Timor-Leste’s New Gecko Discovery in Ancient Cave

via Conservation.org, 04 December 2023: In an unplanned visit to Lene Hara cave in Timor-Leste, scientists discovered a new gecko species, named Cyrtodactylus santana, amidst ancient cave art. This discovery, amidst Timor-Leste’s unique biodiversity formed through geographic isolation, represents a significant stride in a research partnership following a 2020 government ban on artifact and specimen removal.

At the cave’s entrance, Conaboy — alongside scientists from Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum and Timorese officials — passed through a low arch, adorned with patterns painted by prehistoric artists from a millennia ago. He had stepped into a secluded offshoot of an extensive cave system known as Lene Hara, renowned for its archeological significance. As he ventured further, human faces carved into the stone peered at him from across the ages.

“The passage gradually expands into this bulbous chamber,” Conaboy said. “It was easy to imagine people once living there in the ancient past.”

But Conaboy was not there for a glimpse into the lives of ancient people, instead fixating on the bats swirling above and spiders crawling around his boots on the cave floor. Chan Kin Onn, a herpetologist from the museum, saw something else: a gecko skittering across the limestone.

Source: With new discovery, island nation turns page on a painful legacy