A new species of gecko (Lepidodactylus buleli) has been described from the largest island in the Vanuatu archipelago: Espiritu Santo. The archipelago is located in the South Pacific Ocean, but the eggs that were collected in a forest canopy on Espiritu Santo, were brought back to Paris and hatched there. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) From The Associated Press:

A 2006 expedition to Espiritu Santo to study the ecosystems of the forest canopy led to the discovery of the 3-inch-long gecko. The expedition included climbers who scoured the canopy for plant and animal samples.

Ivan Ineich, a reptile specialist at the museum, said he first noticed the little lizard when he saw a bloody carcass accidentally hacked in half by one of climbers.

“I said to myself ‘this guy looks bizarre,’ but I couldn’t tell right away it was a new species because it had been so massacred,” Ineich said in a phone interview.

Climbers then harvested a plant where female geckos had hidden nine minuscule eggs, Ineich wrapped them in wet Kleenex, packed them into a pillbox and carried them home to the French capital.

There, he gave the eggs to a friend who raises lizards as a hobby. Eight of the baby geckos died after temperatures in the terrarium plummeted during a power outage, but the ninth lived.

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