According to a news release from James Cook University, scientists exploring Australia’s Cape York Peninsula have discovered three new vertebrate species–a leaf-tailed gecko, a golden-colored skink and a boulder-dwelling frog.

The jagged mountain range of Cape Melville on Cape York Peninsula is a fascinating place with countless black granite boulders stacked hundreds of meters high. Although scientists had previously examined the boulder-fields around the base of Cape Melville, the plateau of boulder-scattered rainforest on top had stayed mostly uninvestigated, protected by large boulder walls.

Earlier this year, Conrad Hoskin from James Cook University and National Geographic photographer/Harvard University researcher Tim Laman journeyed to the uplands with a National Geographic film crew. After several days of exploration they had found three new vertebrate species, as well as several other captivating species that may also be new to science.

“Finding three new, obviously distinct vertebrates would be surprising enough in somewhere poorly explored like New Guinea, let alone in Australia, a country we think we’ve explored pretty well,” noted Hoskin in a statement.

According to the researchers, the three new vertebrate species have been completely hidden on Cape Melville for millions of years.

“These species are restricted to the upland rainforest and boulder-fields of Cape Melville. They’ve been isolated there for millennia, evolving into distinct species in their unique rocky environment,” Hoskin posited.

The leaf-tailed gecko has been named Saltuarius eximius, meaning “exceptional,” “extraordinary” or “exquisite.”

“The second I saw the gecko I knew it was a new species. Everything about it was obviously distinct,” Hoskin professed.

This fascinating gecko has massive eyes and a very long and slender body and limbs. It comes out at night to hunt on rocks and trees.

A golden-colored skink, named Saproscincus saltus, was also found. It lives in the moist rocky rainforest on the plateau. Unlike the leaf-tailed gecko, the skink is active by day, moving about the mossy boulders hunting insects.

The scientists also found a spectacular boulder-dwelling frog, Cophixalus petrophilus, that resides in the boulder-fields at Cape Melville. Its species name means “rock-living.” Hidden during the dry season, the frog comes out on the surface rocks to eat and breed in the summer wet season.

Scientists believe that Australia’s “lost world” may have more secrets to yield.

The three news species are described in greater detail in the journal Zootaxa.