Tuesday, May 18, 2010

More new monitor lizards

Adding to the recent cascade of species descriptions, here are two new species of monitors from the Philippines, one identified from two overlooked specimens in the Zoological Museum of Copenhagen.
COMMENT: It is surprising but true that the largest lizards on the planet have produced so many recent discoveries. The grand-daddy of all living lizards, the Komodo, was only described in 1912, and many species have turned up in the pet trade before herpetologists even heard of them.

Also from the Philippines, the nation's most prominent herpetologist, Angel Alcala, shares his memories from a lifetime of discovery including 50 new species. See:
http://www.visayandailystar.com/2010/May/17/starlife.htm

2 comments:

Troodon Roar said...

Yes, there are still many new species of large lizards yet to be discovered. One of the cryptozoological phenomena that I am most interested in are reports of giant dinosaur-like bipedal lizards in North and South America. I have written about them on my blog:

http://www.mysteriouszoology.blogspot.com/

Matt Bille said...

Appreciated. I'd need a lot mroe than a handful of sighting reports to believe in a giant bipedal lizard in the United States, though.