Discover new lizard species in Vietnam

Two animal researchers have found a species of fingerless lizard that scientists have never known in Cuc Phuong National Park in Ninh Binh province.

>>>Discover the 20th lizard in Vietnam

Mr. Ngo Van Tri, an expert of the Vietnam Institute of Tropical Biology and Mr. Chan Kin Onn, works at the Museum of Natural History at the University of Kansas in the United States to discover finger-to-toe lizards in Cuc Phuong national forest. .

Cuc Phuong fingerless lizard. (Photo: Ngo Van Tri)

Cyrtodactylus cucphuongensis - the scientific name of Cuc Phuong's lizard toe - has yellow spots on the head, 5 or 6 wide black bars uneven on the back, gold border and dark spots on the sides. Black spots also appear between the front and hind legs. Their average body length is about 96mm.

The two researchers found that Cuc Phuong's lizards are endemic to Cuc Phuong National Park and that their numbers in the natural environment are quite small. They adapt to limestone cave life.

The discovery was published in the zootaxa animal classification magazine on December 9.

This is not the first time researcher Ngo Van Tri has found a new reptile species in Vietnam. Last year he and a US scientist discovered the rotten sandstorm Leiolepis ngovantrii after reading the menu in a restaurant in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province. A special feature of virgin sand teeth is that they can reproduce asexually without the need for a male.