Growing up in a rough world: scaling of frictional adhesion and morphology of the Tokay gecko (Gekko gecko)

• Anthony J. Cobos and
• Timothy E. Higham

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1292–1302, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.107

• . We found that setal length scaled with negatively allometry, but toepad area scaled with isometry. Setal density remained constant across the wide range in body size. The relationship between body mass and adhesive performance was generally similar across all surfaces, but rough surfaces had much

• lower values than smooth surfaces. The safety factor went down with body mass and with surface roughness, suggesting that smaller animals may be more likely to occupy rough substrates in their natural habitat. Keywords: allometry; biomechanics; ecology; habitat; ontogeny; substrate; Introduction

• been found to increase with body size in the southern African gecko Chondrodactylus bibronii [38]. Beyond intraspecific scaling, a recent study found extreme positive allometry in toepad area among animals that have adhesive pads, from mites to geckos [39]. Thus, it is likely that animals of different