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Scientists have for the first time shed light on the illuminating ability of the UAE’s desert-dwelling geckos to glow in the dark.
Three nocturnal species of the diminutive lizard, all common in sandy areas of the region, were found to have prominent skin fluorescence only previously seen in geckos in the sprawling Namib desert of Africa.
Researchers made the dazzling discovery during a field trip to a desert area of Sharjah in June 2022, and subsequently observed it in Al Ula in Saudi Arabia in April last year, in Nizwa, Oman, in May 2023, and in Sharjah, for a second time, in June.
The…
