Geckos in Madagascar have learned to shed their skin, turning into worms (3 photos)

Many reptiles can shed their skin, but this is clearly not the case.





Many strange creatures live in Madagascar. Among them is the gecko Geckolepis megalepis. This species of gecko is found exclusively in Madagascar and the nearby Comoros Islands and has a special property that can be called unique.



Geckos of this species are able to shed their skin. But not like other reptiles. If other reptiles renew their skin and grow this way, for geckos it is a way of protecting themselves from predators. If someone suddenly attacks him, the gecko sheds its skin. A bare slimy body remains underneath. The gecko becomes like a worm. By the time the predator realizes that only the skin remains, the gecko has already escaped.



It then hides to grow new skin. It takes him about two weeks to do this, and at this time the gecko is very vulnerable, so he hides very thoroughly. Moreover, apparently, regeneration does not even leave scars, which means that research into the features of the regenerative mechanism of geckos in the future could advance medicine to a whole new level, they report in the journal PeerJ.