ITANAGAR, 12 Nov: The scientists from Wildlife Institute of India have discovered two new lizard species from Arunachal Pradesh.
The newly discovered species are Ptyctolaemus siangensis and Ptyctolaemus namdaphaensis. The discovery helped resolved a century-old confusion about the distribution of fan-throated lizards in Northeastern India.
“These findings highlight the remarkable hidden reptile diversity of India’s Northeast, and underscore the importance of revisiting old museum records, field surveys, and genetic data to clarify species distribution across the region,” Dr Abhijit Das, Scientist at Wildlife Institute of India said in a release.
“Green fan-throated lizards, long thought to be widespread across Northeast India have finally been correctly identified-thanks to an integrated taxonomic study that combines morphology, genetics, and natural history observations.”
“For decades, this species was referred to as Green Fan Throated Lizard (Ptyctolaemus gularis), a name given to a historical specimen that was originally purchased in Kolkata during British time. However, this species is found only on the hills of northeast India. Because of the ambiguous collection locality of the type specimen, researchers struggled to confirm the actual identity and distribution of Green Fan Throated Lizard in Northeast India. As a result, multiple similar-looking populations across the region were lumped together under a single name, masking true biodiversity,” the release said.
