As night fell across a remote region of northern Australia, a “velvet” creature emerged from a pile of rocks. Its hard-to-reach habitat and camouflaged coloring helped it go largely unnoticed — until ...

Taking a closer look at the animals, Hoskin quickly realized he’d discovered a new species: Oedura atra, or the basalt velvet gecko. Basalt velvet geckos are considered “medium-sized ...