are reports of diving magpies in other parts of Taranaki.

The Taranaki Regional Council now plans to hunt the troublemakers down. They will shoot, trap or poison mischievous magpies. TRC operations director Dex Knowles says the number of bad birds is increasing and more cages are being handed out to catch them.

Ian Paul wonders why the Barrett Rd bomber hasn't been shot. What do you think? Should this magpie get the death sentence or be caught and released? Decide on a solution in a small group but list some consequences for your action.

Look here for some great facts to help you work out a solution.

Answers

Rewind

All true this week.

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Word Watch

1.a, 2.a, 3.b, 4.a, 5.b, 6.a, 7.b, 8.b, 9.a, 10.b.

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Lizard landing

The sea would not have stopped lizards arriving in New Zealand. Lizards are great sailors. They can raft long distances on drifting logs and other vegetation. Does your step by step guide show this?

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Gecko or skink?

1. gecko, 2. skink 3. gecko 4. gecko 5. skink 6. gecko 7. skink 8. skink 9.gecko 10. gecko

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A close look evidence

Number 9 - the sticky feet evidence

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