London, April 7 (Inditop.com) A species of a giant lizard with a double penis has been discovered in the Philippines, a media report said.
The brightly coloured lizard is a close cousin of Indonesia’s Komodo Dragon. But it is not a carnivore and only eats fruits, The Telegraph said Wednesday.
It measures 6 feet 5 inches in length, according to the account published by Britain’s Royal Society. The lizard was found in a river valley on northern Luzon Island.
Finding such a distinctive species in a heavily populated location “comes as an unprecedented surprise”, note the authors in the journal Biology Letters.
The report said that males have a double penis, called hemipenes, which are also found in some snakes and other lizards.
The two penises are often used in alternation. Sometimes it contain spines or hooks that help to anchor the male within the female during intercourse.
