Scientists have discovered three new species of dragon-esque woodlizards in the Andes of Peru and Ecuador. The new species differ from their closest relatives in scale features, coloration and DNA. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys. 
 
 Field and laboratory work by Omar Torres-Carvajal (Museo de Zoología QCAZ, Ecuador), Pablo J. Venegas (CORBIDI, Peru), and Kevin de Queiroz (Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, U.S.A) has resulted in the discovery of three new species of dragon-esque woodlizards from Andean cloudforests in Ecuador and Peru. 
 
 The unusual discoveries took place in areas within the 1,542,644 km2 Tropical Andes hotspot, western South America. 
 
 Finding three new species of woodlizards is a striking fact given that they are among the largest and most colorful lizards in South American forests. 
 
 Woodlizards (Enyalioides) are diurnal and live in lowland tropical rainforests, such as the Chocó and western Amazon basin, as well as cloudforests on both sides of the Andes. The new species described by Torres-Carvajal et al. increases the number of species of woodlizards to 15. 
 
 Recent expeditions to several localities along the Andes of Ecuador and Peru led to the collection of several specimens of woodlizards, which the authors suspected were something new. After comparing the new specimens with those deposited in several natural history museums from many countries, the author's suspicions became stronger. 
 
 When the authors looked at DNA evidence, there were no doubts that the specimens collected recently belonged to three undescribed species of woodlizards. 
 
 'I started working with woodlizards in 2006 as part of my postdoc at the Smithsonian Institution under the direction of Kevin de Queiroz. At that time only seven species of woodlizards had been described, and they were recognized in the literature as one of the less diverse groups of South American lizards. During the last few years we doubled the number of known species of woodlizards, showing that the diversity of these conspicuous reptiles had been underestimated. That more than half of the diversity of a group of large, dragon-looking reptiles from South America has been discovered in recent years should be heard by people in charge of conservation and funding agencies' said Dr. Torres-Carvajal. 
 
 ### 
 
 Original source: 
 
 Torres-Carvajal O, Venegas PJ, Queiroz K (2015) Three new species of woodlizards (Hoplocercinae, Enyalioides) from northwestern South America. ZooKeys 494: 107-132. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.494.8903 
 
 Additional Information: 
 
 This research was funded by The Systematics Association's Systematics Research Fund; a Restricted Endowment Award from the Smithsonian Institution; Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación del Ecuador (SENESCYT); Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE); UCUMARI; and Gobierno Regional de San Martín (GORESAM). 
 
 Contact: 
 
 Dr. Omar Torres-Carvajal, omartorcar@gmail.com 
 
 Dr. Kevin de Queiroz, deQueirozK@si.edu 

 Key to the 19 species of Hoplocercinae 

 Colorful, spiky and only a few inches long, three new lizard species discovered in the Andes may be the cutest dragon stand-ins on Earth. 
 
 Woodlizards are often described as miniature dragons because of their probing eyes, richly patterned skin and rows of spikelike scales. Until now, only 12 species of the genus Enyalioides were known, and five of those were discovered in just the past seven years. 
 
 They're not exactly "Game of Thrones" dragons, but woodlizards have occasionally been compared to the mythical beasts because of their spiky scales and probing eyes. This newly discovered species, dubbed Enyalioides anisolepis, is only about 5 inches (13 centimeters) long. It lives in the cloud forests of northern Peru and southern Ecuador. Omar Torres-Carvajal 
 
 The three new species were found in the cloud forests of Peru and Ecuador, an international research team reported Monday in the journal ZooKeys. These high-altitude tropical forests are permanently shrouded in fog and mist, creating an otherworldly environment that abounds in biological diversity. [In Photos: Life Up in the Clouds] 
 
 The team, led by Omar Torres-Carvajal of the Museo de Zoología QCAZ in Ecuador, also ferreted out the five other woodlizard species recorded in recent years. "The diversity of these conspicuous reptiles has been underestimated," Torres-Carvajal said in a statement. 
 
