Kingdom:    Animalia  Phylum:    Chordata  Class:    Reptilia  Order:    Squamata  Suborder:    Sauria  Family:    Gekkonidae  Subfamily:    Gekkoninae  Genus:    Agamura  Species:    Persica

Taxonomy of Agamura persica.

Habitat of Agamura persica

Male Agamura persica with fatty deposites.

Agamura persica female shedding.

Female Agamura persica with partially regenerated tail.

Clearly visible "angular bent toes" and hemipenal bulge.

2 Pre-anal pores are visible above the cloacal opening, between the hind legs.

:: Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification. It's a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms.¹ Agamura persica, belonging to the group of "angular toed geckos" are also classified. The schedule on the right shows their taxonomy.

:: Origin

Agamura persica hail from semi-desert regions of Iran and their habitat extends to the east to near Karachi (Pakistan) and to the north towards the Waziristan Hills (Pakistan). But you can also find these geckos in the southwest of Afghanistan.
In this region they inhabit rocky and stony terrain close to sandy semidesert and on the slopes of hills between 25 and 100 m of elevation.
Vegetation in these surroundings is sparse and comprised of grasses. ² Although A. persica are generally nocturnal, during daytime they can frequently be found basking in the sun at temperatures as high as 50°C.
 

:: Appearance

Agamura persica is a medium sized gecko.
Females range from 42 to 77 mm (SVL)³ with a tail length of 34 tot 59 mm. Males stay a little smaller then females. They become approximately 35 tot 65 mm (SVL) with a tail length of 27 to 59 mm.
The upper body of Agamura persica is yellow/brown to fairly dark grey.
The belly and the lower part of the head are light coloured and partially spotted.
Agamura persica have got 5 darker crossbars on their back and 9 to 10 on their tail. breedtestrepen op de rug en 9 tot 10 op de staart.
Lots of gecko species have got "setae", which are densely packed, fine hairs on the feet of the gecko. With these setae the gecko is able to walk up smooth surfaces or even walk upside down on the ceiling. Agamura persica don't have "setae". And you can tell by their angular bent toes with an obvious nail that this gecko is a terrestrial species. These geckos are able to climb rough surfaces and their long and slender legs make them able to jump, what they will surely do.
When A. persica are sexually mature they develop fatty deposits in their armpits of the front legs. When they're visible the animals are old and healthy enough to breed with.

:: Shedding

Just like all other reptiles Agamura persica also needs shed to be able to grow. The frequency of shedding (or scientiffically called ecdysis) between young animals that have just been born and adult Agamura varies a lot. Agamura persica juveniles shed every week for the first few months of their lives, while adults only shed once every few months.
When Agamura persica are about to shed, you notice a change of color of the animal; it becomes greyish or dull. This is because the old skin comes loose.The gecko will try to rip the old skin off it's body by rubbing alongside rocks and will tear the skin off with it's mouth and eventually it will eat the old skin. The order of shedding is almost always the same. The gecko starts with it's head and back, next comes the belly and the last parts are the legs and it's tail.
Agamura persica eat their skin for two reasons.:
1) If a gecko doens't eat it's skin, natural enemies know there's a living prey in the environment,
2) By eating the skin energy that got lost by creating new skin gets compensated.

In opposition to several other gecko species Agamura persica don't need a humid hide in their viv. to make shedding easier. As long as the humidity is around 45% to 50% the gecko normally won't have any trouble shedding. In my experience Agamura persica shed completely in about 30 minutes if there aren't any problems.

:: Autotomy

As a distraction and a possiblility to escape from their enemies, A. persica have got a natural "defence mechanism".
When the gecko feels heavily threatened, or when it's grabbed by the tail, the gecko can sever it's tail. 
This phenomenon is called autotomy.
As soon as the tail is severed it will continue to wriggle, creating a deceptive sense of continued struggle and attracting the predator's attention away from the fleeing prey animal.
Because the geckos tail exists from multiple segments, the animal can detach it's tail at any length. 
The wound that arises heals after a couple of days and within a couple of weeks the tail grows back (regenerates). But it will never be like the original tail. Regenerated tails of A. persica are evenly coloured, thicker, shorter and barely flexible compared to the original tail.

:: Sexing

Sexing adult animals is farely easy.
The males have got an obvious hemipenal bulge and females lack this bulge entirely. Another characteristic to define the gender are the pre-anal pores. Males normally have 2 to 4. But a single pre-anal pore is no exception. Females have no pre-anal pores.
Sexing juveniles is a bit harder. When the animals are born they don't have a hemipenal bulge or pre-anal pores. This will develop after 8 to 12 weeks, but it can take up to 6 months before you can be certain of the gender of the gecko. Is their no bulge visible after 6 months, then you can be sure your gecko is female.

¹ Source: Wikipedia
² Source: "Gekko; The Journal of the Global Gecko Association, Volume Four, Issue Two" M.S. Khan; An Overview of the Angular-toed Geckos of Pakistan.
³ SVL = Snout-Vent Length. This is the length of the gecko from the tip of the nose to the tailbase.