Tiny, Shiny Lizard Discovered in Asian Forest The newfound
lizard glimmers in the sunlight. CREDIT: Gabor Csorba. A new
lizard species has been uncovered in Cambodia, a remarkable
creature with a long, snakelike body, tiny legs and scales that
shimmer with a rainbow-hued iridescence. The disco-ready lizard
is tiny, about 3 inches (7 centimeters) long from snout to tail,
and researchers found only a single specimen. In early 2010, a
small search team discovered the adult male near a stream,
during a daytime trek through an evergreen forest in the remote
northeast region of the country, near the Laotian border.
Scientists typically wait to reveal such finds until an animal
is officially described as a new species — a time-consuming
process — thus the two-year lag between the discovery and
announcement. Researchers dubbed the newfound reptile Lygosoma
veunsaiensis, in honor of the place it was discovered,
Cambodia's Veun Sai-Siem Pang Conservation Area. L. veunsaiensis
is a type of skink, lizards famed for their