‘Large’ creature seen running ‘rapidly’ on rocks in Angola. It’s a new species
In a remote region of southwestern Africa, a “large” patterned creature perched on some rocks until something spooked it. It ran “rapidly to escape” but couldn’t avoid the attention of nearby scientists — and for good reason.
It turned out to be a new species.
A team of researchers spent eight years doing “extensive” surveys of “the less explored coastal regions” of southwestern Angola in search of reptiles, according to a study published June 27 in the peer-reviewed journal Ecology and Evolution. The surveys focused on a “still poorly understood” group of lizards known as Namib day geckos.
Sure enough, between 2017 and 2025, researchers found roughly a dozen “large” and unfamiliar-looking geckos, the study said. They took a closer look at the animals, analyzed their DNA and realized they’d discovered a new species: Rhoptropus megocellus, or the large-spotted Namib day gecko.
Large-spotted Namib day geckos are considered “large sized,” reaching about 3.5 inches in length, the study said. They have “raised” scales around their nostrils forming an “inflated nostril rim” and “elongated” fingers and toes.
Photos show the tan-brown geckos and their spotted pattern. Some of the blotches “on the neck may be in contact, giving a collar-like appearance,” the study said.
Researchers said they named the new species after the ancient Greek word for “large” and a Latin word meaning “eye spot” because of its “distinctive large” markings.
Large-spotted Namib day geckos are “strictly rock-dwelling, always found on large, flattened granitic boulders, where (they) can run rapidly to escape,” the study said. The geckos were “frequently found hiding under” rock flakes.
So far, large-spotted Namib day geckos have been found at several sites in Namibe Province, a coastal region of southwestern Angola that borders Namibia. Angola also borders the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and Zambia.
The new species was identified by its size, scale pattern, coloring and other subtle physical features, the study said. DNA analysis found the new species had at least 13% genetic divergence from other related geckos.
The research team included Javier Lobón-Rovira, Matthew Heinicke, Aaron Bauer, Werner Conradie and Pedro Vaz Pinto.
The team also discovered two more new species: the cryptic Namib day gecko and the miniature Namib day gecko.
This story was originally published July 3, 2025 at 12:49 PM.
