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)

Sharni Edwards, 27, and Robyn Peoples, 26, a Belfast couple who are the first known same-s*x couple to get married in Northern Ireland, kiss after being married, in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland on February 11, 2020. (Photo by Phil Noble/Reuters)

Students run past a burning barricade set up by protesters demanding the release of kidnapped people, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, November 25, 2021. The country is experiencing a rise in gang-related kidnappings, many demanding ransom, with the U.S. State Department issuing a warning in Aug. about the risk of kidnapping in Caribbean country. (Photo by Joseph Odelyn/AP Photo)

A woman rests on a pile of plush toys at IKEA store in the shopping district of Causeway Bay in Hong Kong on November 3, 2024. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)

The 21-year-old UK Love Island’s star Rebecca Gormley stunned in a plunging crop top during a shopping trip in Newcastle, England on March 23, 2020. (Photo by Backgrid UK)

An Israeli soldier waits at the bus station, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel on August 15, 2024. (Photo by Florion Goga/Reuters)

Thor, Virginia Tech College of Engineering, Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory, tries to connect the hose to a firehose connection during the hose task at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, Friday, December 20, 2013, in Homestead, Fla. (Photo by Alan Diaz/AP Photo)

An Indian Hindu devotee pours milk on a snake as an offering during the annual Nag Panchami festival, dedicated to the worship of snakes outside the Nagvasuki temple, in Allahabad, on July 28, 2017. Officially the snake charmers' profession is banned in India, but many in the country offered prayers and milk blessings to cobras and other deadly serpents on July 28 in an annual tribute. The 800,000 charmers and their young apprentices come to the fore for the Nag Panchami festival which dates back several centuries. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)