Spear Point Leaf Tail Gecko

Image: Antonio Rodríguez Arduengo
Uroplatus ebenaui

Demons get such a bad rap these days. And... all other days, I suppose. But look at this cutie! Surely he wouldn't hurt a fly!

Image: Alextelford

Hmm? Oh. Turns out he would eat a fly. OK.

Image: Frank Vassen

But I bet he does it in the cutest way possible! The flies last thoughts would be something like, "This is actually kind of adorable. It's way better than getting eaten by a spider."

Image: Frank Vassen

The Spear Point Leaf Tail Gecko is a member of the genus Uroplatus, the same as the Satanic Leaf Tailed Gecko (U. phantasticus). While it's great that one species got the moniker, to me they're all equally and wonderfully Satanic!

This species is found only in a tiny patch of northern Madagascar, as well as just off the coast on the even tinier and delightfully named island of Nosy Be.

Image: Antonio Rodríguez Arduengo

They hang out in the trees, using their amazing camouflage to hide in plain sight during the day. At night, they wake up to hunt insects.

Image: Antonio Rodríguez Arduengo

The Spear Point gets their name from their tiny little tail which looks like something someone dug up from an ancient battlefield.

Image: Rob Meades

Despite that miniature tail, the Spear Point Leaf Tail Gecko is the biggest species in Uroplatus. It still only reaches about 7.5 cm (3 in) long, though. That's probably a good thing...

Image: Cédric de Foucault

You wouldn't want a face like that looming over you!

Clinging Jellyfish

Image: WoRMS Editorial Board
Gonionemus vertens

Jellyfish are known to be inveterate drifters. They love nothing more than to hang out in the water column, the careful fluttering and pulsing of their bell all but powerless in the face of a mild current.

But what if a jellyfish doesn't want to do that? What if they find a nice plot of ocean, verdant with plant life, the water a particularly delightful shade of blue, and they just want to settle down for a while? One tiny Hydrozoan has the answer.

Striated Frogfish

Image: Silke Baron
Antennarius striatus

Pac-Man was always such a harmless soul, lost in the labyrinth of his own mind, chased by ghostly memories of his past and finding succour in a trail of psychoactive dots and the occasional fruit. He always seemed so happy. Or at least preoccupied.

He was never the same after the werewolf attack. He's so grumpy now. And he's completely abandoned vegetarianism...

Aspidistra

Image: scott.zona

Aspidistras are famous for their ability to withstand and even flourish under the kind of neglect that would usually end in the crinkly, brown-leafed death of most plants.

But that's no excuse for neglecting their absolutely amazing flowers!

Toxodera

Toxodera are mimics of the living and the dead!

Nightmare Catcher

Image: Frank Vassen

A Nightmare Catcher flitters through the rainforests of Bolivia, sticky net in hand.

Some say she feeds on nightmares, her gut so full of concentrated horror that the mere sight of her causes night terrors.

Others say that's silly, and she probably eats moths.

Still others say, "Yeah, that's what I meant. I actually have a terrible phobia of moths."

The IUCN's List of Threatened Species lists the Nightmare Catcher as 'Be Concerned. Be Very Concerned.'