Scientists from the Queensland Museum, Griffith University, the University of Melbourne and the Northern Territory Government have described a new, colorful velvet gecko from Groote Eylandt.
The discovery, published in the journal Zootaxa, details the discovery of this new species of velvet gecko found on one of the islands in the Northern Territory of Australia. The gecko named Oedura nesos, was found in Groote Eylandt and it is believed that it can only be located in this place, which is the third largest offshore island in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
The gecko has two very striking color patterns: the first when it is a baby or young, which is black with bright white bands, the other develops as it matures and is a pattern of white bands and yellow spots, which contrast with the gray skin of the adult gecko.
“This species was previously confused with another similar gecko that we described in 2016, called Oedura bella, but we had some clues that it might not be the same, ” said Paul Oliver, leader of the work. “Fortunately, we were able to work with researchers from the Northern Territory Government and traditional owners and rangers from the Anindilyakwa Land Council to obtain material for genetic analysis and images of the animal in its livelihood.”
Referencia: A new velvet gecko (Oedura: Diplodactylidae) from Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory. PAUL M. OLIVER, CHRIS J. JOLLY, PHILLIP L. SKIPWITH, LEONARDO G. TEDESCHI, GRAEME R. GILLESPIE Zootaxa 2020 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4779.3.10
