Another lab contribution was published this week in the journal Zootaxa, describing a new arboreal species of gymnophthalmid lizard (spectacled lizards). This is a fairly large group of lizards distributed in Central and South America, most species are ground-dwelling and inhabit the forest leaf litter, rocky areas or mosses and grasslands at high elevations, but several species are semi-aquatic and can dive, such as species of Potamites. The new species, named Euspondylus excelsum, however is arboreal and was discovered when the lizard's habitat was flooded by a hydroelectric project in the Amazonian slopes of the Andes in Central Peru. Additional surveys in the area surrounding the flooded area failed to find lizards on the ground; instead all captured lizards were found on leaves and other arboreal microhabitats. Photograph by Lesly Luján.
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