The Consumate Know-It-All

Varanus Bitatawa

A new species of the monitor lizard was discovered in the forests of the Sierra Madre in the Philippines. Known as the Varanus Bitatawa, it can grow up to 2 meters long and has bright yellow speckles along its body. Herpetologits Rafe Brown of the Biodiversity Institute at the University of Kansas says that it’s a species that is new to them because it is more of a delicacy to the Agta and Illongot peoples who live in the forest.

The Varanus Bitatawa is a cousin to the giant Komodo dragon. It’s quite hard to detect, but is quite captivating once you do. In adulthood, its yellow marking make it different from the other lizards in the area.

In the summer of 2009, Brown’s team managed to get their hands on an adult lizard and document its anatomical characteristics, including the “distinctive little horns on the end of the lizards’ double-barreled male reproductive organs.” It is considered to be an unusual characteristic since snakes and lizards all have a paired copulatory organ, says Brown.

Source: Wired Magazine