Crested gecko

Correlophus ciliatus · The crested gecko is a lizard with eyelash-like crests above its eyes, native to southern New Caledonia.

Also called Eyelash gecko, New Caledonian crested gecko.

Crested gecko
Photo: Lennart Hudel, CC BY 4.0
Crested gecko
Photo: Nathouf from France, CC BY 2.0
Crested gecko
Photo: Lennart Hudel, CC BY 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassReptilia
OrderSquamata
FamilyDiplodactylidae
GenusCorrelophus
SpeciesCorrelophus ciliatus

Where it lives

Humid forests of southern Grande Terre and the Isle of Pines, southwest Pacific.

Fun facts

  • Crested geckos have no eyelids, so they use their tongues to clear debris from their eyes.
  • A crested gecko can drop its tail to distract predators, and the tail keeps moving for about 2–5 minutes afterward.
  • Once a crested gecko loses its tail, it never grows back, and most adults in the wild have no tail.
  • This gecko was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1994.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).