Are three new species of lizards in forests of Peru and … – Daily Mail

 A group of researchers from Ecuador, Peru and the US have discovered three new species of lizard with “dragon form” in the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Andes.

 The research is published in the journal ZooKeys and, according to its authors, new species differ from their closest relatives in size , color and DNA.

 Lizards -a “unusual discovery” – belong to the genus Enyalioides, of which it is known that are diurnal and live in tropical forests, as the Chocó and western Amazon basin and in the cloud forests on both sides of the Andes .

 With these three new species increases the number of Enyalioides 15 .

 

 In this study, scientists Omar Torres-Carvajal, the Museum of Zoology of Ecuador have worked; Pablo J. Venegas, the Centre for Ornithology and Biodiversity of Peru (CORBIDI) and Kevin de Queiroz, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History of the United States.

 “Finding these three new species is surprising because they are among the largest lizards and colorful forests of South America,” the researchers said.

 Torres-Carvajal said that began working with this type of lizards in 2006 when only knew seven species .

 “In recent years we have doubled the number of known species Enyalioides, demonstrating that the diversity of these remarkable reptiles was underestimated,” Torres-Carvajal said.

 This, he added, should be taken into account by conservation agencies.