Blue-tailed day gecko

Lizards, geckos and skinks can pollinate too, and this bright Mauritian day gecko is one of the best-documented cases. It laps nectar from flowers and carries pollen between them, and it has long been described as both pollinator and seed disperser of Roussea simplex, a critically endangered shrub found only on Mauritius. It is also a cautionary tale. Geckos avoid plants taken over by the invasive white-footed ant, and those plants set noticeably fewer seeds. A later camera-trap study recorded the native Mauritius bulbul visiting the flowers too, so the gecko may share the job, but losing either partner to invasive species leaves one of the island's rarest plants struggling to reproduce.