Image courtesy of Rory Stansbury/Island Conservation
Joel Kontinen
Leaf-toed geckos were thought to be locally extinct on
Rabida Island, but the diminutive reptiles have re-emerged after a campaign to
eliminate invasive rats.
Can geckos
grow small? Researchers have found a gecko that is only 8 centimetres long on
the Galapagos islands, They though that rats have eaten them.
Tiny
gecko has been rediscovered on Rábida Island in the Galápagos, where it was
believed to have been wiped out by invasive rats.
The
leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus maresi), whose adults are just 8 centimetres
long, was previously only known to have existed on Rábida from 5000-year-old
fossil records. But teams collected live specimens during expeditions in 2019
and 2021, which have now been officially confirmed as this species.
Source:
Graeme Green 2025 Tiny elusive gecko rediscovered on one of the Galapagos islands | New Scientist 22 July
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