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Known from just a single stuffed specimen in Marseilles Natural History Museum (thought to have originated in New Zealand but which for well over a century was not recognised as representing a hitherto-undescribed species), Delcourt’s giant gecko Hoplodactylus delcourti (above) is not only the world’s biggest gecko species but also the most mysterious. Its lone specimen bears a remarkable resemblance to a supposedly myth­ical New Zealand reptile known in Maori folklore as the kawekaweau, and strange lizards whose eyewitness descriptions readily recall the latter creature have long been reported from North Island. Consequently, it is exciting to learn that during this year’s Christmas period, New Zealand cryptozoologist Tony Lucas will be visiting North Island’s Rotorua region to investigate claims of a remnant kawekaweau population there, and collect any eyewitness reports.