A team of scientists has discovered a scaly creature with long fingers and red eyes in the evergreen forests of India.
Biologists have analyzed the DNA of an unusually large gecko, which they found roaming on the Valparai plateau in the southwestern part of India.
The gecko, now officially called the 'Valparai dwarf gecko', lives in 'rocky habitats within the evergreen forests of Tenkasi', which is home to some of India's most important spiritual and cultural sites.
But the research team also found four completely new species of gecko, all from the same common ancestor, and each maintaining its own small habitat high in India's tropical evergreen forests.
The phenomenon of species evolving to adapt to a very small niche in a small habitat is called "extreme microendemism."
The new Valparai dwarf gecko is classified as large for this family of lizards, but only reaches about 4.5 inches in length, according to the new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa .
The Valparai dwarf gecko was identified as a new species by its unique red eyes, color and size pattern, and the long fingers visible on its claws.
The female specimen of the Valparai dwarf gecko appears to be generally "much darker in colour", with a "less pronounced yellow colour".
Seems scary!
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