New Giant Lizard Discovered in the Philippines

Scientists have tracked down a new giant lizard and named it Varanus bitatawa. It is a skittish reptile that’s hard to spot even though it grows up to 6 feet long and sports bright yellow speckles.

In forests on the Philippine island of Luzon, the newly discovered monitor lizard hauls itself up into trees in search of fruit and melts into the vegetation if humans approach.

Although the species is “new to us,” Agta and Ilongot peoples living in forests of the Sierra Madre range know the lizard well — as a delicacy. It mostly eats fruit and reportedly tastes better than a much more common scavenging monitor that’s “attracted to stinky stuff.”

Original article here.