Psychedelic Rock Gecko
The psychedelic rock gecko, is an endangered species of gecko, only scientifically described in 2010, that is endemic to Hon Khoai Island and adjacent Hon Tuong Isle in Vietnam. It is up to about 7.5 cm in snout–to–vent length, and it is quite brightly coloured in yellow, orange, black and grey-blue. This diurnal gecko inhabits granite boulders in densely vegetated country, retreating into crevices or under the rocks if scared, locations also used for sleeping at night. Each female typically lays two white eggs that are attached 0.3–3.5 m above the ground to the underside of a rock ledge and several females may use the same place, forming a communal nest with up to ten eggs. Newly hatched young are quite dull, but the adult colours are already evident when two months old. This species has a very small range, an estimated adult population of slightly above 500 individuals.
The psychedelic rock gecko is unique in that it displays a remarkable psychedelic pattern of bright orange appendages; a dense, yellow neck overlying thick, black, lines; and a blue-gray body bearing yellow bars on its bright-orange sides. Cnemaspis psychedelica is known only from the tiny (roughly 8 km²) Hon Khoai Island. The island reaches approximately 320m at its highest point, with thick forest cover sloping gently down to a mangrove-lined coast. Scattered across the lowlands of the island are small to massive boulders that provide the habitat for the psychedelic rock gecko.
