Sydney, Oct 30 (IANS/EFE) Australian scientists have discovered two new species of lizards in a remote area of Cape York Peninsula in northeastern Australia, academic sources reported Thursday.
The leader of the scientific expedition, Conrad Hoskin, a James Cook University researcher, discovered the species called “Cape Melville rainbow skink” and “Cape Melville bar-lipped skink” on the wooded plateau of the Cape Melville range, about 170 km from the city of Cooktown.
Hoskin explained that the two species were hidden in an isolated and remote mountainous area surrounded by large granite formations, according to a statement from James Cook University.
The two lizards have already been officially named and described in the latest edition of the scientific journal Zootaxa, making it five animal species to be discovered in Cape Melville by Hoskin.
Hoskin said that the Melville range has been very isolated from the rest of the world for millions of years and therefore probably has the largest number of unique species of animals than anywhere else in Australia.
The scientific names of the two lizards are “Carlia wundalthini” and “Glaphyromorphus othelarrni” and were chosen by the Aborigines of the area.
–IANS/EFE
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