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New gecko species

— Photo: AP

A never-before-seen species of gecko.

PARIS: French scientists say they have discovered a new species of gecko, after hatching an egg 19,000 km from its South Pacific island home.

Given the Latin name Lepidodactylus buleli, the gecko makes its home near the tops of the trees that line the west coast of Espiritu Santo, one of the larger islands of the Vanuatu archipelago east of Australia, said France’s National Museum of Natural History.

A 2006 expedition to Espiritu Santo to study the ecosystems of the forest canopy led to the discovery of the 8-cm-long gecko. The expedition included climbers who scoured the canopy for plant and animal samples.

Ivan Ineich, a reptile specialist at the museum, said he first noticed the little lizard when he saw a bloody carcass accidentally hacked in half by one of climbers.

“I said to myself ‘this guy looks bizarre,’ but I couldn’t tell right away it was a new species because it had been so massacred,” said Mr. Ineich in a phone interview.

Climbers then harvested a plant where female geckos had hidden nine minuscule eggs. Mr. Ineich wrapped them in wet Kleenex, packed them into a pillbox and carried them home to the French capital. — AP

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