A newly discovered species of gecko has tearaway skin that leaves predators with nothing but a mouthful of scales when attacked.
Many lizards can detach their tails when attacked, but fish-scale geckos have large scales that tear away with ease.
The new species is a master of this art, say scientists, having the largest scales of any known gecko.
The reptile, named Geckolepis megalepis, is described in PeerJ.
The skin of fish-scale geckos is specially adapted to tearing. The large scales are attached only by a relatively narrow region that tears with ease.
In addition, beneath the scales there is a pre-formed splitting zone within the skin itself.-read more
No comments:
Post a Comment