It features exquisite camouflage

Mar 24, 2010 14:39 GMT  ·  By

Recently, as they were strolling in the foothills of the Cardomom Mountains, in Cambodia, experts working for Fauna & Flora International discovered a new species of gecko inhabiting the region. This is only the second species of the creature found in the country, but it already proved some wonderful insights into how the animals work. Experts believe that this particular animal managed to escape detection for such a long time on account of the fact that it possess a wonderful natural camouflage, which protects it beautifully, and also because it can forage in rocky cervices, the BBC News reports.

Members of the newly-found species are colored olive-green, and they blend into their natural landscape almost to perfection. This ability allowed it to endure in an environment that is otherwise very dangerous for such small animals. It also managed to thrive as its prey is unsuspecting nearly all the time. Some have compared this gecko's ability to blend to the wall in your living room simply coming to life and eating you. Therefore, the creature had a lot of evolutionary incentives to develop its wonderful coat.

The survey that discovered the new species was meant to gage the diversity and spread of various amphibians and reptiles in the region. It took place back in June 2007, when Dr Lee Grismer, who is based at the La Sierra University, in Riverside, California, and colleagues from the conservation organization Fauna and Flora International (FFI), led a team across the Cardomom Mountains. What makes the new gecko unique to science, the team says, are its amazing color patterns, as well as the characteristics of its scales. The creature, Cnemaspis neangthyi, is believed to be endemic to the area where it was discovered, and is not believed to be living anywhere else.

Geckos are renowned around the world for their ability to stick to nearly any sort of surface, regardless of how smooth it is. This is possible due to the myriad of very thin wires that are protruding from their feet at a microscopic scale, which can interact with various materials using the basic van der Waals forces. This particular species of gecko is characterized by a broad, flattened head, eyes that are oriented forwards, long limbs, flattened body, as well as long digits that allow it to get better grips on the surfaces it is climbing.