 Woodlizards grow to be between 3 and 6 inches (7 to 15 centimeters) long, making them one of the largest lizards in the Amazon rainforest. The lizards' colors and patterns help them blend into the environment, the researchers said. 
 
 This adult female specimen, found in Ecuador, represents a new species of woodlizard dubbed Enyalioides altotambo. Both males and females resemble the thick-necked, warty dragon named Gronckle from the 2010 film "How to Train Your Dragon." Luis A. Coloma 
 
 Each of the three new species differs from its relatives by body characteristics such as color, scale shape and size, as well as their mitochondrial DNA, the study reported. The new species were named E. sophiarothschildae, after Sophia Rothschild, a donor to Germany's BIOPAT program; E. anisolepis, which refers to the Greek term for "unequal scales"; and E. altotambo, after Alto Tambo, the Ecuadorean town where the bright green lizard was found. 
 
 — Becky Oskin, LiveScience 
 
 This is a condensed version of a report from LiveScience. Read the full report. Follow Becky Oskin on Twitter. Follow LiveScience on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. 

 In conservation biology, new species, Research News, zoology / 6 April 2015 / 0 comments 
 
 Three new species of dragon-esque woodlizards have been discovered in the Andean cloud forests of Peru and Ecuador. The new species differ from their closest relatives in scale features, color and DNA. A paper describing and naming the creatures was published Monday, April 6 in the open access journal ZooKeys by Omar Torres-Carvajal of the Museo de Zoología QCAZ, Ecuador; Kevin de Queiroz of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and Pablo Venegas, CORBIDI, Peru. 
 
 Finding three new species of woodlizards is unusual given that these reptiles are among the largest and most colorful lizards in South American forests. Woodlizards (Enyalioides) are diurnal and live in lowland tropical rainforests, such as the Chocó and western Amazon basin, as well as cloudforests on both sides of the Andes. The new species described by Torres-Carvajal et al. increases the number of species of woodlizards to 15. Nearly 40 percent of the total number of known woodlizard species have been discovered in the last 7 years. 
 
 The unusual discoveries took place in areas within the 1,542,644 square kilometer Tropical Andes hotspot, in western South America. 
 
 Recent expeditions to several localions along the Andes of Ecuador and Peru led to the collection of several specimens of woodlizards, which the authors suspected were something new. After comparing the new specimens with those deposited in several natural history museums from many countries, the author’s suspicions became stronger. DNA evidence left no doubts that the recently collected specimens were three new woodlizard species. 
 
 “I started working with woodlizards in 2006 as part of my postdoc at the Smithsonian Institution under the direction of Kevin de Queiroz,” principal author Omar Torres-Carvajal says. “At that time only seven species of woodlizards had been described, and they were recognized in the literature as one of the less diverse groups of South American lizards. During the last few years we doubled the number of known species of woodlizards, showing that the diversity of these conspicuous reptiles had been underestimated.” 
 
 The fact that more than half of the diversity of a group of large, dragon-looking reptiles from South America has been discovered in recent years should be of great interest to those in charge of conservation of this region, Torres-Carvajal adds. 
 
 (Source: Pensoft Publishers)
– Even in the year 2015, and even with widespread destruction of the world's wilderness, zoologists who look hard enough can still find new species of dragons—the dwarf kind, at least. Researchers combing the cloud forests of the Andes in Ecuador and Peru have uncovered three new kinds of small, spiky, and colorful wood lizards that strongly resemble mythical creatures, although they're only around 5 inches long if you don't count the tail, the Smithsonian reports. The discoveries bring the number of known wood lizard species to 15, with eight of those discovered in the last seven years, reports NBC News. The number of "dwarf dragons" found in recent years is striking since they're "among the largest and most colorful lizards in South American tropical forests and [their discovery] is most likely the result of recent fieldwork in poorly explored areas of the central and northern Andes," the researchers write in the journal ZooKeys. The fact that the area has yielded so many new species of wood lizard suggests there are more to be found and shows the need for conservation efforts in the region, which has some of the greatest biodiversity on the planet, the researchers say in a press release. (Researchers in LA, meanwhile, have found 30 new species of fly.)