New species of gecko discovered in Vanuatu

Newly discovered gecko. Credit Paris Museum of Natural History.

The gecko was collected as an egg in Vanuatu, but hatched 12,000 miles away in Paris. The scientists then waited a year for the gecko to grow to full size before they could be sure it was a new species.

This species lives in or near plants that shelter colonies of ants, often as high as 20 metres up in trees in the trees of the primary forest on the dry Western coast of Santo. It uses these plants to deposit its eggs there.

The species is not thought to be rare as many eggs were