Dwarf Dragons Discovered in the Andes

Dwarft Dragon Andes

Dwarf Dragons Discovered in the Andes

dragonLIMA, April 6 (UPI) — In the Andes, dwarf dragons are scurrying across the forest floor in greater variety than previously thought. Researchers in Ecuador and Peru have located three new species of dragon-like woodlizards among the cloud forests of South America’s majestic mountain range.

The scientists — including Omar Torres-Carvajal of Ecuador, Pablo J. Venegas of Peru, and Kevin de Queiroz, with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History — discovered the new species in the long, slender region known as the Tropical Andes, an area rich in biodiversity.

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The three new varieties differ from their closes relatives in scale arrange and coloration. DNA analysis confirmed the three new species’ uniqueness. All three belong to the same genus — Enyalioides altotambo, Enyalioides anisolepis and Enyalioides sophiarothschildae.

The scientists were especially surprised to find three new species of woodlizards in such a condensed area, as the reptiles are bright colorful — hard to be missed.

In 2006, only six species of woodlizards had been identified. The fieldwork of committed scientists has quickly changed that.

“During the last few years we doubled the number of known species of woodlizards, showing that the diversity of these conspicuous reptiles had been underestimated,” Torres-Carvajal said in a press release. “That more than half of the diversity of a group of large, dragon-looking reptiles from South America has been discovered in recent years should be heard by people in charge of conservation and funding agencies.”

The newly identified lizards are detailed in the latest issue of ZooKeys.

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