Discover

Today
Animals
Explore
Archive
Search

Use it

Classroom
Resources
Field lab
Quiz
Saved

Trust

Methodology
Sources
Corrections
Accessibility
Contributors

Details

About
Contact
Privacy
Terms
Newsletter

Crested Gecko | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Crested Gecko

Correlophus ciliatus

ReptiliaHumid closed-canopy forest, in shrubs and low treesVulnerable

Field profile

The crested gecko is a soft-skinned arboreal gecko from New Caledonia with fringed crests running from the eyes along the back. It eats fruit and nectar as well as insects, an unusual diet for a gecko. Once presumed extinct, it is now among the most widely bred lizards in captivity.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2023-04-30

Crested Gecko

The crested gecko was thought extinct until 1994

Described in 1866 and then not reliably recorded for over a century, the crested gecko was widely assumed lost. A cyclone-following expedition to New Caledonia found it again in 1994, and captive breeding has since made it one of the commonest pet lizards on earth.

Read with evidence →