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On R\u00e1bida Island in the Gal\u00e1pagos, where red-tinged beaches meet ancient lava formations, Mares\u2019s leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus maresi) is back. Once thought extinct on this island, a genetically distinct population has survived here against all odds, scientists have now confirmed.<\/p>\n
For more than a century, despite intensive collecting efforts across the Gal\u00e1pagos, no living specimen of P. maresi had been recorded on R\u00e1bida. The only evidence of their historical presence came from ancient subfossil bones dating back 5,700 to 8,540 years. The cause of their downfall? Rats.<\/p>\n
Invasive brown rats (Rattus norvegicus), most likely brought by pirates or whalers in the 17th or 18th centuries, spread and created an ecological nightmare for native species. These new predators devoured gecko eggs, disrupted nesting sites, and disturbed the island\u2019s delicate ecosystem balance. Native species either disappeared or retreated to precarious refugia.<\/p>\n
However, in 2011, conservationists came in for the kill. Gal\u00e1pagos National Park, in partnership with NGOs Island Conservation, the Charles Darwin Foundation and The Raptor Center, launched a precision rodent eradication program targeting every invasive rat on R\u00e1bida Island.<\/p>\n
Teams deployed poisoned bait, specifically for rats, across the island while carefully protecting native wildlife, said Island Conservation. The eradication had to be complete; leaving even a few breeding pairs would allow the rat population to recover within months.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Rabida-Gecko_Credit-Rory-Stansbury_IslandConservation.jpg\")
Mares\u2019s leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus maresi) made a comeback on Ra\u0301bida Island after rat eradication. Photo courtesy of Rory Stansbury\/IslandConservation<\/p>\n
With the rats out of the way, the ecological response was swift and dramatic. Just one year after the rodent removal, park rangers monitoring the island\u2019s recovery spotted a small, nocturnal gecko with distinctive leaf-shaped toe pads. This represented the first confirmed sighting of a living P. maresi on R\u00e1bida in recorded history.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople often imagine that nature may take a long time (20-50 years or more) to respond. But, when the correct pressures are removed, this is not always true,\u201d Paula Casta\u00f1o, Island Conservation\u2019s impact program manager, told Mongabay in an email. \u201cWe often see these changes happening quickly, sometimes just in one or two years.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, scientific confirmation requires more than sightings. Between 2019 and 2021, research expeditions led by scientists from the QCAZ Museum of Zoology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, Island Conservation, Re:wild, and the Gal\u00e1pagos National Park Directorate returned to R\u00e1bida with a crucial mission: to collect example specimens and genetic samples.<\/p>\n
![\"Mares\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/phyllodactylus-maresi.-Credit_-Island-Conservation.jpg\")
Mares\u2019s leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus maresi) survived on Ra\u0301bida Island. Photo courtesy of IslandConservation<\/p>\n
Working under the cover of darkness, when these elusive geckos are most active, researchers captured specimens by hand as they foraged on lava rocks and tree trunks up to 2 meters (about 6 feet) above the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor over a decade, I have worked with Gal\u00e1pagos geckos, and this research underscores the critical value of collecting specimens and genomic samples for both scientific discovery and conservation efforts in the Gal\u00e1pagos,\u201d said Omar Torres-Carvajal, curator of reptiles at QCAZ Museum of Zoology. \u201cThis archipelago still holds hidden surprises, waiting to be discovered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through genetic analysis, researchers found that the R\u00e1bida population is a genetically distinct group within P. maresi, separated by 19 genetic mutations from populations on nearby Santiago Island. This genetic distinctiveness led researchers to designate the R\u00e1bida geckos as a separate \u201cevolutionarily significant unit,\u201d or ESU, a classification that highlights their unique conservation value.<\/p>\n
