Blind, Legless Lizard Discovered—New Species
Unusual reptile first of its kind in Cambodia, experts say.
The 6-inch-long (15-centimeter-long) reptile, called Dibamus dalaiensis, is the first of its kind discovered in the Southeast Asian country. The animal joins more than 200 legless lizard species and about 50 other new reptiles discovered worldwide in the past decade.
Herpetologist Neang Thy of Fauna & Flora International recently found the new species under a log in the Cardamom Mountains (map), in the southwestern part of the country.
"At first I thought it was a common species," Thy said in a press release. "But looking closer, I realized it was something I didn't recognize."
New species have been pouring out of the Cardamom region in recent years, because
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