It all started with Brian Switek (author of the marvelous paleontology book Written in Stone: Evolution, the Fossil Record, and Our Place in Nature) pointing out on Twitter this YouTube time-lapse video of ants completely dismantling a dead gecko.
Gecko de Nouvelle-Calédonie. Son corps est trapu, et il possède une queue épaisse sous laquelle on trouve une pelote adhésive. Il est muni de pattes à "ventouses", lamelles qui lui permettent d’adhérer à toutes les surfaces, même les plus lisses.
Biologist Robert Full studies the amazing gecko, with its supersticky feet and tenacious climbing skill. But high-speed footage reveals that the gecko's tail harbors perhaps the most surprising talents of all.