News Excerpt:
In the biodiverse forests of the Western Ghats, a new species of tiny lizards has been found, which researchers have described as a “diminutive dragon.”
About the newly discovered lizard:
- A group of scientists from various institutions in India and abroad discovered the new species from the southern Western Ghats at Kulamavu in Idukki.
- It has been named after the Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) program of the Zoological Society of London.
- The species is the second one of the Agasthyagama genus after A. beddomii or Indian kangaroo lizard that has been previously reported from Sivagiri hills in Tamil Nadu.
- Agasthyagama edge or the northern kangaroo lizard, which belongs to the Agamidae family, is known to have a maximum snout-vent length of 4.3 cm.
- The new species has a uniform dull olive-brown body with a slightly darker head.
- It also has a white throat with a broad dark brown stripe on its dewlap with brick-yellow scales on the outside.
- A reduced fifth toe makes these reptiles poor climbers and hence they do not climb trees like other lizards.
- They are mostly terrestrial and found in areas with dense leaf litter cover and they feed on small insects, this variety of kangaroo lizard can run fast and hides within dry leaves to evade predators.
