the small cavalier

Beautiful Firetail (Stagonopleura bella)

Distribution: Southern Australia & Tasmania

IUCN Status: Least Concern

{ Ecology } { Vocalizations } { eBird }

The super-toes of the Musandam leaf-toed gecko - Asaccus caudivolvulus 

The gekkonid genus Asaccus is a group distributed in the mountains of northern Oman and United Arab Emirates that belongs to one of the least known families within the Gekkota. 

Described as a particularly colorful species, the Musandam leaf-toed gecko, Asaccus caudivolvulus (Gekkonidae) is a slender, medium-sized gecko with a relatively flattened head, broad snout and distinctive, heart-shaped toes.

The toes of this species each have a pair of specialised scales, known as ‘scansors’, which are covered in thousands of microscopic hair-like structures called setae. Each of these in turn branches into hundreds of saucer-shaped tips, creating an enormous surface area in contact with the ground, giving the gecko remarkable grip and enabling it to climb even smooth, vertical surfaces. 

References: [1] - [2]