biology

Hemidactylus brookii

Hemidactylus brookii is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hemidactylus brookii rather than just read about it. In short: Hemidactylus brookii, also known commonly as Brooke's house gecko and the spotted house gecko, is a widespread species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. Etymology The specific name, brookii, is in honor of British adventurer James Brooke.

Key takeaways

Hemidactylus brookii belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hemidactylus brookii to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hemidactylus brookii from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hemidactylus brookii, also known commonly as Brooke's house gecko and the spotted house gecko, is a widespread species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae.

Etymology The specific name, brookii, is in honor of British adventurer James Brooke.

Description Snout somewhat longer than the distance between the eye and the ear-opening, nearly twice the diameter of the orbit; forehead concave; ear-opening small, oval, vertical, about one third the diameter of the eye; on the occiput very small round tubercles. Rostral quadrangular, with a median cleft; nostril bordered by the rostral, the first upper labial and three nasals, the upper not in contact with its fellow. Eight to ten upper and seven to nine lower labials; mental large, triangular; two or three pair of chin-shields, median forming - a suture. Scales of the throat granular. Body covered with small granules, intermixed with large keeled trihedral tubercles, arranged in 16-20 longitudinal series, the keels of the outer ones indistinct; the diameter of the largest tubercles on the flanks exceeds the diameter of the ear-opening. Ventral scales larger than those on the throat, cycloid, imbricate. Male with 7-20 femoral pores on each side. Tail depressed, annulate, with rows of 8 or 6 spine-like tubercles, below with a series of transversely dilated plates. Limbs granular, the upper part of the hind limb with large keeled tubercles; digits free, dilated, the free distal joint long, 3-6 lamellae under the inner, 6-8 under the median toes. Yellowish-brown above with irregular dark spots; one or two dark lines on the side of the head, passing through the eye; lips with dark bars. Lower parts white; all the scales finely dotted with dark brown. Young specimens have cross lines of white tubercles on the back; those on the tail all white. Length of head and body 58 millimetres (2.3 in), tail 60 millimetres (2.4 in).

Geographic range By subspecies:

brookii Senegal, Togo, Angola, Cape Verde, Tanzania, [South Africa], Gambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Sudan (Dagana + Goree Dondo/Cuanza River Atakpame). India (Himalaya), Bhutan, Thailand (HR 33: 322), Maldives, Malaysian Peninsula, Sri Lanka, Myanmar (= Burma) (Tsagain), Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia (Borneo). Mexico, Honduras, Haiti, Antilles, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Port-Au-Prince, Trinidad, Colombia angulatus: Sudan, Uganda, south to Tanzania, west to Senegal. Zanzibar, Pemba Island. Type locality: West coast of Africa = Gabon [angulatus] leightoni: Venezuela (Zulia), Colombia Type locality: "Ada Foah (Guinea)" [= Ghana] [Hemidactylus guineensis PETERS 1868]

References

Further reading Annandale N (1905). "Notes on some Oriental geckos in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, with Descriptions of new Forms". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Seventh Series 15: 26-32. Bauer AM, Günther R (1991). "An annotated type catalogue of the geckos (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) in the Zoological Museum, Berlin". Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin 67: 279-310. Bauer AM, Pauwels OSG, Sumontha M (2002). "Hemidactylus brookii brookii, distribution". Herpetological Review 33: 322. Das I (2006). A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Borneo. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. ISBN 0-88359-061-1. (Hemidactylus brookii, p. 101). Gleadow F (1887). "Description of a new lizard from the Dangs". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 2: 49-51. Gray JE (1845). Catalogue of the Specimens of Lizards in the Collection of the British Museum. London: Trustees of the British Museum. (Edward Newman, printer). xxviii + 289 pp. (Hemidactylus brookii, new species, p. 153). Mitchell JC, Zug GR (1988). "Ecological observations on the gecko Hemidactylus brookii in Nepal". Amphibia-Reptilia 9: 405-413. Powell R, Maxey SA (1990). "Hemidactylus brookii ". Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles. No. 493.

External links Hemidactylus brookii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database "Brook's House Gecko (Hemidactylus brookii) | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service".

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hemidactylus brookii

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hemidactylus brookii claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hemidactylus brookii before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hemidactylus brookii ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hemidactylus brookii

In research: Hemidactylus brookii appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hemidactylus brookii in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hemidactylus brookii is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Fauna of Southeast Asia, Hemidactylus, IUCN Red List least concern species, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hemidactylus brookii outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hemidactylus brookii in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hemidactylus brookii means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hemidactylus brookii out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hemidactylus brookii in simple terms?

Hemidactylus brookii, also known commonly as Brooke's house gecko and the spotted house gecko, is a widespread species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. Etymology The specific name, brookii, is in honor of British adventurer James Brooke.

Why does Hemidactylus brookii matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hemidactylus brookii?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hemidactylus brookii.