Loren Coleman and a New Lizard! It must be Columbus Day…
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on October 10th, 2005
Loren Coleman sends in a guest Cryptomundo blog for the day.
Cool New Lizard Discovery Announced on Columbus Day!
There’s exciting news about a new animal. A new lizard has been discovered by a biologist digging through the forest floor debris on Union Island. Of course, new animals are found all the time, giving hope to cryptozoologists that the big ones - like Bigfoot, Nessie, and Yeti - are still out there, yet to be discovered. It is encouraging to hear about the little finds too, now and then, to keep us going. Now comes evidence from a rainforest in the Caribbean of yet another new species.
According to the Kansas City Star, Robert Powell, a professor for the last 30 years at Kansas City¹s Avila University, found two of these geckolike little lizards, after an amateur naturalist told the professor he had spotted the lizards in these parts of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Unknown to science, but ethnoknown, Powell made his "spectacular" find, and now confirms they do exist.
The discovery will be published in the December issue of the Caribbean Journal of Science, and a specimen of the still nameless lizard is preserved at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum. Powell will announce the scientific name he has chosen for the lizard in the journal, although he has already revealed they are in the genus Gonatodes.
Powell’s lizard is small - about an inch and a half long from snout to tail tip. The Kansas City Star quotes Powell as saying: "The lizard is greenish with bright red, black and white spots that seem to jump out at you when he is placed against a plain background. But in its natural habitat, it is hard to see."
How did Powell capture his two examples? “I scooped up a handful of leaves and debris, then carefully sifted through looking for the lizard,” Powell recalled. “The hardest thing was holding it so as not to tear its soft skin.”
The moment of discovery was exciting but, “It wasn’t, ‘Eureka!’ because we knew it was there, and we went looking for it,” Powell said. “But, still it was so cool and very satisfying.”
Loren Coleman. 10/10/2005
Geez Loren, you should come write for us…
