Yellow-eyed creature found running ‘fast’ near village at night. It’s a new species

Under the cover of darkness, a yellow-eyed creature darted across the arid landscape near a remote village in the Horn of Africa. It was moving “fast” — but not fast enough.

Visiting scientists managed to capture the spiky animal. It turned out to be a new species.

Researchers visited a village in Somaliland several times between 2021 and 2023 to survey wildlife, according to a study published Aug. 22 in the peer-reviewed journal African Zoology. The region is a biodiversity hotspot and a self-proclaimed republic that declared independence from Somalia.

During the surveys, researchers found a few spiky brown lizards living around the village, the study said. They took a closer look at the animals and quickly realized they’d discovered a new species: Hemidactylus huluul, or the Huluul gecko.

Huluul geckos are considered “medium to large,” measuring between 3.5 inches to just over 6 inches in length, the study said. Their bodies are covered in “large” spikes. Their “pointed” heads have “large,” “sandy yellow” eyes and “bean-shaped” ear openings.

A photo shows the beige-brown coloring of the new species. Across its back are several “brown, irregular, X-shaped markings.” Some lighter gray spots also dot its back and limbs. Its tail has a distinct banded pattern, shifting from light and dark brown at the base to black and white at the tip.

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Huluul geckos were “fast and alert,” researchers said. At night, the lizards were found “running on the ground among low bushes” or perched on brick walls at the village edge. During the day, a lizard was found “hiding under a large stone.”

Researchers said they named the new species after the Huluul village where it was discovered and, so far, the only place it has been found.

The wide plains around Huluul are “one of the least populated places in Somaliland,” the study said. Somaliland is a region of northwestern Somalia bordering Djibouti, Ethiopia and the Indian Ocean. These countries are part of the Horn of Africa, a peninsula on the east coast of Africa that also includes Eritrea.

The new species was identified by its scale pattern, coloring, body shape, tail, spikes and DNA, the study said.

The research team included Tomáš Mazuch, Vojtěch Janák, Doubravka Velenská, Annamaria Nistri, Hassan Sh Abdirahman Elmi and Jiří Šmíd.

The team also discovered a second new species of lizard: Hemidactylus gubanensis, or the Guban gecko .

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