Dragon discovered: A new gecko species found on Australian island

The Guardian reveals Phyllurus fimbriatus, a charismatic, 15cm (6-inch) reptile otherwise known as the the Scawfell Island leaf-tailed gecko, which has never before been scientifically identified:

Assoc Prof Conrad Hoskin, a terrestrial ecologist at James Cook University, came across the lizard during a four-day survey of the island, in “deep bouldery habitat covered in fig trees and ferns”.

“It’s super exciting – it’s every biologist’s dream to find a new species,” he said.

Hoskin spotted about 30 specimens during his survey and estimates that the newly discovered gecko occupies a total area of less than 1 sq km.

“It’s only found in the wettest, rainforesty, rockiest pockets of [Scawfell].”

The coast of the rugged island is lined by granite cliffs, while areas of rainforest cover its steep mountain slopes.

“[The lizard] can’t handle the hot conditions that you’d get in most parts of the island – it needs to have really good shelter from the heat and the dry,” Hoskin said.

You can read more of Hoskin’s description here, in Zootaxa.