A long history of European geckos

[Translate to Englisch:] Fossiler Schädel von Geiseleptes del-finoi aus dem Eozän, der im früheren Braunkohleabbaugebiet Geiseltal in Sachsen-Anhalt gefunden wurde. Oben in Fundlage, unten die Umrisse im computertomografischen Bild. Geckos lived in Europe as early as 47 million years ago, say palaeontologists who have examined a nearly complete fossil gecko skull from central Germany. This previously unknown species was found in a former coalmining area - Geiseltal - and was described by a research team led by Dr. Andrea Villa of the Catalan Institute of Palaeontology Miquel Crusafont in Barcelona and biogeologist Dr. Márton Rabi of the University of Tübingen and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. The team found that the extinct gecko species is closely related to the European leaf-toed gecko, which is still native to parts of the Mediterranean region. The new fossil species represents the oldest known representative in its lineage to date. The new study has been published in the latest edition of Papers in Palaeontology.