Head to head
Skink vs Gecko
Skinks and geckos are the two biggest families of lizards, and between them they account for a large share of the small lizards people see on walls, paths, and leaf litter around the world. They are easy to separate once you know a few features, above all the skin, the eyelids, and whether the animal makes a noise.
| Skink | Gecko | |
|---|---|---|
| Family | Scincidae, around 1,700 species | Gekkota, around 1,500 to 2,000 species |
| Skin and scales | Smooth, glossy, flat overlapping scales | Soft, loose, often granular or bumpy |
| Eyelids | Movable eyelids, can blink | Usually none; a fixed clear scale, licked clean |
| Voice | Usually silent | The only vocal lizards; clicks, chirps, barks |
| Feet | Plain clawed feet; short legs | Sticky hair-covered toe pads on climbing species |
| Active when | Mostly by day | Mostly at night, except the day geckos |
| Body shape | Cylindrical, wedge head, long taper; many legless | Broader head, big eyes, softer outline |
| Tail | Dropped readily, often bright in the young | Dropped readily |
Skink vs Gecko: common questions
How can I tell a skink from a gecko at a glance?
Look at the skin and think about the time of day. A skink has skin that looks wet-shiny and tight, made of small flat scales, and it is usually seen out in sunshine, moving fast and low with a smooth wriggle before disappearing into a crack. A gecko has skin that looks soft and slightly rough or beaded, a bigger-eyed, blunter-faced head, and is most often seen at night, especially on walls and ceilings near lights. If the lizard is clinging to a vertical pane of glass or upside down on a ceiling, it is almost certainly a gecko, because that grip is a gecko speciality. And if it makes any sound at all, a chirp, a click, or a bark, it is a gecko, since skinks are silent.
Are skinks and geckos closely related?
They are both lizards, in the order Squamata, but they sit on different branches and are not each other's closest relatives. Geckos are one of the oldest lizard groups and split off early, which is reflected in some primitive features such as the lack of eyelids in most species. Skinks belong to a large, more recently diversified group that also includes the wall lizards, whiptails, and night lizards. Their broad similarity, being small, common, ground-dwelling insect eaters that drop their tails, comes from filling similar roles rather than from close kinship, and there are plenty of differences in the skeleton, the skull, and the reproduction that keep the two families clearly distinct.
Which makes a better pet, a skink or a gecko?
Both families contain good beginner pets and demanding ones. Among skinks, the blue-tongued skinks are large, calm, long-lived, and become genuinely tame, and are a popular first lizard, while many small skinks are too fast and shy to enjoy handling. Among geckos, the leopard gecko and the crested gecko are two of the most recommended starter reptiles, being hardy, slow, and tolerant, while the tokay gecko is large, loud, and famously bad-tempered. As a rough guide, a ground-dwelling skink or a leopard gecko suits someone who wants a lizard to handle, and a crested or day gecko suits someone happy to watch a climber in a planted tank. All should be captive-bred rather than wild-caught.