Three new lizard species found

Small reptiles discovered in Andes rain forests boast 'striking colors and morphology'

Three new species of multicolored lizards sporting jagged crests that make them look like miniature "Godzillas" have been discovered in Ecuador and Peru, highlighting the region's rich biodiversity.

The lizards were found in the rain forests of the Tropical Andes region, where even more reptiles are likely waiting to be discovered, said the team of scientists who published the find in the latest issue of zoological journal ZooKeys.

"It's incredible the quantity of reptile species we still haven't discovered even though it's the 21st century," said Omar Torres Carvajal of the QCAZ Zoology Museum at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador.

His team found and classified the three new species: Enyalioides altotambo, Enyalioides anisolepis and Enyalioides sophiarothschildae.

All three boast "very striking colors and morphology," he said, pointing out their protruding scales, serrated crests and shiny backs.

The three species can grow to about 40 centimeters long.

The find increases the number of known species in the Enyalioides genus to 15, all of them in a region stretching from Panama to northern Bolivia.

Half are concentrated in Ecuador and Peru - and others may well be out there.

"Our knowledge of the diversity of reptiles in Ecuador and Peru is limited. We still don't have a full idea of all the species," said co-author Pablo Venegas of Peru's Ornithology and Biodiversity Center.

Logging and farming are cutting into the reptiles' habitat, however, turning the effort to find and classify new species into a "race against time," he said.

Peru is home to a whopping 213 species of lizards and Ecuador has 190, said the research team, which also included zoologist Kevin de Queiroz of the Smithsonian Institution in the United States.

The new species are locally known as lagartijas de palo, or stick lizards. They are diurnal animals that sleep in tree trunks and camouflage themselves against their jungle environment.

The scientists found the first of the three species, E. altotambo, a decade ago in the forests of the Ecuadorean coastal province of Esmeraldas.