The crested gecko or eyelash gecko (Correlophus ciliatus) comes from a small island near Australia called the Isle of Pines in the South Province of New Caledonia. It was first described by a French zoologist, Alphonse Guichenot, in 1866. However, the species was not seen again over the next century and was believed to be extinct. After a tropical storm took down the trees on the island, a German expedition of herpetologists found several specimens dislodged from the trees. Sample animals were legally taken during this expedition and exported for research and breeding. All captive crested geckos are descended from these original animals.