New giant lizard species is ‘veggie Komodo dragon’

A new species of giant lizard has been discovered in the rainforests of the northern Philippines. Measuring two metres from head to tail, Varanus bitatawa was found by a group of University of Kansas students during an expedition last summer to Luzon Island.

Scientists are particularly excited because it is very unusual to uncover such a large new species.

The secretive monitor lizard is from the same family as the largest known lizard, the Komodo dragon (V. komodoensis- pictured above). However, unlike that fearsome predator, V. bitatawa lives off fruit (one of only three monitor lizards that do so) and is notable for its brightly coloured blue, yellow and green skin.

Documenting the find in the Royal Society's Biology Letters journal, scientists have hailed the discovery as an "unprecedented surprise".

"Surprise" it may be to them, but the lizard's existence had actually long been known by indigenous people – they even ate its meat – however its secretive nature meant that the relatively few surveys of reptiles and amphibians in the area had until now failed to document it.

Restricted to the forests of the central and northern Sierra Madre range, this lizard spends much of its time up in trees and – according to scientists – generally avoids leaving the forest for open ground. Were it not for the acute deforestation that blights Luzon Island this lizard might have remained undiscovered.

Scientists are hoping to use this rare discovery to demonstrate the "unexplored nature of the Philippines"; and perhaps recruit it as a symbolic species in the fight against deforestation. ·