Henkel’s leaf-tailed gecko

Looks like the bark of a tree

Henkel’s leaf-tailed gecko is a forest-dwelling lizard that lives in the trees of Madagascar. The lizard is mainly active in the hours around sunrise and at night. During the day it rests on a branch, often with its head pointing downwards. When perched on a branch or trunk, Henkel’s leaf-tailed gecko is perfectly camouflaged. Its skin looks like bark or lichen, and along the edges of its body it has skin flaps that blur the boundary between the lizard and the tree. The tail can resemble a dried leaf. Henkel’s leaf-tailed gecko lives almost its entire life in the trees, except for when the female is laying eggs. When this happens, she descends to the ground and lays her eggs in soft, moist soil.

Found in Madagascar only

Some species are only found in one place in the world. This is called being endemic to that area. Henkel’s leaf-tailed gecko is endemic, inhabiting only three small areas in Madagascar. The species is endangered, mainly due to deforestation in Madagascar. But the leaf-tailed gecko is also a popular pet, and is therefore captured and sold. 

No eyelids

The leaf-tailed gecko has no eyelids! When it needs to remove dirt, it licks itself across the eyes. When the lizard is asleep, its pupils contract so that only four small black dots are visible along a line in the middle of the eye. Under their feet, the leaf-tailed gecko has small flaps with tiny hairs on them. This allows their feet to stick to all sorts of surfaces. The lizard can even hang upside down on glass!