Satanic gecko: why the unusual reptile was nicknamed so gloomily (5 photos)

He looks like a huge old leaf with blood red eyes.





Imagine that huge red eyes are looking at you from dirty withered leaves, and a forked tongue is very quickly touching them... The spectacle is truly creepy, but this is exactly the kind of picture you can see while walking through the forests of Madagascar, meeting a flat-tailed gecko. It is thanks to its frightening appearance that the gecko received its second name - satanic, because red eyes have been considered since ancient times as something unclean and otherworldly. However, with a detailed study of these reptiles, everything becomes quite obvious: Mother Nature does not reward anyone with a peculiar appearance for no reason.



By the way, many reptile lovers keep these animals as pets. And such connoisseurs can be completely understood: it is very exciting to watch how a gecko merges with driftwood in a terrarium, and try to consider its outlines.





So why are these creatures such an unusual color? They live in leaf litter, which is why their skin is gray-brown with splashes of yellow, green, sometimes orange and black. They are unusual even in their shape: there are outgrowths on the back that help them look as much like a leaf as possible. Sometimes there are such notches on the tail, so it is very difficult to distinguish this baby from a rotting leaf. Except for the big red eyes, which, by the way, not all satanic geckos have.



As for the habit of sticking your long tongue into your eyes, this is not at all bad fun or an attempt to intimidate the enemy. The fact is that this type of gecko does not have eyelids on its eyes, so the only way to clean them of dirt and dust is to brush them off with your tongue. Well, as for predators, they really cannot intimidate them, but they can easily deceive them. Firstly, they are real camouflage geniuses, and it is very difficult for an enemy to pick out a lizard in the foliage. Secondly, satanic geckos are capable of several tricks: they can press very close to any surface to get rid of their shadow. Also, geckos often open their jaws wide, showing a blood-red mouth that confuses the enemy, and of course, like all lizards, they know how to shed their tail, after which they hide in the foliage, leaving their enemy with a nose, that is, a tail.



All these special oddities do not protect against the most dangerous enemy - man. Satanic geckos live only in Madagascar, but their population is constantly declining. The animals are caught and sold as pets, and their numbers are also declining due to habitat loss. In addition, this type of gecko is very vulnerable to all external changes, and it is difficult for them to adapt to some new realities. That is why it is very important that the island has several specially protected areas where lizards (and not only them) can feel protected.