Off the scale - new species of gecko with tear-away skin
A new species of gecko which evades predators by shedding its massive scales has been discovered by scientists working in Madagascar.
The species, named Geckolepis megalepis by the team of American German and Colombian researchers, is a type of fish gecko.
It has the largest scales of any gecko and skin specially adapted for tearing away at the slightest touch. The scales can grow back without scarring in a few weeks.
In fact, they are so adept at shedding scientists have had to use bundles of cotton wool to catch them in the past so they wouldn’t shed all their scales.
And the ease with which their scales come away makes describing and identifying the species a ‘nightmare’ according to the researchers because the scale pattern is one of the main ways to tell species apart.
In the end they decided to resort to using micro-CT scans to get a 3D picture of their skeletons, and were able to identify some skull features that establish these geckos as a new species.
