. ▁studied ▁the ▁o ste od erm ▁of ▁Ge ck ole pis ▁c f . ▁mac ul ata ▁using ▁micro - CT ▁and ▁hist ology , ▁and ▁compared ▁it ▁to ▁other ▁ge ck os ▁known ▁to ▁have ▁o ste od erm , ▁namely ▁G ek ko ▁ge cko ▁and ▁Tar ent ola ▁ma ur itan ica . ▁They ▁found ▁that ▁the ▁o ste od erm s ▁differ ▁strongly ▁from ▁those ▁of ▁the ▁other ▁ge cko ▁species ▁that ▁possess ▁them , ▁and ▁represent ▁a ▁third ▁independent ▁conver gent ▁deriv ation ▁of ▁o ste od erm ▁in ▁ge ck os . ▁The ▁o ste od erm ▁of ▁Ge ck ole pis ▁somewhat ▁res emb les ▁that ▁of ▁the ▁G err h osa ur idae ▁or ▁' pl ated ▁l iz ards '. ▁ ▁The ▁scales ▁of ▁Ge ck ole pis ▁were ▁known ▁to ▁come ▁off ▁already ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 th ▁century ; ▁Alfred ▁Vo elt z kow ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 3 ▁described ▁capt uring ▁spec im ens ▁with ▁bund les ▁of ▁cot ton ▁to ▁avoid ▁the ▁scales ▁coming ▁off . ▁Once ▁lost , ▁scales ▁are ▁reg ener ated , ▁and ▁eventually ▁the ▁reg ener ated ▁scales ▁are ▁ind ist ingu ish able ▁from ▁original ▁ones . ▁The ▁mechanism ▁for ▁this ▁scale ▁aut ot omy ▁and ▁the ▁subsequent ▁reg ener ation ▁is ▁not ▁well ▁understood , ▁but ▁was ▁studied ▁by ▁C . ▁Sch ub ert ▁and ▁colle agues . ▁These ▁studies ▁showed ▁that ▁it ▁is ▁not ▁only ▁the ▁scales ▁that ▁are ▁shed