So far, humankind knows about approximately two million unique species of animals and plants that share the planet with us. However, there is an estimated total of somewhere between a minimum of 5 and as many as 100 million species on Earth.
Because the task of so many plants and animals still unknown to us to discover and catalog is so monumental, the addition of one more known critter, as reported by BBC, might not merit so much fanfare. But this one is indeed a big, scaly deal.
After all, how does a six-foot lizard manage to escape the attention of biologists for so long?
The large reptile discovery takes place in the Sierra Madre mountains in the northern part of the Philippines. The newly found species of monitor lizard, named Varanus bitatawa, is believed to survive on a diet exclusively of fruit, and is described as featuring very striking yellow, blue, and green skin. As BBC reminds us, the discovery of such a large species that had been previously unknown to us is extremely unusual. Recent findings of such mega-fauna include a type of antelope discovered in Vietnam in the 1990s, and a new genus of Old World monkey found in Tanzania in 2003.
And the characterization of the latest find as “previously unknown” is completely relative. While to the collective body of biological knowledge the giant lizard represents a discovery, BBC reports that the animal is old hat to the locals. Local tribes have long relied upon hunting Varanus bitatawa as an important source of protein. But its having escaped scientific awareness until now is suspected to be due both to the animal’s highly reclusive behavior as well as to the rarity of biological excursions into this particular region of the world.
Photo by Lip Kee via Flickr.