New species of monitor lizards found on the black market

Searching the globe for undiscovered species takes biologists to far and remote locations, trekking through exotic locales that may yield a new discovery. However, exploring the black market can also produce results. And this is just the case for Rafe Brown, curator of the University Of Kansas (KU) Biodiversity Institute, during a recent visit to the Philippines. In a black market in Manila, Brown and his colleagues discovered two new species of water monitor lizard for sale. "Both are gorgeous, black-and-white or black- and yellow-colored animals," stated Brown. "They are dark in general appearance with bright speckling of white or yellow spots arranged in rows and stripes around the body, as if wearing shining necklaces. One gets up to a little over three feet in length, and the other is somewhat larger at about four feet. They're monitor lizards, so they're alert, with large eyes, continually flicking long tongues, which they 'smell' with, and they're generally very alert and look quite intelligent." The black market is an unfortunate resource that Brown and his peers use to keep track of Philippine's mega-biodiversity. "Over a five-year period we visited pet markets, roadside bush-meat stands, and various other markets where monitor lizards were sold as pets or meat,” said Brown. “We used to walk around pet markets and side streets talking to traders using circuitous conversation and eventually getting around to asking Read more: http://news.mongabay.com/2015/0327-buelna-new-lizards-black-market.html#ixzz3Vh57xywj