What does a gecko's knob do?

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Hey Codered,
As far as hunting in the dark goes- you may notice they have rather large eyes well adapted for nocturnal hunting ! lol
Of course these aren't a guarantee they will catch prey - they would have to be the worst hunting reptile on the planet!!! :wink:
Scotchbo - As far as the fake head idea goes - their head is 100 time bigger than the knob.
I reckon it is used like a mace - club the cricket over the head when they are in range. Have you heard the little bell inside? Its for crickets to find them in the dark
Lucky they are such fun to watch to 'prove theories'
Cheers
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[CodeRed]

Yeah its funny how bad they are at catching insects. Half the time they end up with a mouthful of sand instead of the insect

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Very clumsy feeders!!!!
I pull the rear legs of the crix to give the amyae more of a chance.
Cheers
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[OzGecko]

Hi all,
Just thought I would ad my 2 cents worth to the discussion. As previously mentioned, I too have noticed that my animals are clumsy hunters and tend to use movement to find their prey. I think they use their knob to make vibrations and noise to get the prey to move so they know where it is.

Daniel

[CodeRed]

That sounds very plausible Daniel.

[deathinfire]

Great topic by the way codered
All the suggestions are great

Heres my input on the topic
If it was used to detect subtle vibrations on the ground, wouldnt their feet be more efficient at doing this as there is more surface area on the sole of their feet in contact with the ground compared to the tip of a little knob

This may sound like abit of a wild theory, but could it be used to mark a trial in the sand, so that it can relocated itself back to its hide after a night of wondering? either by making visual tracks in the sand or the secretion of some form of pheramone Has their been studies of the presence of chemical cues used in reptiles/geckos etc...

Also it may not serve a purpose at all, it may be as useful as the function of nipples on a male

[Monkeyman]

Also it may not serve a purpose at all, it may be as useful as the function of nipples on a male

i don't see why they would have evolved it then :p