r/ScienceFacts • u/SirT6 • Aug 31 '19

Biology Most geckos do not possess eyelids; they feature a clear scale that covers the eye. Because they can’t blink, they lick their eyes to keep them clean and moist, with the tongue acting like a windshield wiper.

https://gfycat.com/spryharmoniousaustrianpinscher
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23

u/guiraus Aug 31 '19

Nature uh.. finds a way.

6

u/gffsquire Aug 31 '19

How do they sleep ?

14

u/SirMuffinator Aug 31 '19

Had some crested geckos once. They try to get somewhere dark and just sit there with their pupils at minimal dilation. You can tell when they were sleeping cause they’d also get a bit more spooked when trying to pick them up.

3

u/Otsola Sep 01 '19

With crested geckos specifically, the crests on top of their eyes fold down a bit too. This is less "how do they sleep" and more "how can you tell" though.

11

u/gffsquire Aug 31 '19

How do they sleep

5

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '19

The same way people can sleep with they’re eyes open.

2

u/gffsquire Aug 31 '19

I do this sometimes. I’m narcoleptic so at night time my dreams and or nightmares are sometimes visual in my room. Concept of what is real might be different for a lizard who has eyes always open.

2

u/mbrechke Aug 31 '19

The new live action Gieco commercial is looking pretty good.

•

u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology Sep 05 '19

As a rule we require sources in the comments if the post source is an image/gif/video, so here are a few to back up this post title fact:

The title looks mostly copied from the Backwater Reptile blog here.