An international research team led by a German scientist has confirmed that a leaf-tailed gecko discovered in Madagascar over 20 years ago was a previously unknown species.

Head of research, Frank Glaw from the Bavarian Natural History Collections (SNSB), published the findings in the scientific journal Salamandra.

"When we first discovered the animals in 2000, we already suspected that they were dealing with an as yet unknown species," said Glaw who is first author of the study and curator for reptiles and amphibians at the Zoological State Collection in Munich.

Gecko named 'Uroplatus garamaso'

Glaw said it took years of research before the gecko — now scientifically named as Uroplatus garamaso — could be described as a new species.

The difficulty in identifying it was due to the newly named species being very similar to another species called Uroplatus henkeli.

"This is often the case with the reptiles of Madagascar," explained co-author Jörn Köhler from the Hessian State Museum in Darmstadt.

"There are many so-called 'cryptic species' that sometimes wait a long time for taxonomic processing," Köhler said.

Key distinguishing features

The authors of the study discovered some key features that allowed them to differentiate between the two species.

"The tip of the tongue is blackish in Uroplatus henkeli, while in Uroplatus garamaso its pink," Philipp-Sebastian Gehring from Bielefeld University pointed out.

The new species was also said to be slightly smaller, measuring 20 centimeters (7.8 inches), while having a narrower tail.

According to the researchers, leaf-tailed geckos are masters of camouflage and have a peculiar appearance, with some species having flaps of skin around their body and head, and a tail that is flattened.

The SNSB said that the animals rest on tree trunks with their skin flaps spread out during the day, allowing them to blend in with the environment, and making it very difficult to find. By night, the geckos prowl around the branches hunting for prey.

In September last year, scientists named eight new species of geckos found on Madagascar.

According to National Geographic, based on a study from 2011, there are thought to be 8.7 million animal species on earth and only around 1.6 million have been identified.

kb/sms (dpa, DW sources)