This level of genetic differentiation supports the idea that the R\u00e1bida population survived in refugia during the rat invasion period, rather than recently recolonizing from other islands after the 2011 eradication. The findings<\/a>, published in the journal PLOS ONE, represent the first peer-reviewed documentation of living leaf-toed geckos on R\u00e1bida Island.<\/p>\n \u201cThe swift recovery of biodiversity we continue to see on islands across the globe tells us that nature, and island ecosystems in particular, are extremely resilient,\u201d Casta\u00f1o told Mongabay. \u201cIt shows us that it only takes a few people, government willingness, and funding support to help these remarkable ecosystems recover and bring species back from the brink of extinction.\u201d<\/p>\n The R\u00e1bida gecko exemplifies what she calls \u201cresurrection ecology.\u201d \u201cThe R\u00e1bida gecko is an excellent example of nature\u2019s resiliency, and it is an opportunity to highlight that we, as humanity, are not only the problem, but we also are the solution for the current biodiversity and climate crisis we are experiencing on our planet,\u201d Casta\u00f1o told Mongabay.<\/p>\n For example, on Floreana, another of the Gal\u00e1pagos islands, only a year after invasive predator removal began, Gal\u00e1pagos rails (Laterallus spilonota) were recorded back on the island for the first time in almost 200 years. The last scientist to record the birds\u2019 presence there was Charles Darwin, back in 1835.<\/p>\n The transformation extends beyond the Gal\u00e1pagos. On nearby Pinz\u00f3n Island, following similar rodent eradication efforts, giant tortoises have returned to nest naturally after more than 150 years. \u201cBecause of our work to remove invasive rodents, the population now reproduces naturally without human intervention,\u201d said Danny Rueda C\u00f3rdova, director of Gal\u00e1pagos National Park.<\/p>\n The success on R\u00e1bida reflects a pattern Casta\u00f1o has witnessed across island ecosystems worldwide. Similar recoveries have occurred on Kamaka Island in French Polynesia, where Polynesian storm-petrels (Nesofregetta fuliginosa) returned after more than a century of absence;on Pajaro Uno Island off Chile, where Peruvian diving-petrels (Pelecanoides garnotii) are nesting again after decades; on Desecheo Island in Puerto Rico, where Audubon\u2019s shearwaters (Puffinus lherminieri) are nesting for the first time in recorded history; and on Loosiep Island in Micronesia, where turtles have resumed nesting after a 50-year absence.<\/p>\n \u201cThese types of results are the fuel of our work at Island Conservation,\u201d Casta\u00f1o told Mongabay. \u201cIt motivates us all daily to wake up and work to restore islands for nature and people worldwide. The rediscovery of the R\u00e1bida gecko is just an example of the remarkable resilience of nature and the power of island restoration.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet challenges remain, including climate change and the threat of new invasive species. The gecko population, while recovering, remains small and vulnerable, requiring continued monitoring and protection.<\/p>\n \u201cThe return of the R\u00e1bida gecko is clear example of how our investment in island restoration can significantly impact nature and all the human communities that depend on those resources or call those places home,\u201d Casta\u00f1o told Mongabay. \u201cIt is an invitation to each of us, wherever we are in the world, to put our little grain of sand to make this world a great place for all of us, where we continue to thrive together with nature.\u201d<\/p>\n Banner image<\/strong> of Mares\u2019s leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus maresi) courtesy of Island Conservation.<\/p>\n Liz Kimbrough\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>is a senior staff writer for Mongabay and holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Tulane University, in New Orleans, Louisiana where she studied the microbiomes of trees. View more of her reporting here<\/a><\/p>\n World\u2019s smallest snake spotted by scientists in Barbados after 20-year absence<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Citation:<\/strong><\/p>\n Torres-Carvajal, O., Casta\u00f1o, P. A., Rinc\u00f3n, E., Ayala-Varela, F., Campbell, K., Cabrera, W., & Moreno, F. (2025). Phylogeny, phylogeography, and conservation of a rediscovered gecko from the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands.\u00a0PLOS ONE,\u00a020(6), e0324659. doi:10.1371\/journal.pone.0324659<\/a><\/p>\n FEEDBACK<\/strong>:\u00a0Use this form\u00a0<\/a>to send a message directly to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.<\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PaulaCastano_on_IslaRabida_credit_islandconservation.jpg\")
Paula Casta\u00f1o, Island Conservation\u2019s impact program manage on Rabida Island. Image courtesy of Island Conservation<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Polynesian-Storm-petrel-Hadoram-Shiriai-Copie-1.jpg\")
A Polynesian storm petrels (Nesofregetta fuliginosa) flies over the open ocean near Rapa Iti Island, French Polynesia. After an invasive rat eradication program, these birds returned to the island after a century of absence. Photo courtesy of Hadoram Shiriai.<\/p>\n\n
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