NEW GECKO SPECIES NAMED AFTER THE FAMOUS ARTIST VAN GOGH
When you picture a gecko, you most likely picture a small, green reptile. Perhaps even the talking Geico gecko is in your thoughts. However, geckos are actually multicoloured animals. For instance, a gold dust gecko has red and blue highlights in addition to the traditional, nearly neon green colour.
On the other hand, a Mediterranean house gecko is pink and has pebbles. Two new species of gecko have been found in India, according to a recent paper published in ZooKeys. One of these species, Cnemaspis Vangoghi, was named after the renowned painter Vincent van Gogh.
Researchers found the Van Gogh gecko, Cnemaspis Vangoghi, in Tamil Nadu, India's Western Ghats. India's lush, verdant Western Ghats are a mountain range. They are "one of the world's eight 'hottest hotspots' of biological diversity," according to UNESCO. Numerous animals and hundreds of endangered species can be found camped out among its leaves. There are species that are still undiscovered, unnamed, and undocumented, as the latest discovery shows. The team found and named Cnemaspis sathuragiriensis, a similarly blue species of gecko, in addition to the Van Gogh gecko.
The mature males of Cnemaspis vangoghi acquire beautiful bluish-purple skin flecked with blue-green robin's egg. A sunflower yellow spreads across their backs. Van Gogh's Sunflower series, which focused on ochre flowers frequently framed against blue backgrounds, is evocative of these hues. The reptiles' colours and patterns also reminded the researchers of the artist's swirling brushstrokes in pieces such as The Starry Night. Sadly, females of the species are not endowed with the blue-green colouration.
Rather, they feature a lovely speckled pattern in shades of tan and black. Young people are also less colourful, even though men eventually develop their unique colour schemes. Perhaps the only thing more beautiful than these recently found geckos is their natural habitat, which is home to tigers, leopards, and a plethora of others.