First described in 1888 by George Albert Boulenger, U. phantasticus is the smallest in body of the Uroplatus geckos, though there is an ongoing debate[citation needed] as to whether one of its cousins, U. ebenaui, is smaller because of its shorter tail.

Its specific name phantasticus is the Latin word for "imaginary", based upon the gecko's unique appearance, which led Belgian naturalist George Albert Boulenger to describe it as “mythical” in 1888.

The gecko occurs in a variety of colors, including hues of purple, orange, tan and yellow, but is often mottled brown,[8] with small black dots on the underside that help to distinguish it from similar species.

[4]A nocturnal reptile, with suitably large eyes, the leaf-tailed gecko moves about its rainforest habitat at night feeding on insects.

Reproduction starts at the beginning of the rainy season when it lays clutches of two spherical eggs onto the ground under leaf litter or in the dead leaves of plants.

[10] Studies suggest that leaf-tailed geckos can only inhabit a very specific environment and are not tolerant of any degradation of their natural habitat.

However, illegal harvesting of leaf-tailed geckos is known to occur even within protected areas,[4] and efforts to control this threatening activity are required if this extraordinary and unique reptile is to endure.

[citation needed] This article incorporates text from the ARKive fact-file "Uroplatus phantasticus" under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License and the GFDL.