ANIMALS

Meet The Leaf-tailed Gecko Which Is An Expert At Hiding Itself

Certain wild species have become highly skilled at blending in with their surroundings as a way to protect themselves from many predators. However, there is a specific type of subspecies that takes camouflage to a whole new level. Allow me to introduce you to the leaf-tailed gecko!

Image source: Paul Ritchie

This type of gecko lives up to its name by cleverly disguising itself as a dried leaf, not only with its tail but also its body. This amazing trick is crucial for its survival! Another name for this gecko is the satanic leaf-tailed gecko, but it’s also been called the ‘fantastic flat tail,’ and you can easily see why.

Image source: Paul Ritchie

The satanic leaf-tailed gecko is originally from Madagascar, where all 14 known sub-species of leaf-tailed geckos can be found. During the day, these geckos stay hidden among the leaves, like many other small reptiles. They primarily feed on insects, but even wildlife scientists struggle to determine their complete diet.

Image source: Paul Ritchie

“They [the satanic leaf-tailed geckos] feed on almost everything they can overwhelm, including crickets, flies, spiders, cockroaches, and snails,” said Frank Glaw, with the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in München, Germany.

Image source: Allan Hopkins

“A light line along the back together with leaf-vein-like lines and skin structures on the body can complete the perfect imitation of a dead leaf,” Glaw said. “ They came in all shades of beige, grey and brown, often with a mixture of lichen-like or even greenish spots which look very much like moss. This variability ensures that they have an adapted outfit for the different structures in their habitat.”

Image source: Piotr Naskrecki

However, these leaf-tailed geckos don’t always resemble leaves. They can also have a “satanic” appearance, just as their name suggests!

ANIMALS

Amazing Video of Unseen Ocean Creatures in the Ningaloo Canyons

The Schmidt Ocean Institute recently explored the Ningaloo Canyons on the western coast of Australia using a robotic underwater vehicle called the ROV Sebastian. Check out the amazing video of what they discovered in the deep parts of the Indian Ocean.

More info: Youtube

ANIMALS

These Pics Are Art and the Artists Are Insects

Flying insects move so quickly that they are hard to follow, but new technology and some smart ideas have helped Spanish photographer Xavi Bou do just that. After spending 10 years focusing on birds in flight for his Ornithographies project, he turned his attention to insects.

For Entomographies, he uses high-speed video footage taken by Adrian Smith, an insect expert at North Carolina State University, to study and record how insects move. Bou then picks multiple frames and combines them into single images that show the fast movements of one or more insects through space and time.

With Smith’s help, Bou has captured the aerial tricks of wasps, the jumps of leafhoppers, and the fluttering of butterflies in amazing detail. He hopes that by doing this, he can make people more aware of the decline in important insect populations around the world.

1. Zebra longwing

This butterfly, which is common in many areas of the Americas, really fits its name. It can fly very high with just a few flaps of its large wings.