Discover a new lizard species in Vietnam

A newly discovered striped pinnaceous lizard in Vietnam's Truong Son Mountains. A group of scientists studying 3 Vietnamese and 2 Germans found this new lizard species.

This new lizard species belongs to the chameleon family (Gekkonidae) which is scientifically named Cyrtodactylus pseudoquadrivirgatus sp. n. Rösler, Nguyen, Vu, Ngo & Ziegler, 2007.

This new lizard species is present in the forest areas of the Truong Son mountain range of Vietnam from Kon Plong district (Kon Tum province), Ba Na reserve (Da Nang city), Bach Ma National Park, forest. A Luoi (Thua Thien Hue) came to Huong Hoa district (Quang Tri province). They are of medium size: their head length is about 48.6 mm - 83.3 mm, tail length is about 55.7 mm - 82.5 mm.

Striped fake foot lizard (Photo: NVTrí)

Their bodies are brown with large, large dark brown spots, or irregular streaks on their heads; Bold stripes along with irregular lines on the back, but stripes are still more at shoulder level.

However, some other patterns also show distinctive dark stripes or irregular horizontal lines, which may also be irregular spots on the back. The tail has many dark and light brown stripes alternating. The light lines may be wider or narrower than the adjacent bold lines.

The discovery of this new pseudo-finger-legged lizard species in Vietnam has just been published in Hamadryad International Journal No. 2, Episode 32, December 2007.

The above discovery is an international cooperation project of domestic and foreign animal researchers, including: Nguyen Quang Truong, Hanoi Institute of Biological Resources and Ecology; Ngo Van Tri, Institute of Tropical Biology in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam Academy of Science); Vu Ngoc Thanh, Hanoi National University; Herbert Rösler, Tierkunde Museum and Dr. Thomas Ziegler, Cologne Zoo, Germany.

This new discovery with the discovery of many other plants and animals this year shows that the Annamite Mountains and detached mountains are one of the centers of biodiversity. There are still hidden species that need to be further explored in the future.

Maybe 2008 will be the ' Year of Diversity of Geckos and Geckos ' or ' Gecko and Lizard World ' of Vietnam. There are more than a dozen new endemic species of Vietnam being prepared for publication by the scientific community.

This new lizard species is brown with many large dark brown blooms (Photo: NVTrí).

Ngo Van Tri
According to HCMC Institute of Tropical Biology, Vietnamnet