If you live in a warm climate you may have the experience of seeing a lizard walking up your glass door or window. This amazing reptile is the “gecko.” It appears that he has the ability to hold onto virtually any surface no matter how smooth. The questions that has plagued scientists for years is how?
Until recently, this ability was thought to revolve around the thousands of fibers, arranged like the tufts of bristles on a toothbrush, on the gecko’s feet. While these fibers are unique, they simply do not explain the ability to walk on glass!! Recently, using a powerful scanning electron microscope at magnifications up to 35,000 diameters, a series of remarkable photographs was produced which revealed millions of fine fibers tipped with suction cups on the gecko’s feet. It is estimated that there are at least 500 million suction cups on his toes, each about an 8 millionth of an inch in diameter. In addition, the gecko’s feet are designed in such a manner allowing the tips of the toes to bend or curl upward enabling him to peel off the suction cups gradually, preventing him from becoming too firmly attached to the surface.
The extraordinary microscopic structure on the gecko’s toes clearly shows intelligent, purposeful design. No schemes that might be made up to explain the suction cups by random mutations or natural selection could explain it completely, for there is no evidence in the fossil records of any structure leading up to such an ability.
