British comedian Elf Lyons performing her solo show, Talk Dirty, at Monkey Barrel Comedy club at Edinburgh festival in capital of Scotland on August 5, 2021. The Edinburgh international festival announced much-reduced programme this year. (Photo by Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian)

Residents with faces covered in ash ride on a motorcycle as Mount Sinabung volcano erupts, in Sukandebi village in Karo Regency, Indonesia's North Sumatra province, Indonesia June 13, 2015, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. (Photo by Rony Muharrman/Reuters/Antara Foto)

Actors dressed up as zombies walk around while posing for photos with passers-by in New York's Times Square on Friday, October 10, 2014 as a promotion for the season premiere of AMC's “The Walking Dead” this Sunday, October 12, 2014. (Photo by Gordon Donovan)

An Indian underprivileged bride gets her jewellery adjusted by a relative during a mass marriage ceremony in New Delhi, India, March 10, 2016. Fourteen underprivileged couples tied up the nuptial knot in the mass marriage ceremony organised by various social organisations. (Photo by Rajat Gupta/EPA)

A member of the “Avocadoo” club performs a pole dance on a street sign pole in Lodz, central Poland on June 27, 2013. Talk about a traffic stopper: three pole dancers in central Poland have been honing their skills out in the streets, throwing their legs around signposts to the surprise and delight of many a passerby. (Photo by Janek Skarzynski/AFP Photo)

Sinaida Omondi of Team Kenya breaks away from Alena Tiron of Team ROC in the Women’s pool A match between Team ROC and Team Kenya during the Rugby Sevens on day six of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Stadium on July 29, 2021 in Chofu, Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Afghan girls ride a donkey along a street in Argo district at Badakhshan province on July 30, 2024. (Photo by Omer Abrar/AFP Photo)

Is it a leaf? Is it tree bark? No, it’s the Satanic leaf-tailed gecko. Cleverly disguised as a rotting leaf, Madagascar’s camouflage king has red eyes, pointy horns and a taste for night hunting: it’s nature’s most devilish deceiver. The twisted body and veiny skin echo the detail of a dry leaf, which ensures the gecko blends in with its forest home. The mottled tail appears to have sections missing, as though it has withered over time. This mini-monster epitomises survival of the fittest, having adapted gradually to become today’s extraordinary leaf impersonator. (Photo by Thomas Marent/ARDEA)