The Arabian wonder gecko

But it is not a hostile mineral sea of sand that surrounds us. There is life out there which, just as in the seas, is not easily spotted because it largely lies under the surface.

When compared with tropical rainforests, deserts may be considered simple ecosystems with basic food chains, low primary productivity and very low biodiversity. However, these habitats host unique species that show remarkable adaptations to harsh environmental conditions; species that adopt unique physiological, behavioural and morphological strategies to help them survive.

For example, to avoid water and heat related stress, most species are active only at night - such as the sand cat (Felix margarita). Some, like the sand gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa marica), have physiological abilities that permit them to spend months without drinking and extracting water from food.

Others possess a slow digestive process, so they can fast for as long as a year, such as the spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx spp). Still others have long fringed toes - Arabian toad-headed agama (Phrynocephalus arabicus); or hairy feet - Cheesman's gerbil (Gerbillus cheesmani), to limit their contact with the hot sand and enable them to move easily on soft surfaces.

It comes as a surprise to many that barely a kilometre inland from the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, Ethiopian hedgehogs (Paraechinus aethiopicus) used to roam at night, as did also the rare and endangered Sundevall's jird (Meriones crassus), the cape hare (Lepus capensis) and the lesser jerboa (Jaculus jaculus).

Sand boa of Dubailand

Then again, most of us are not even aware that the desert area that is now 'Dubailand,' hosts a boa - the sand boa (Eryx jayakari), and a monitor lizard (Varanus griseus). Both species, together with the recently (in the year 2000) identified Leptien's spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx leptieni), are the only UAE reptile species to receive legal protection status in the country through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, signed in 1990.

A more discrete jewel of the desert in Dubai may soon be living its last moments on Earth: the Arabian wonder gecko, or desert skink gecko (Teratoscincus scincus).

The wonder gecko is beautifully coloured with a combination of pink, orange and black spots. But, just like precious stones, it hard to find because it wanders at night and can only be spotted when its eyeshine sparkles ruby-red under a flashlight.

On the Arabian Peninsula, this specie's distribution is limited to a small area of coastal sands and interior desert between Ghantoot and Umm al Quwain. It is found nowhere else. The gecko, it is believed, requires a sandy habitat with grass nabkhas (Pennisetum sp.) in which to dig stable burrows.

Unknown wonder gecko biology

The Arabian population of the wonder gecko has not yet been studied in detail. Its ecology, behaviour, reproductive biology and relationship with its neighbouring Persian population are still unknown. Indeed, on the other side of the Arabian Gulf, in Iran, a similar wonder gecko was recently elevated to full species status (Teratoscincus keyserlingii).

Since there are differences in the colour pattern between the Iranian and the Emirati wonder geckos the UAE population could belong to a new species or subspecies. If this were the case, the UAE wonder gecko would be UAE's only national endemic reptile species.

The continued survival of this population is, therefore, critical. Due to its restricted distribution and rapid decline of habitat, the Arabian wonder gecko has already been classified as Critically Endangered by the Environmental Agency - Abu Dhabi. The only problem is that its habitat in coastal sands between Ghantoot and Umm al Quwain, is disappearing under land reclamation schemes for real estate development.

What is happening offshore is being replicated in the coastal desert and further inland. A prized terrestrial habitat, home to a unique species, the wonder gecko, is thus vanishing at the same rapid pace as another biologically diverse and productive marine ecosystem of the world: the coral reefs.

So, what is the prospect of the gecko's survival? Like most countries, the UAE has ratified biodiversity and environment-related international conventions. Since the 1990s, the establishment of protected areas in UAE has been gaining momentum and the country now has a strong legal framework to protect the environment.

More than 10 federal laws and 20 emiri decrees concerning the marine and coastal environment alone have been produced by the UAE since its creation in 1971. None of these laws and decrees, however, provide a comprehensive framework for integrated planning and management of the coastal zone. As a beginning, the first Coastal Zone Management Law has recently been proposed for Abu Dhabi.

The salvation of the UAE's rarest species and habitats today depends more than ever on the rapid integration of the environment and its preservation in decision making and development planning (with proper environmental impact assessments) at high local and federal levels.

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picture: © Drew Gardner