New Limbless Lizard Species found

Some say its a snake but its not a serpent at all & is a completely new species of limbless "Lizard". The 7-inch-long lizard looks like a small snake, and it prefers to live in a cool retreat, soft soil and below stones.

A group of zoologists in Orissa state of India have located a new species of limbless lizard said to be new to science. As per Professor "Sushil Kumar Dutta" of the North Orissa University, Baripada, "It is an important discovery and preliminary scientific study reveals that the lizard belongs to the genus sepsophis".

Dutta, who led a research team of ''Vasundhara'', a policy analysis, research and action group, on a field study to the Khandadhar hills in Sundargarh district found the limbless lizard during a survey recently. The lizard, which belonged to the family 'scincidae'', is new to science and is an important discovery from the biogeographic point of view, Dutta said.

Another species of the same genus had been reported in 1870 from the golconda hills in Andhra Pradesh after which this is the first time that this limbless lizard had been found and it bears significance from the biodiversity point of view, Dutta said. "The new speci will be scientifically described at a later stage after accumulation of more scientific data", Dutta said.

Picture Credit: National Geographic

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