Orange-headed rock monitor lizard (Varanus umbra) on savannah in north Queensland -Supplied by Stephen Zozaya
These days, when scientists announce they’ve discovered a new species of animal, it’s usually some miniature frog or deep sea isopod.
But check out this Varanus umbra, a never-before-described species of rock monitor, and he’s a real lookah’
Dr. Stephen Zozaya, a research fellow at the Australian National University, described the shock he and his colleagues experienced when seeing the animal for the first time to ABC News AU.
“I was like, ‘What is that?’” Dr. Zozaya said. “I had no idea these things existed, and it turns out a few photos had showed up online from nature enthusiasts.”
The orange-headed rock monitor is just one of a trio of newly-described monitor lizards that Dr. Zozaya and his colleagues identified on an expedition into the savannahs of north Queensland state.
The discoveries also include the Varanus phosphorus, or the yellow-headed rock monitor, and the rainbow rock monitor Varanus iridis. It’s hugely unlikely that such large and charismatic reptile species could remain unknown to humans, and in fact, they were already known to local wildlife enthusiasts.
“They hadn’t really attracted the attention of researchers who work on monitor lizards,” evolutionary biologist Zozaya, who specializes in reptiles, told ABC.
Varanus iridis, or the rainbow-headed rock monitor – credit, Dr. Stephen Zozaya
“Levels of genetic divergence between these three populations was much greater than many of the other species we already recognize.”
Indeed anyone who had given it some thought assumed the three lizards were simply local colorations of existing species. But genetic samples taken from the animals proved otherwise.
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Encouragingly, these three lizards were all documented by Zozaya and his team in areas considered unsuitable for cattle grazing, and overly treacherous for all but the most robust vehicles and determined drivers.
The scientists told ABC that there was already evidence that the yellow-headed rock monitor had been poached for exotic pet trading, an unscrupulous practice putting dozens of reptile species at risk worldwide.
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Non-involved experts speaking with ABC said that the discovery highlights how understudied Queensland’s dry savannahs are when compared with the state’s rainforests, and that new species, even as large as a monitor lizard, are waiting to be discovered.
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