Colorful New ‘Dwarf Dragons’ Found in South America
The newfound wood lizards live in Ecuador and Peru—and chances are, there are more yet to be discovered, scientists say.
Attention Game of Thrones: Three new species of "dwarf dragon" have been discovered in Peru and Ecuador, a new study says.
Due to political unrest in Ecuador, it took nearly a decade for scientists to identify the reptiles, which are commonly called wood lizards. They are the Alto Tambo wood lizard (Enyalioides altotambo), rough-scaled wood lizard (E. anisolepis), and Rothschild's wood lizard (E. sophiarothschildae).
Wood lizards—which resemble miniature versions of mythical dragons—are among the largest and most colorful lizards in South American forests, making their discovery even more notable, according to scientists. (Also see "Colorful New Lizard Identified in Vietnam.")
The study, published April 6 in the journal ZooKeys, brings the total number of wood lizard species to
