Smooth-scaled Narrow-disked Gecko
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| Gekko athymus |
The Smooth-scaled Narrow-disked Gecko (Gekko athymus), also known as Brown's gecko or Brown & Alcala's Gecko is a rare species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae endemic to the lowland old-growth forest habitats of Palawan. While other geckos evolved to thrive in human-altered environments, learning to hunt insects around porch lights or colonizing the dry scrublands created by development, this species remained tethered to its ancestral ways.
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| Gekko athymus |
Its population is limited to the intact lowland forests and lower montane dipterocarp forests of Palawan, where closed canopy and abundant leaf litter maintain the levels of humidity and temperature. It is almost never encountered in second growth forests and appears to be completely absent from heavily disturbed habitats, residential neighborhoods, or agricultural lands.
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| Gekko athymus |
The Gekko athymus is strictly nocturnal. It is sometimes found hunting for food on the forest floor at night but is mostly observed clinging to the massive buttresses and trunks of mature trees or resting on large branches close to the ground. It was found hiding to rest during the day inside tree hollows, between the wide leaf axils of palm and pandanus plants, and also inside the holes of broken bamboos that are growing within forest gaps.
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| Gekko athymus |
Gekko athymus is currently classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, even though its population is widely distributed across the mainland of Palawan. The primary threat to this rare species is its specialized reliance on intact lowland old-growth forests, making it exceptionally vulnerable to habitat degradation. Human activities such as logging, mining, agricultural expansion, and widespread deforestation in the lower elevations continue to shrink the pristine ecosystems it requires to thrive.