Abstract: The cotton swab method was used to investigate the chemical identification mechanism of the Turpan wonder gecko (Teratoscincus roborowskii) with different types of food. We examined the lingual responses of the Turpan wonder gecko to different food stimuli. Tongue-flick rate (TFR) and tongue-flick attack score (TFAS) were used as indices. The Turpan wonder gecko showed different TFR and TFAS in response to different food stimuli and to different ripeness levels of caper fruit. The gecko showed the highest TFR value in response to ethanol stimulation. When presented with ripe caper fruit, the TFR was significantly higher than that with decayed and unripe fruits. The gecko showed significantly higher TFAS in response to ripe caper fruit and cologne than to distilled water. The TFAS for ripe caper fruit and alcohol was significantly higher than that for decayed caper fruit and distilled water. Our results support the hypothesis that vomeronasal organ of Turpan wonder gecko may play an important role in locating caper fruit and discriminating its ripeness. It verifies that some sit and wait predators have the ability of chemical discriminating and can identify the surrounding environment and prey information by tongue flick.

Key words: root biomass, root morphology, autotrophic respiration., nitrogen addition, forest ecosystem