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Is an international agreement between 184 states that seeks to ensure that the international wildlife trade does not threaten the survival of endangered species.Īs such, the researchers call for the continued permission for a small number of the geckos to be exported under the Malagasy CITES quota system, which governs the wildlife trade. This knowledge may be crucial for future attempts to save the species.ĬITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, In the long term, breeding programmes may also be necessary to preserve the rare species.īut in the meantime, they believe it to be an advantage for the little creature if pet hobbyists are allowed to continue keeping the animals, to help learn more about their way of life and needs. They also recommend initiating more long-term field studies for selected populations of leaf-tailed geckos. The scientists behind the gecko discovery stress that the species is severely endangered and that very little is known about it. garamaso, which has been in the pet trade for more than 20 years in the belief that it was its relative U. The researchers hope hobbyists could help conserve it. Asking pet hobbyists for helpĮndangered animals exported as pets are usually something that is either strictly illegal or at least highly regulated - and often a threat to vulnerable species.

There is much that we still don't know about these geckos, from their broader evolutionary relationship to their behavior,' says the researcher. 'The mouth color, which has been so useful in identifying different species, has a completely unknown function. 'We are close to completing the taxonomic inventory of the genus, but this is only the beginning of our understanding of their evolution and ecology,' says Dr. U.Garamaso has fringes along its sides that it uses as part of its camouflage. It is also a species that we still know very little about. garamaso is a rare species consisting of few individuals and is considered by scientists to be severely endangered.

Hides for geckos series#

The new species is the latest in a series of new Uroplatus geckos found in Madagascar in recent years. Scherz.Īt 20 cm in length, the new species is also slightly smaller than U. garamaso is a distinct species,' explains Dr. 'The decisive leap was the discovery that the tip of the new species' tongue is pink, unlike its relative, U. Over time however, the scientists were able to find characteristics that distinguished between the two species. garamaso is remarkably similar to another leaf-tailed gecko, Uroplatus henkeli, with which it has been confused until now. One challenge for the scientists has been that U. And on August 15, the discovery became official in the scientific journal Salamandra. The research team collected data on the genetics, morphology and distribution of the species. Scherz found the new gecko in three different locations of northern Madagascar. Scherz, curator of herpetology at the Natural History Museum of Denmark and a co-author of the article that described the find last month. At long last, we are now certain that it is a new species,' says Dr.

Since then, we've conducted many expeditions and studied it in greater detail. We began to suspect that this Uroplatus from northern Madagascar was a different species more than twenty-three years ago. They are so strange and look completely different than other reptiles. During the day the gecko is almost invisible. The gecko species disguises itself so well that it has taken twenty-three years for scientists to accord it its own name and place on the tree of life. Uroplatus garamaso, a new species from northern Madagascar, is no exception. Leaf-tailed geckos beat chameleons when it comes to mastering camouflage. It hides in plain sight, on tree trunks, where it seamlessly blends its flattened, fringed body with the colors of tree bark, making it nearly impossible to spot.

By day, the nocturnal hunter is a master of disguise. At night, it wakes to prowl among the twigs of the understory, scouting for invertebrate prey like insects and other creepy crawlies.